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Gladys Opal Drew Watson Ratner, 89, was born in Guthrie, Oklahoma on October 28, 1915 to Roy Leon Drew and Viola McComb Drew, daughter of L. L. McComb who was a '89er.
Gladys was reared by her grandmother Maude Drew Holcomb.
She graduated from Guthrie High School in the class of 1932. She got her Associate Degree from Yuba City Junior College in Yuba City, California.
She met and married E. A. 'Al' Watson in Marysville, California on July 18, 1936. Three sons were born while they were in California, Cherles Edwin, Roy Allvin, and Carl L.
In 1945 the family moved to Northwest Arkansas near Fayetteville where a daughter Betty L. was born. In 1947 they moved again and lived around Antlers, Oklahoma. The family home has been in Lawton since 1949.
Gladys was for many years a seamstress for E. A. Watson Upholstery Shop in Lawton.
Following Al's death, April 8, 1971, she continued serving as Assistant Director of the Pleasant Valley Senior Center which she had begun December 1, 1970.
On February 23, 1974 she married Samuel P. Ratner. Sam was killed as a result of a traffic accident on New Years Day 1975.
After her retirement from Pleasant Valley she volunteered for 14 years at the Lawton Social Security Administration Office assisting seniors with medicare, Medicaid and Social Security forms. She became known as the resident expert in handling these forms. She also served in the First Oklahoma Silver Haired Legislature in 1981.
She was also active in Church Women United and in Grace United Methodist Church where she held about every office in the church. She served on the Board of the Cameron Campus Ministry for 25 years and was declared one of its Saints. She was honored by the State Division on Aging as the Outstanding Social Security Volunteers in the nation in 1991.
Gladys is survived by one sister, Margaret May Reppond of Sherman, Texas; two sons, Rev. Charles E. Watson and wife Ila, of Chickasha, and Dr. Roy A. Watson and wife Connie of Ada, Oklahoma; and a daughter, Betty L. Watson of Lawton. Also surviving are thirteen grandchildren, thirteen great grandchildren, and two great great grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her two husband, E. A. 'Al' Watson and Samuel P. Ratner; and one son, Carl L. Watson.
Tuesday, January 11, 2005, at 2:00 PM, a Memorial Service for Mrs. Ratner will be observed at Grace United Methodist Church at 6206 W. Ferris in Lawton, Oklahoma with her son, Rev. Charles E. Watson, officiating and her daughter, Betty L. Watson, assisting. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Grace United Methodist Church in Lawton.
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