Beulah Dorine (Barker) Thornton, 93, longtime Guymon, Oklahoma resident, entered her heavenly home, surrounded by her loving family, the evening of January 17, 2021 at the Heritage Community, after lingering effects from COVID-19.
The oldest child, Beulah Dorine Barker was born in Hardesty, Oklahoma August 12, 1927 to Virgie Rae (Martin) Barker and Harry Harvey Barker. Her family moved to Guymon, OK in 1940. She graduated from Guymon High School with the class of 1946. She was united in marriage to Clifford Wayne Thornton in Clayton, NM on July 4 1949. They were blessed with 3 children, Charla Jean (Thornton) Pierce, Catherine (Cathy) Raylene (Thornton) Henry and Cary Wayne Thornton. After being married for almost 30 years, they divorced in 1979.
Beulah was a dedicated employee using her detail-oriented skills working for the Guaranty Abstract Office then the Texas County Clerk's office retiring December 1988 after 30 plus years. For a period of time, she also held a second job working part time at TG&Y. After retirement, she took care of several of her grandchildren. She was always supporting her family in anything they participated in, proudly sitting in the audience. She attended the Pentecostal Holiness Church where her father-in-law, Reverend Tommy Thornton, pastored; later attending the Guymon Foursquare Church, where all her children were married; and finally attending New Life Christian Center where her son-in-law, John J. Henry and daughter, Cathy, both ordained ministers, pastor. She regularly attended services until her health would no longer allow then continued to attend services provided at the Heritage Nursing Home. Her faith in God was an integral part of her life, passing that Christian Heritage on to her children and grandchildren. Her family considers it a blessing to have had a faithful, praying, Proverbs 31 matriarch that lived her life with dignity and grace. A special interest she had was completing the Women of the Word Bible Study. She enjoyed traveling with family and different groups to various places. She was a member of the Mothers and Daughters Home Extension Club. She was a Blue Ribbon recipient for her Dinner Rolls at the 1992 Texas County Fair. She was honored to receive the Wheatheart 1994 Reserve Champion on her Loaf White Bread. Her family enjoyed the fruit of her labor at family gatherings. She loved working with her family genealogy. She spent hours researching and would not enter something without being able to verify it. She presented her 3 children with genealogy books she prepared that also included copies of hand written memos and drawings from grandparents and great grandparents and newspaper copies of accomplishments of family members. She loved gardening and spent hours in her vegetable and flower gardens and was a proud Texas County Fair Blue Ribbon winner on flowers from her yard, Sedum in 1995, Aster and Silver Lace in 1996. She generously shared her peonies floating in glass bowls with her family in the spring. She enjoyed socializing with friends during lunch at the No Man's Land Senior Citizens Center before becoming a resident of the Heritage Nursing Home in 2012.
She is preceded in death by her parents, Virgie Barker and Harvey Barker, two brothers, Eugene Barker and Jerald Dean Barker, the father of her children, Clifford Thornton, her daughter-in-law, Cathy Lynn (Helm) Thornton and two great grandbabies.
She is survived by her loving children, Charla Pierce and husband Joseph D. (Jody) Pierce, Jr., Cathy Henry and husband John J. Henry, and Cary Thornton and wife Marsha Thornton, all of Guymon. Grandchildren Chris and Nancy Pierce, Josh and Payton Pierce, Avery and Danielle Henry, Candace and Tommy Henry, Levi and Lindy Helm, Keely and Clinton Mosby, Preston Abbott, Pennie Bozarth, Great grandchildren Charrissa and Merritt Vaughn, Bailey Pierce, Ociee Pierce, Teagan Henry, Phoebe Pierce, Ashley and Chad Huckins, Megan Rodgers, Annie Barajas, Harper and Hazel Helm, Desiray Mosby, Teaghan Abbott, Andrea Abbott, Bella Abbott-Cruz, and Gabriel Moreno and 7 great-great grandchildren. Sister Virgie Lawson, sister and brother-in-law Ann and Frank Bugner and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.
The family would like to thank the staff and residents of Heritage who invested in her life.
The family will greet friends on Wednesday, January 20, from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm at the Bunch-Roberts Funeral Home. A Celebration of Life will be held at New Life Christian Center in Guymon, Oklahoma, Thursday, January 21 at 10:00am with son-in-law, Pastor John J. Henry and daughter Pastor Cathy Henry officiating. Due to the Covid pandemic, masks will be required. Graveside services will follow at the Elmhurst Cemetery. Services are under the care of the Bunch-Roberts Funeral Home of Guymon.
Memorials in memory of Beulah can be made to New Life Christian Center in care of Bunch Roberts Funeral Home, PO Box 1112, Guymon, Ok 73942 Friends can sign the online guest book and leave condolences at www.bunchroberts.com
The service will be livestreamed at the New Life Christian Center, Religious Organization, 405 N. Main, Guymon, Ok Facebook page.