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Wanda Mae Carlene Walker, 91-year-old lifetime resident of the Vinita area, passed away July 13, 2026, in Tulsa, OK. She was born on September 15, 1934, at Estella, OK to William (Bid) Lay and Lela Calvert Lay.
She was an eighth-grade graduate from Bunker Hill School, being one of the six children attending when the school was consolidated to White Oak District in 1947. She graduated from White Oak High School in 1951. On December 5, 1951, she married Billy Lewis Walker in Miami, OK. Together they raised daughters Sherry, Cindy, & Amy Walker.
Wanda is a member of the Dupree Baptist Church and had taught children’s classes for many years. She loved children, caring for her own children, grandchildren, and babysat many others and is still known as “Nannie” to those she loved and cared for. Wanda retired in 1998 from Felt’s Shoe Store in Vinita.
She is survived by her daughters Cindy Victory and Amy DeVore and special sons-in-law Charlie Smith, Clark Victory, & Roger DeVore. Grandchildren Wendy Weaver, Billy Heard and Wife Heather, Jeremy Hopkins and wife Ashton, Brandon Heard, Emily DeVore, Nick DeVore, Ryan Victory and wife Aimee, and Tim Victory and wife Dallas. Great Grandchildren Nathan Weaver, Remington and Ruger Heard, Brenlee and Brayden Hopkins, Emma and Ethan Victory, and Lexi, Jax, and Knox Victory.
She is also survived by sisters Wilma Huff, Cleveland, OK and Laverne Walker and husband Don of Vinita; Billy and Brandon’s Dad, Jim Heard and wife Debbie; and many close nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.
Preceding her in death were her parents Bid & Lela Lay, daughter Sherry Smith, granddaughter Jennie Leigh Heard, brother Jim Lay, and sisters Fern Wayman, Marie Summers, and Louise Bowie.
The family will receive friends at Burckhalter Highsmith Funeral Home on Wednesday, July 15 from 5:00-7:00 p.m. Funeral services will be held Thursday, July 16, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. at Trinity Baptist Church, Vinita, OK with Rev. Chris Kralicek officiating. Final resting place is Scott Cemetery, Vinita, OK. Memorial contributions can be made to the Youth Fund at Dupree Baptist Church, Vinita, OK. Funeral arrangements are by Burckhalter Highsmith Funeral Home. “Vinita’s only locally family owned and operated funeral home.”
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