Alice India Maytubby Townsend

Marietta Monitor

October 31, 2003, pg 4

Submitted by: Martha N. Reddout

Services for Alice India Maytubby Townsend, 98, of Marietta, were held at 2 p.m., Thursday, October 23, in the First United Methodist Church, Marietta, with the Rev. Tommy Higle officiating and the Rev. Tony Caro assisting.

Mrs. Townsend was born August 12, 1905, at Caddo, Indian Territory, the youngest of eight offspring born to Samuel W. and Lula Alice Mebane Maytubby, early pioneers of Oklahoma. She died Tuesday, October 21, 2003, in the Lake Country Nursing Center, Marietta.

She attended and graduated from the public schools at Caddo in 1922. Mrs. Townsend attended The Oklahoma Presbyterian College for Girls in Durant, and in 1925 received a bachelor of arts degree from Southeastern State University, also in Durant. Later she returned to SOSU and received a master's degree in education in 1958, thus acquiring a wide range of teaching fields which enabled her to teach in both elementary and high school. Mrs. Townsend began her teaching career at age 20 in Bokchito, and then taught in various other schools in southeastern Oklahoma for 45 years. Most of these years were spent in schools in Love County where she taught various high school subjects.

In 1926, Mrs. Townsend came to Love County to teach English and other subjects in the Burneyville School system. The following year on May 27, she and Price Townsend were married in the Mahota Memorial Presbyterian Church manse in Marietta. Mr. Townsend also became a teacher, and together they formed a teaching team. In 1970 they retired from the profession they loved after a long career of teaching together, a combined total of 81 years. Mrs. Townsend was honored as Love County Teacher of the Year in 1957. Although she had no children, she was a "second mother" and role model to thousands of her students.

Mrs. Townsend was a lifelong member of the Presbyterian Church. She was an active member of the church at Caddo and later at the Mahota Memorial Presbyterian Church in Marietta, where she served as organist, member of the choir, assisted with the youth organization, and the women's work in the church.

She was a member of various social clubs, including the Oklahoma Education Association, a charter member of the Love County Frontier Days Association and the Love County Historical Society, the Friends of the Library, and the Love County Chamber of Commerce. For many years, she was a member of the American Legion Auxiliary, serving as president, vice-president, reporter and secretary of various organizations. Mrs. Townsend was also an active member of the Love County Retired Educators Association, having been instrumental in organizing the unit. Her colleagues in that association honored her as their "VIM" in 1994.

Mrs. Townsend took great pride in her Indian heritage and enjoyed taking an active part in the annual Love County Frontier Days Celebration, until her retirement from public affairs. She loved her teaching career and cherished bonds of friendship brought about by the love and respect that she received from her former students. Her private desk and scrapbooks contain photographs, cards and letters of tribute from former students with whom she kept in touch.

Even though she retired from the classroom, she continued teaching private piano lessons for 16 years. She also had many hobbies in addition to her music, including her handiwork which graces the homes of many of her friends. Her sense of humor helped ease the heartaches from tragedies and disappointments that plagued her, and the strong Christian faith instilled in her as a child carried her through the troubled times of her life.

Survivors include two nieces, Mona Gabbard of Lindsay and Patricia Tremain and her husband Bill of Midwest City; two nephews, C.E. Trousdale of Cleveland and David Maytubby and his wife Carol of Huntington Beach, California; several great-nieces and nephews; several great-great-nieces and nephews; and longtime caregivers, Dorothy Clifton, Lovetta Douglass, Rachel Fernandez, Jeannie Holt, Jean Peery and Lois Willis.

Preceding her in death were her parents; her husband on March 18, 1990; three brothers and two sisters.

Pallbearers were Don Flanagan, Ken Delashaw, Tom Brannan, Cecil Holt, Jack B. Dillard, Jack Higgins, Dr. Charles Laney and Walter McAnally. Honorary pallbearers were Frank Barrick, Kenneth Reynolds, Jerry Cochran, Robert Hughes, Lewis Douglass, Bill Batson, Victor Thompson, Pedro Fernandez, Bill Dvorak and Billy Bob Taylor.

Interment was in the Lakeview Cemetery, Marietta, under the direction of Flanagan-Watts Funeral Home, Marietta.

Personal comment: Mrs. Townsend was my teacher at Turner School, Burneyville, Love County, Oklahoma, when I was in the 5th Grade. Her teaching style and dedication to her career made a great impact on my life. I will remember her always. Martha Montgomery Reddout