Wynema Ward Butler Francis

        Wynema (Ward) Butler Francis was born December 12, 1929, to Ed & Ocie Ward in their home in Polk Creek Community, Poteau, OK.  Her kind and loving spirit returned to the Lord peacefully on Monday, April 20, 2020 in Spiro, OK.

          Wynema was a quiet little tow-headed girl who often spent time with her maternal grandparents, Julius & Martha Waddle, also of Polk Creek.  She attended Tarby School 1-8^th grades, where she excelled in school work and at basketball, a sport she loved.

          She worked at a laundry in Poteau after finishing the 9^th grade.  At 17, she married Billy V. Butler, 21 of Gilmore, OK.  During the WWII era, they often enjoyed listening and dancing to the big country-western bands that traveled to the Poteau area.  She said she taught Billy to dance and he taught her to cook.  In those days, she said she would rather dance than eat.

          Wynema and Billy had four children, who all survive her: Floyd & wife Susie, Kathlyn Butler Moran, David & wife   Jane, Lisa Butler & Dennis Covey, all of Oklahoma.  Blessed with five living generations of family, she also had 11 grandchildren and numerous great and great great grandchildren.  Granddaughter Michele Furr Ashing, 45, passed away in 2015, three years after Billy died at age 86.

          Wynema and second husband, Velmer Francis, lived in Shady Point, OK for many years.  She was a child care worker for the State and a homemaker.  He was a concrete contractor and avid vegetable gardener.  They had a daughter, Sheila (Francis) Bledsoe Taylor and two granddaughters, Kaytlin (Bledsoe) Fout &  husband Josh,  and Rexleigh Taylor; one great grandson, Riley and great granddaughter, Harper.  Velmer, 68, died in 1989 and daughter Sheila, 48, passed away in 2018.

          Wynema was also preceded in death by her parents; five siblings, Carl & “Sonny” Ward, Lula McLaughlin, Linda Armstrong & Oma Lee Reynolds, stepson, Ricky Francis and stepgrandson, Mike Francis, and many other beloved family members and friends.

          She is survived by her aforementioned children; stepchildren, Carol Brasher and Gary Lee Francis of Arkansas, and  sister, Betty Campbell and husband Gary of Missouri, and other relatives & friends.

          Wynema loved little children; hers was the home where all the neighborhood children gathered to catch the school bus every morning.  She was a quiet and gentle woman,  always willing to listen to others’ problems, but never interfering in their private lives.  She passed into the arms of the Lord quietly and gently, just as she had lived.  She will be sorely missed by so many.

          Graveside services with Pastor Phil McGehee officiating were held at 2 pm, Thursday, April 23, 2020 at Fairhill Cemetery, Cameron, OK.  Pallbearers were her grandsons Michael Furr, David Butler, Ricky Butler, Jerry Butler, Daniel Butler, David Loyd Butler Jr., Jason Priest and great-grandson Joe Adams.  Following the services, granddaughter Carolyn Butler Baldwin and husband Heath, hosted a cook-out at their Shady Point home.