Mary Louise Watters

Mary Louise Watters, 86, passed away at her home in Copan Oklahoma on Monday, June 4, 2018. Mary was born June 11, 1931 at her family home in Quapaw Oklahoma to Lester Skye and Elizabeth (Longbone) Skye. Mary was raised in Dewey Oklahoma, where she excelled in academics and graduated from Dewey High School in 1950. Later that year, she graduated from Bartlesville Business College and immediately went to work at Phillips Petroleum Company. While attending school in Dewey, she met Gilbert Ray Watters, who she married on March 24, 1952. On the day of their wedding, Gilbert and Mary boarded a bus bound for the Air Force Base in San Angelo, Texas. While in Texas, Mary had 2 children Jim Marion and Laura Elizabeth. In 1958, the family returned to Dewey where she resumed her employment with Phillips Petroleum Company until retiring in 1986. Mary stayed active within the community. She served on the Delaware Tribal Council and Delaware Trust Board. She was a president of the Bartlesville Indian Women’s Club. She was a member and former Lay Leader of New Hope United Indian Methodist Church. She served as Head Lady Dancer at the Delaware Powwow in Copan and various other powwows. Mary was a charter member of the Delaware War Mothers and a member of the Oklahoma Foundation of Indian Women. Mary was the honored elder at Oklahoma Indian Summer. She was given the Oklahoma Indian Elder Honors award by the AARP in 2011. Gilbert and Mary were the Honored Elders at the 50th Annual Delaware Powwow. She also won the Delaware Powwow Frybread Championship multiple times. In her spare time, Mary enjoyed shopping, completing crossword puzzles, tap dancing, following her grandkids and great-grandchildren to their many activities, and generally bossing her family around. Mary is survived by her sister, Marion Sue West, her children, Jim Watters and Laura Maynor, her grandchildren, Jennifer Revard, Jeremy Johnson, Jimmie Johnson, and Katharine Maynor, her ten great-grandchildren, Chase and Lyndee Revard, Marian and Jennings Johnson, Trey, Grant and Maura Johnson, and Skye, Anna, and Beau Scimeca, and adopted Grandchildren, Jessie, Blue and Kele Haase, as well as numerous family and friends. Mary was preceded in Death by her husband Gilbert Watters, her siblings Bill Skye and Betty Skye, and her granddaughter Sarah Scimeca. Mary was a matriarch of her family in every sense of the word. She was a leader and a light to her family and many others who, when asked, offered both gentle guidance and forceful advice. She often offered the same even when she wasn’t asked. Mary leaves a family and community legacy that will be hard to follow and will forever be unparalleled.

Mary Louise Watters

June 11, 1931 - June 4, 2018