Obituary for Charlene Sue Burkhalter
Charlene Sue Stone Burkhalter was born January 25, 1938 to JT and Viola (Kirkpatrick) Stone at the Griffins Maternity Home in Delta, Colorado. She passed on to her eternal home in Heaven at the age of 81 years, 11 months and 12 days on January 6, 2020 in Ponca City, Oklahoma surrounded by her family.
Charlene spent her early childhood in Cedaredge, Colorado and later, when she was in the sixth grade, the family moved to Amarillo, Texas. When she started school in Amarillo, she wanted to be called by her first name, Charlene. She often retold the story that the first time one of her school friends came home with her and found out her family called her Sue, she never got to go by Charlene again.
Student profile clippings from Sue’s teen years acknowledge her choice to accept Christ as her personal savior and her desire to serve in ministry. Both clippings, one when Sue was 13 and the other when she was 15, list her future plans to be a Baptist Missionary and a housewife.
In 1956 Sue was salutatorian of her high school class, which was the first graduating class from the newly built Palo Dura High School in Amarillo. That fall she began classes at Baptist Bible College in Springfield, Missouri. In the summer of 1957 while home from college, Sue participated in the group youth activities of Hamlet Baptist Church in Amarillo. It was there she met an Air Force Instructor, Glen Burkhalter. In the fall of 1957, just weeks before Sue would return to college and Glen was up for re-enlistment, Glen proposed to Sue after a group church activity. The two were married just two weeks later on September 12, 1957. Several years would pass before the two would discuss the events of that day in full detail and would realize that on that day, they had both read the Biblical story of Ruth and Naomi and the familiar scripture “Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people and thy God my God:†Both had, unknown to the other at the time, taken the scripture as a sign of God’s will for their lives. Glen did not re-enlist, but surrendered his life to ministry. Sue’s desire to serve as a missionary and a housewife became a reality.
Over the next seven years, God blessed their union with three Texas born children, Randy, Phillip, and Janice. The family would live in several locations in the Texas panhandle as Glen served ministry. In many of these churches, Sue served as their pianist, utilizing her love of music. In the summer of 1964, Glen and Sue moved their family to Granite, OK where a couple of years later, the couple added an Okie, a daughter, Karen, to their family. Glen and Sue remained in Granite for the majority of their married life, living in Carter, Oklahoma for four years during the early 1980s and the last three years in Blackwell, Oklahoma in order to be closer to family.
Sue was a talented seamstress making uniforms to state standards for the first female guard at state reformatory in Granite when they were not yet available, at least half a dozen formal bridal gowns for daughters and nieces, making men’s suits and sewing for the public to earn extra cash. She made the matching dresses for the school music groups multiple years, making sure that when the young ladies were all on stage, the hem lines were identical, a perfect modest match for the tallest and the shortest girls alike. In later years, her passion for sewing was seen in numerous quilts and quilting projects.
Sue enjoyed listening to a variety of music, but her favorites were always hymns. She would keep time with her hand on her leg to almost all of them. Her interests included the stories of family history and passing those on to the next generation. She had some great ones from both her family and Glen’s. Her grandfather drove a wagon in the land run for his blind father, her great-grandfather; and Glen’s grandmother raised a house full of kids after her husband passed away.
When asked what her grandchildren will remember of Grandma Sue, the answers included her hands, sewing doll clothes, sitting in the front porch swing, learning to play domino's, okra in a cast iron skillet, naps and holding her hands in church. Sue was loving, faithful and always fair. She was dearly loved and will be greatly missed.
Sue was preceded in death by: her parents, JT and Viola Stone; her son, Phillip Burkhalter; one son-in-law, Jeff Krehbiel; two sisters-in-law: Claudene Litton and her husband Clarence and Martha Forsman; and one brother-in-law, George Miller.
Sue is survived by: her husband of 62 years, Glen of the home in Blackwell; her siblings: Clarissa Loper and husband Jimmie of Blue Springs, Missouri, and John Forsman of Quincy, Florida; Glen’s siblings: Kenneth Burkhalter and wife Jean of Mangum, Oklahoma and Betty Miller of Helotes, Texas;one son, Randy Burkhalter and wife Pam of Blackwell, Oklahoma; daughter-in-law: Donna Burkhalter of Fort Supply, Oklahoma; two daughters: Janice (Burkhalter)Johnson and husband Larry of Hunter, Oklahoma, and Karen (Burkhalter) (Krehbiel) Dodson and husband Terry of Hydro, Oklahoma; three grandsons: Wesley Burkhalter and wife Jenny of Burke, Virginia, Robert Burkhalter and wife Christy of Valdosta, Georgia, and Ryan Johnson and wife Molly of Hunter, Oklahoma; three granddaughters: Lindsay Burkhalter of Ponca City, Oklahoma, Betsy (Johnson) Groves of Kremlin, Oklahoma, and Brittany (Krehbiel) Hukill and husband Logan of Hydro, Oklahoma; seven great-grandchildren; and a host of nieces, nephews, family and friends.
Viewing and family visitation will be 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Friday evening, January 10th at the Greer Funeral Home location in Granite, Oklahoma. Services for Sue Burkhalter will be Saturday, January 11, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. at Abundant Life Baptist Church in Mangum, Oklahoma with burial to follow at Rock Cemetery, Granite, Oklahoma under the direction of Greer Funeral Home.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Granite Senior Citizen’s Meal Site where Sue was meal site manager for a number of years. Granite Senior Citizen’s Meal Site, PO Box 116, Granite, Oklahoma 73547.
