Mary Sue Branscum

Funeral service for Mary Sue Branscum, 88, of Lawton will be at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, October 24, 2017 at the Lawton Ritter Gray Funeral Home Chapel, with Don Ward officiating.   

Burial will be at Sunset Memorial Gardens.

Mary Sue Branscum was born on November 5, 1928 in Fort Smith, Arkansas, to Albert Woodard Morris, Sr. and Nina Searle Morris.  She passed from this life on October 20, 2017, in her home at Ten Oaks, 3610 SE Huntington Circle, Lawton, Oklahoma.
Mary Sue married Claud Junior Branscum on September 18, 1948, in Henryetta, Texas in a double wedding ceremony with her older sister, Betty and husband, Tom Cullen.  Claud and Mary Sue had one child, a daughter, Sandra Sue Branscum born on June 17, 1949.  
Mary Sue was a member of the 8th and Lee Church of Christ where she and her husband worshiped along with her daughter and son-in-law.  She loved people.  Anytime you went to her house, whether it was early morning or late evening, she wanted to fix something for you to eat.  She loved visiting and almost always had a smile on her face.  Even when dementia robbed her of most of her many memories we take for granted, she was described by the staff at Ten Oaks as being a lot of fun, feisty, happy, and just an angel to work with.  Mary Sue graduated from Lawton High School in 1946.
Mary Sue was a hard worker.  She worked for Civil Service for several years.  She later worked with her husband managing numerous apartments in Walters and Lawton.  She kept the books, collected rent, paid the bills, cleaned vacated apartments, and whatever else was needed.  She was not afraid to ask her biggest renter for rent, but she was terrified of storms.  If one was within 200 miles, she was on the phone warning family and friends to get to a cellar.
Mary Sue was a doer and goer.  She loved crafts and was excellent at it.  For several years, she had her own ceramic shop, “SueBees.”  She not only poured, fired, and painted ceramics; she also used a self-taught technique to bring depth and detail to her work.  She made several people characters where she painstakingly crafted lifelike mouths with teeth and expressions from the clay before it was fired.  The result was a figurine that brought many compliments and requests from friends and customers to teach them how to recreate their own figurines.  She also loved to garden.  She could grow just about anything just about anywhere.  She always had very large gardens and often shared her bounty with others.  She was a “Health Fanatic” when health fanatics weren't “cool.”  She relied on natural medications and food to keep her healthy.  If you were around her very long, you would be offered a “pep-up” drink if you were tired, an “echinacea” drink if you might be coming down with something, and garlic all the time, any time, for anything.
She was willing to try anything to help make ends meet.  Among her many endeavors, she raised worms for fish bait, rabbits for butchering, parakeets, cocktails, lovebirds, and finches.  Each one of these was a time-consuming activity that she somehow found a way to work into her busy schedule.
Perhaps the activity that brought her the greatest enjoyment was taking care of Chris and Corey when they were small.  She kept Chris while Sandra and Ronnie worked until Corey came along and Sandra quit working to take care of the boys.  When Sandra and Ronnie moved from Lawton to an acreage east of Geronimo, it wasn't’t very long until Mary Sue and Claud moved within a quarter of a mile so they could be near their grandchildren.
She was a good Christian wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and sister.  She will be missed by those who knew her.  
Mary Sue  is survived by her daughter, Sandra, and son-in-law, Ronnie, grandchildren, Chris Ward and his wife Melissa, Owasso, Oklahoma, Corey Ward, Duncan, great-grandchildren Cassandra Ward, Oklahoma City, Cameron Ward, Fayetteville, Arkansas, Caden, Joel, and Candice Ward, Owasso, as well as her younger sister, Maxine Curry, Louisiana.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Claud Branscum, her parents, Albert and Nina Morris, her older sister, Betty Cullen, and her younger brother, Albert Morris, Jr.  
Memorial contributions may be made to the Eighth and Lee Church of Christ at 1205 SW 8th, Lawton, Oklahoma 73501.  

 Service Information