To those who loved her and knew her best, she was Memaw. That’s how she’ll always be remembered. Jane Oaks went to be with the Lord on March 10, 2012, in Chickasha. She was 84.
Memaw was born April 19, 1927, in Knoxville, Tenn., to Louise and J.R. “Raymond” Slack. She moved to Oklahoma in the late 1940s, where she married and had four children with “Pee-Wee” Long. She later married Jerry Oaks and together they ran a salvage and car repair business in Chickasha. She retired from the Grady County Sheriff’s office and then continued to help run Oaks Muffler for more than a decade.
In her retirement years, she crisscrossed Route 66 with friends and also liked to tell fish tales about her trips to Fort Cobb with family. Her greatest joy was spending precious time with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She cheered them on at hundreds of soccer, softball and basketball games. Memaw spent many Sunday afternoons relaxing in front of the television cheering on her favorite NASCAR drivers. Racing was in her blood.
Memaw was a member of New Life Christian Church in Chickasha where she worked with the youth, planned meals and drove the “widow wagon.” She also took many trips with the JOY group of First Baptist Church of Piedmont.
Memaw was preceded in death by her parents; her husband Jerry; her brother, Joe; and “Pee-Wee” Long. She is survived by her children: Janis and Donnie Robinson, of Piedmont; Tim and Debbie Long, of Midwest City; Barbara and Rick Day, of Illinois; and Jackie and Brenda Oaks of Chickasha; 12 grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren.
Services will be at 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, March 13, 2012, at New Life Christian Church in Chickasha. Burial will follow at Fairlawn Cemetery under the direction of Ferguson Funeral Home.