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 Edward & Carla Blackwell
In December of 2006 after having managed the funeral
homes for three years Edward and Carla Blackwell
purchased the Dugger Funeral Homes in Tonkawa and
Blackwell, Oklahoma. Renaming them respectfully,
Tonkawa Funeral Home and Blackwell Funeral Home
after the towns they are in.
Edward is a native of Livingston, Texas. He is the
son of the late Pat Applin Blackwell, formerly of
Blackwell, Oklahoma and the late Mary L. (Alloway)
Blackwell of Lumberton, Texas. Edward’s aunt, Lois
(Blackwell) Fessenden, was a life-long resident of
Blackwell, where she was a realtor, wrote a weekly
article “Dooles” for the Blackwell Journal and was
very active in the community.
 After graduating from Coldspring High School,
Coldspring, Texas in 1965, he attended Massey
Business College getting a degree in drafting. He
served in the United States Army for three years,
attaining the rank of Supply Sergeant and served one
year in Vietnam. He is a licensed funeral director
and embalmer in Oklahoma and Texas; he is also a
licensed life insurance agent in Oklahoma and Texas.
He is a member of the Oklahoma and the National
Funeral Directors Association.
He is a member of the Blackwell Rotary and Lions
Club, Blackwell V.F.W. Post #2855, and serves on the
Blackwell Tourism Board. He is a member of the
Tonkawa Lions Club, Tonkawa American Legion Post
#71, Tonkawa Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors
and past President, Masonic Lodge #157 of Tonkawa
and deacon of the First Baptist Church Tonkawa where
he serve’s on the Personal and Elevator Committee
and is chairman of the men’s brotherhood breakfast.
He served on the ALPHA II board of directors for two
and a half years as Vice President. Also he is a
member of the Lamont Lions Club in Lamont, OK.
Edward and Carla where married April 2, 1966 in the
First Baptist Church in Grapeland, Texas. They have
two sons, John and his wife, Ginny and their
children, Travis and Cooper of Buffalo, Texas;
Technical Sgt. Michael and his wife, Tonya and their
children McKenzie and Kade of Francis E. Warren Air
Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming; their daughter,
Susan and her husband, Daniel Greak and their
children Nathan and Cullen of Liberty, Texas.
Carla is a native of Houston, Texas and is the
daughter of the late Louis J. Wilson and the late
Eunice F. (Mathews) Wilson. She is a 1965 graduate
of Grapeland High School, Grapeland, Texas and a
1966 graduate of Massey Business College, Lufkin,
Texas.
Carla operated a childcare business in her home for
fifteen years; then sold fine jewelry for Foley’s in
Houston, Texas before coming to work in the funeral
business with Edward in 1999. She is a member of
the Blackwell Lions Club, the Tonkawa Garden Club
and the First Baptist Church Tonkawa. |
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 Billie Lou Whitehead
works part time helping with funerals, visitation
and the office.
Billie was
born at Lamont, Oklahoma to William “Bill” and
Florence (Bennett) Cowen. At the age of three, she
moved with her family to a farm near Eddy,
Oklahoma. She attended Pleasant View (Old Red Top)
School and transferred to Lamont School District
when she was in the seventh grade. Billie is a 1952
graduate of Lamont High School. She was a Rainbow
Girl in the Lamont Assembly.
She and
Milo Whitehead were married February 14, 1951 and
made their home on the family farm between Medford
and Lamont, Oklahoma where they still live.
Billie
worked five years as a checker at Hub Food in
Medford then went to work for the Grant County Bank
in Medford, where she worked for 27 ½ years. She
held many positions being an assistant cashier when
she retired in 1999. She was a part time employee of
Dugger Funeral Home in Tonkawa and Blackwell,
Oklahoma for three years before it sold to the
Blackwell’s.
Billie is
a member of the First Christian Church in Lamont and
is a former member of the Willing Workers Home
Demonstration Club. She says she is very fortunate
to have her family living close to her.
She and
Milo are parents of one daughter, Maxie Kay Skaggs
and her husband, Lyndal; two sons, Brad Whitehead
and his wife, Jil and Ross Whitehead and his wife,
Sherri, all of Lamont, Oklahoma; also six grandsons,
three granddaughters, four step-granddaughters, two
great-grandsons, Kelton Proctor, Isaiah Kerr; three
great-granddaughters, Kinsey Proctor, Liberty Davis,
Zoe’ Cain. Billie has one brother Jack Cowen in
Oklahoma City. |
