Roma Lee Porter

Roma Lee Porter, a beloved and long-standing resident of Lawton, Oklahoma, gracefully passed away in the late afternoon of Saturday, March 27, 2021, at the age of 88.  Roma Lee and her family were blessed to be together during her passing at Comanche County Memorial Hospital.  

A Celebration of Life service will be held at Centenary United Methodist Church at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 1, 2021, with Pastor Robert Gorrell officiating. For the safety and wellbeing of all, masks will be required while attending the service, which will be followed by a burial service at the Highland Cemetery under the direction of Lawton Ritter Gray Funeral Home. 

Roma Lee Porter was born in Lawton, Oklahoma to Roma Clift and Jacob Randolph (Dolph) Montgomery on July 2, 1932.  She grew up in Lawton’s Old Town North where she attended junior high in the Washington Elementary building and Lawton High School for two years in the building that is now Lawton’s City Hall. Roma Lee is younger than her only sibling, Zelda Teresa Montgomery Davis, who predeceased her on November 29, 2018.

Roma Lee followed her sister, Zelda, to the Hockaday School in Dallas, Texas beginning her junior year in high school, where she earned her diploma.  She went on to attend Mills College in Oakland, California, and after one year, transferred to the University of Oklahoma (OU), where she obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in History with a minor in English. After graduating from OU, she was given the honor to attend Radcliff College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for a graduate business program which she enjoyed immensely.  She gleefully recalled a case study problem when the whole class flunked because they failed to recognize that the correct answer was NOT to invest in the new startup company.

Roma Lee had a very active social life growing up in Lawton, primarily due to her parents’ active lifestyles.  Dolph and Roma threw many soirees and community social gatherings to support Dolph Montgomery’s banking activities and Roma’s prolific community groups.  At the drop of a hat, Roma Lee and her sister would have to run home from wherever they were at the moment to assist in entertaining guests.  Those social skills were honed at Hockaday and followed her to OU, where she pledged the Delta Gamma sorority and later became its President.

In the 1950’s, Roma Lee met her husband-to-be, Dr. George L. Porter, Jr., a dashing Captain in the U.S. Army Dental Corps. stationed at Fort Sill. After marriage, they had the chance to go to Germany or Colorado Springs, but they decided to stay in the Lawton Fort Sill community to open up a dental practice and settle down. Roma Lee was very active in many Lawton Fort Sill community non-profit organizations, such as the Salvation Army Corps., the Armed Services YMCA, the Junior Service League of Lawton, Community Concert, the Lawton Philharmonic Society, the Museum of the Great Plains, Friends of the Library, and many more.  After raising her children, Tresea and George III, through the 1960’s, Roma Lee obtained her teaching certificate and worked for Howard Johnson at the LPS managed Fort Sill GED program.  This was very fulfilling work for the new teacher.

Dolph Montgomery bought control of The City National Bank and Trust Company of Lawton, Oklahoma in the early 1930’s, weathered the Great Depression, navigated WWII, and built a thriving community bank over the following decades. To further serve the Lawton Fort Sill community, he later created the Fort Sill National Bank (FSNB) on the Army post in 1946. Roma Lee and her sister took over management of both banks in 1976 after Dolph Montgomery’s death in 1975 and succeeded in stabilizing and growing the family-owned banks over the next four decades.  The banks are now being managed by Dolph’s grandchildren, Tresea Moses, John Davis, and George Porter III, and the fourth generation is already contributing well to the success of the two banking organizations.

Roma Lee is survived by her daughter, Tresea Moses and her husband COL George Moses, USA (Ret); her son, George Porter III and his wife Mary Dzindolet; her grandchildren Robert Thomas and his wife Amber Thomas, Matthew Thomas and his partner Nadia Shaffer, Patricia Porter and George Porter IV; one great granddaughter Sophie Thomas (daughter of Mathew and Nadia); nephew John Davis and his wife Tracie Davis; great nephew Jacob Davis; great nieces Tiffany Schaefer and her husband Matthew Schaefer, and Jessica Davis; several first and second cousins with whom she was very close, and many special friends.

She was preceded in death by her husband Dr. George Porter; her parents, Roma and Dolph Montgomery; her sister Zelda Tresea Davis and her husband Jack Davis and their son Stanley Bruce Davis. 

Memorial contributions may be made to Centenary United Methodist Church at 704 SW “D” Ave, Lawton, Oklahoma 73501, or the Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club of America, 1306 SW East Ave, Lawton, OK 73501. 

An article written in The Lawton Constitution about Mrs. Porter can be found at the link below:

https://www.swoknews.com/news/roma-lee-porter-worked-behind-the-scenes-to-support-her-home-town/article_d6efc3e8-6788-5727-ae40-c7531bee17a1.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share

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