Obituary

Rosedale Cemetery
Pontotoc County, Oklahoma

Mary Catherine "Mary Kay" (Hayes) Sodeman

February 21, 1920 - December 20, 2014

© Criswell Funeral Home

Submitted by: Jo Aguirre

Services for Mary Catherine “Mary Kay” Close Sodeman, 94, of Springfield, MO, formerly of Ada are 10:00 a.m. Saturday at the Criswell Funeral Home Chapel, Rev. Harold Ware will officiate. Burial will follow at Rosedale Cemetery with Rev. Jerry Wells officiating. The family will receive friends from 9:00 a.m. Saturday until service time.

Mrs. Sodeman died Saturday, December 20, 2014 at a Springfield, MO hospital. She was born February 21, 1920 at Ada, Oklahoma to Thurman Okel and Pearl Gorham Hayes.

She married Raymond Oliver “Buck” Close on August 14, 1937. Mary Catherine and Buck moved back and forth from Oklahoma to California as jobs were available. Raymond (Buck) was one of the carpenters who helped build Disneyland. Mr. Close preceded her in death on April 28, 1992.

She later married Holt Sodeman on August 12, 1999. He preceded her in death on July 15, 2014. Mrs. Close Sodeman was a homemaker and had worked at various jobs in Oklahoma and California. She worked for several years for International Telephone and Telegraph in Santa Ana, CA making electronic components for various companies as well as for the military and aerospace program. She was always active in Southern Baptist Churches and always involved in the music program. She sang in choirs and ensembles as well as other fellowship opportunities with friends and family.

Survivors include a son, William (Bill) Close and wife Phyllis of Springfield, MO; a daughter, Karol Blanchard and husband Ron of Riverside, CA; step-children, Meredith Wort and husband John of Grand Junction, CA and Janis Kidwell and husband Loy of Ada; six grandchildren, Veronica Penn Brown, Monica Penn Iverson, Alan Penn, Jeffery Close, Robert Close and Aaron Close; several great-grandchildren; a host of step-grandchildren and step great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her first husband, Raymond Oliver “Buck” Close; her second husband, Rev. Marion Holt Sodeman; two children; four brothers, Roy, Eldridge, J. T. and William; and one sister, Hallie Hayes Bray.

Obituaries may be viewed and online condolences sent to Crisswell Funeral Home, Ada.