Marjorie Darling Stafford

It is with great sadness that the family of Marjorie Darling Stafford, 79, announce her passing from a brief illness on Thursday February 6, 2020, in Tecumseh, Oklahoma surrounded by her loving family.

She was born December 11, 1940, in Lebanon, Oregon, to Elmer Douglas Brown and Margaret Lillian (Byerley) Brown. She fell in love with and married Ira Clayton "Clay" Stafford on June 15, 1957 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. They settled in Tecumseh, Oklahoma in 1968 and raised their three children.

Together in 1967, they started Clay’s Fence Company and she handled the office and bookkeeping and also co-owned and operated Clay Stafford Quarter Horses until Clay's death in 1993.

She started working at Dillard’s in Shawnee in 1990 until she retired in 2010 which lead her to be one of the best dressed women in the family. She was a master in the kitchen always cooking up delicious meals including her famous Italian sub sandwiches, but it was her baking skills that she was most known for. She had a love for sweets. Her chocolate eclairs were her most coveted recipe. Her love for cooking and repetition brought her the opportunity to cater for private events within her community. She had a charm and wit but it was her patience that allowed her to always prevail as table tennis champion. She was young at heart and often stated that she was never too old to do anything. She loved traveling and she couldn't turn away from an adventure, including parasailing over an ocean although she couldn't swim.

Her interests included gardening, reading, and quilting. She learned to quilt on her own and every quilt she made was entirely by hand. She devoted much of her life as a caregiver to her daughter until she passed away in 2014. Marjorie enjoyed being with her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren; they were the focal point of her life. She was a wonderful mom and grandma, she was simply the most amazing person and will be dearly missed by all those who knew and loved her.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Clay Stafford, her daughter, Karla Sue Stafford; and her parents, Elmer and Margaret Brown.

Those left to cherish her memories are her two sons and their wives, Scott and Lisa Stafford of Denton, Texas and Jody and Rhonda Stafford of Tecumseh, Oklahoma; 7 grandchildren, Andrea Cook, Emily Stafford, Cameron and Janine Stafford, Morgan and Jesse Ray Harris, Malania Hammer, Jessica Yones, and Shane Stafford; 14 great-grandchildren, Peyton Cook, Hunter and Hannah Hepler, Paisley Wallace, Cade Stafford, Michael, Connor, Garrett, Devin, Samantha and Parker Hammer, Landon and Sheldon Yones, and Colt Stafford, numerous nieces and nephews and her dear friends, Kellie Stafford and Mark & Malinda Acock.

Memorial service will be 2:00 pm, Saturday February 22, 2020 in the chapel of Walker Funeral Service with Rev. Clint Dawkins officiating.