Graveside services for Rita Conway, 85, of Purcell were held Monday, January 4, 2021 at Hillcrest Memorial Cemetery in Ardmore. Services were under the direction of the Wilson-Little Funeral Home in Purcell.
The family will plan a celebration in the future, where we can share hugs and memories of Rita in her home church.
Mrs. Conway passed away Wednesday, December 30, 2020.
Rita Deane James was born June 17, 1935 in Wewoka, Okla., one of three children born to Bill and Pauline James. She was raised primarily in the Gene Autry Community where she attended school, and later attended Oklahoma A & M in Stillwater.
Rita married her best friend and life partner, Franklin D. Conway, on June 29, 1956. They first made their home in Madill, until Franklin was drafted into the Army. They lived in El Paso for a short time, before settling in Purcell in 1961.
Together they raised three children, son, David, and daughters, Susan and Deanna. Rita cherished being a wife and mother and worked tirelessly as a homemaker, caring and providing for their every need She was an excellent seamstress and shared her many talents with her family and friends.
Rita was a woman of great faith and longtime member of the First Baptist Church in Purcell. Rita later worked as secretary for the church, and she greatly enjoyed working there. She was a wonderful mother and grandmother, and a dear friend to many. She will be greatly missed!
She was preceded in death by her husband, Franklin Conway; her parents, Bill and Pauline James; sister, Billie June Miller and brother, Gordon James.
Rita is survived by her son, David Conway; daughters, Susan Conway of Oklahoma City and Deanna Korzyniewski and husband, Michael, of Frisco, Texas; granddaughter, Katie Shearer and husband, Justin, of Norman and great-granddaughter, Olivia and a host of other family and friends.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association at www.alz.org.
Online condolences may be made at wilsonlittle.com.
