Vera Flois COUCH ^2,20

  Death Notes:

Vera Couch Wolfe was born on September 19, 1910 in Choctaw, Oklahoma, on her grandmother's homestead. She was the daughter of Ira L. and Minnie Allen Couch and the granddaughter of Captain W.L. Couch, Oklahoma City's first Territorial Mayor.

She began first grade in 1916, the year the State Center School opened, and graduated in 1928. She was the only charter student who attended State Center all twelve years. Following high school she completed the two year business course at Draughns Business College in Oklahoma City.

Vera married her high school sweetheart, Ernest Wolfe, on August 7, 1933. She said she traded in her typewriter for a cotton sack and helped pick six bales of cotton that fall. She learned to milk cows and helped in the dairy that she and Ernest started in 1939.

Vera was an active member of the Choctaw Seventh-day Adventist Church. Both she and Ernest were instrumental in organizing and building the Choctaw church as charter members.

Her life was devoted to community services, having a deep concern for those in need. From 1972 to 1997 she served as Community Services Director of the Oklahoma Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. She participated in many major disasters throughout Oklahoma and the Southwest; the last two in which she served were the bombing of the Murrah building and the May third tornado of 1999.

Vera responded to local family needs as well, such as clothing, bedding, food, etc. Most of these needs were supplied through the Community Services Center of the Choctaw Seventh-day Adventist Church. She also participated in the Mobile Meals program each Tuesday where she assisted in organizing the meal routes and delivering meals.

For more than twenty years Vera and Ernest sponsored a Christmas dinner for the senior citizens in the Choctaw community. They also sponsored a holiday dinner for the Native Americans for several years.

Vera was a Red Cross First Aid Instructor in Eastern Oklahoma County for several years and a Civil Defense Training Course Instructor. In 1974 she received a Byliners award for community service and in 1983 a Red Cross award for exceptional volunteer work.

Because of their desire for elderly people to enjoy the sunset years of their lives, Vera and Ernest were instrumental in providing property for the establishment of the Summit Ridge Retirement community and care facility. After succumbing to a stroke, the last four months of Vera's life were spent in the Wolfe Living Center at Summit Ridge.

Vera passed away on February 15, 2001 at the Deaconess Hospital in Oklahoma City. She was preceded in death by her husband, Ernest; six brothers, Charlie, Rusty, Bill, John and Albert Couch, and Oscar Taylor; a grandson, Jon Krueger. She is survived by one sister, , Harrah, Oklahoma; three daughters and sons-in law; , Placerville, California; , Jones, Oklahoma; , McKenzie, North Dakota; eight grandchildren and five great grandchildren.

  Noted events in her life were:

1. Census, 1920, Elk Twp., Oklahoma, Oklahoma, USA. ³⁶²

2. Residence, 8 Jul 1994, Jones, Oklahoma, Oklahoma, USA. ²⁴⁷

Vera married Ernest Myron WOLFE, son of Frank Andrew WOLFE and Nettie Leola (Leola Nettie) BYERLY, on 7 Aug 1933.²⁵³ (Ernest Myron WOLFE was born on 24 Aug 1909 in Coyle, Logan, Oklahoma, USA,²⁵⁴ died on 27 May 1999 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Oklahoma, USA ²⁵⁴ and was buried on 1 Jun 1999 in Jones Cemetery, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma ^254,255.)