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Charlene spent her early childhood in Cedaredge, Colorado and later, when she was in the sixth grade, the family moved to Amarillo, Texas. When she started school in Amarillo, she wanted to be called by her first name, Charlene. She often retold the story that the first time one of her school friends came home with her and found out her family called her Sue, she never got to go by Charlene again.
Student profile clippings from Sue’s teen years acknowledge her choice to accept Christ as her personal savior and her desire to serve in ministry. Both clippings, one when Sue was 13 and the other when she was 15, list her future plans to be a Baptist Missionary and a housewife.
In 1956 Sue was salutatorian of her high school class, which was the first graduating class from the newly built Palo Dura High School in Amarillo. That fall she began classes at Baptist Bible College in Springfield, Missouri. In the summer of 1957 while home from college, Sue participated in the group youth activities of Hamlet Baptist Church in Amarillo. It was there she met an Air Force Instructor, Glen Burkhalter. In the fall of 1957, just weeks before Sue would return to college and Glen was up for re-enlistment, Glen proposed to Sue after a group church activity. The two were married just two weeks later on September 12, 1957. Several years would pass before the two would discuss the events of that day in full detail and would realize that on that day, they had both read the Biblical story of Ruth and Naomi and the familiar scripture “Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people and thy God my God:†Both had, unknown to the other at the time, taken the scripture as a sign of God’s will for their lives. Glen did not re-enlist, but surrendered his life to ministry. Sue’s desire to serve as a missionary and a housewife became a reality.
Over the next seven years, God blessed their union with three Texas born children, Randy, Phillip, and Janice. The family would live in several locations in the Texas panhandle as Glen served ministry. In many of these churches, Sue served as their pianist, utilizing her love of music. In the summer of 1964, Glen and Sue moved their family to Granite, OK where a couple of years later, the couple added an Okie, a daughter, Karen, to their family. Glen and Sue remained in Granite for the majority of their married life, living in Carter, Oklahoma for four years during the early 1980s and the last three years in Blackwell, Oklahoma in order to be closer to family.
Sue was a talented seamstress making uniforms to state standards for the first female guard at state reformatory in Granite when they were not yet available, at least half a dozen formal bridal gowns for daughters and nieces, making men’s suits and sewing for the public to earn extra cash. She made the matching dresses for the school music groups multiple years, making sure that when the young ladies were all on stage, the hem lines were identical, a perfect modest match for the tallest and the shortest girls alike. In later years, her passion for sewing was seen in numerous quilts and quilting projects.
Sue enjoyed listening to a variety of music, but her favorites were always hymns. She would keep time with her hand on her leg to almost all of them. Her interests included the stories of family history and passing those on to the next generation. She had some great ones from both her family and Glen’s. Her grandfather drove a wagon in the land run for his blind father, her great-grandfather; and Glen’s grandmother raised a house full of kids after her husband passed away.
When asked what her grandchildren will remember of Grandma Sue, the answers included her hands, sewing doll clothes, sitting in the front porch swing, learning to play domino's, okra in a cast iron skillet, naps and holding her hands in church. Sue was loving, faithful and always fair. She was dearly loved and will be greatly missed.
Sue was preceded in death by: her parents, JT and Viola Stone; her son, Phillip Burkhalter; one son-in-law, Jeff Krehbiel; two sisters-in-law: Claudene Litton and her husband Clarence and Martha Forsman; and one brother-in-law, George Miller.
Sue is survived by: her husband of 62 years, Glen of the home in Blackwell; her siblings: Clarissa Loper and husband Jimmie of Blue Springs, Missouri, and John Forsman of Quincy, Florida; Glen’s siblings: Kenneth Burkhalter and wife Jean of Mangum, Oklahoma and Betty Miller of Helotes, Texas;one son, Randy Burkhalter and wife Pam of Blackwell, Oklahoma; daughter-in-law: Donna Burkhalter of Fort Supply, Oklahoma; two daughters: Janice (Burkhalter)Johnson and husband Larry of Hunter, Oklahoma, and Karen (Burkhalter) (Krehbiel) Dodson and husband Terry of Hydro, Oklahoma; three grandsons: Wesley Burkhalter and wife Jenny of Burke, Virginia, Robert Burkhalter and wife Christy of Valdosta, Georgia, and Ryan Johnson and wife Molly of Hunter, Oklahoma; three granddaughters: Lindsay Burkhalter of Ponca City, Oklahoma, Betsy (Johnson) Groves of Kremlin, Oklahoma, and Brittany (Krehbiel) Hukill and husband Logan of Hydro, Oklahoma; seven great-grandchildren; and a host of nieces, nephews, family and friends.
Viewing and family visitation will be 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Friday evening, January 10th at the Greer Funeral Home location in Granite, Oklahoma. Services for Sue Burkhalter will be Saturday, January 11, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. at Abundant Life Baptist Church in Mangum, Oklahoma with burial to follow at Rock Cemetery, Granite, Oklahoma under the direction of Greer Funeral Home.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Granite Senior Citizen’s Meal Site where Sue was meal site manager for a number of years. Granite Senior Citizen’s Meal Site, PO Box 116, Granite, Oklahoma 73547.
To send flowers in memory of Charlene Sue Burkhalter, visit the Tribute Store.
Previous Events
Visitation
Friday
10
Jan
6:00 PM
- 8:00 PM
Greer Funeral Home
323 Main St.
Granite, OK 73547
Funeral
Saturday
11
Jan
10:00 AM
Abundant Life Church
22257 OK-34
Mangum, OK 73554
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