PAID OBITUARY
Aran Connors Priddy, 105, an 80 year resident of McAlester, Oklahoma, died Sunday, September 20, 2009. She died of heart failure at McAlester Regional Health Center.
Funeral services will be at 2:00 p.m. Thursday, September 24, 2009 at First United Methodist Church McAlester, Grand Avenue Campus with the Rev. Dr. Charles Neff officiating. Interment will be at Oak Hill Cemetery under the direction of Bishop Funeral Service.
Mrs. Priddy, born April 13, 1904 in Canadian, Indian Territory was one of McAlester’s few centenarians. She was one of six children and the sole surviving child of John P. Connors, a colorful and active figure in the early days of Oklahoma statehood, and Aran Cook Connors, an enrolled Choctaw. Her father, a second generation Irishman, was a Choctaw judge who presided at the Tobucksy County Courthouse before statehood, and who subsequently became the first president of the Oklahoma Board of Agriculture, serving under his friend and Oklahoma’s first governor, Charles Haskell. Connors State College at Warner was named in honor of Judge Connors.
Mrs. Priddy was a longtime member of the Grand Avenue Methodist Church, where she taught Sunday school for many years, and was an active member of P.E.O. women’s philanthropic society. She was preceded in death by her husband, Cecil L. “Pete” Priddy, who died in 1988, and her son, Charles L. Priddy, who died in 1970. Her husband was for many years the president of the National Bank of McAlester and was a deacon at the Grand Avenue Methodist Church
Mrs. Priddy was also preceded in death by her parents, John P. & Aran Connors; three brothers, Michael Connors, William Connors, and Patrick Connors and two sisters, Annie Connors Richards and Ruth Connors Sartor.
Those who knew Aran Connors Priddy will remember her as a true lady, a gentle spirit possessed of a quiet dignity, immense inner strength, and an enduring faith.
Survivors include 3 Nephews: Mel Priddy, of McAlester, Oklahoma, Tommy Thompson, of Pampa, Texas, and David Stenhouse, of Blanchard, Oklahoma; 3 Nieces: Drew Priddy, of San Francisco, California, Shirley Roehrs, of Fort Worth, Texas, and Sue Ann Phillips, of Tyler, Texas; 2 Grand Nephews: John A. Richards, of Springfield, Virginia, and Neil Dawson, of Hartshorne, Oklahoma; 3 Grand Nieces: Billye Jo Flood, of McAlester, Anita L. Tharp, of Katy, Texas, and Deborah A. Anderson, of Petersburg, Michigan.
Active Pallbearers: Mel Priddy; Tommy Thompson; David Stenhouse; Bob Roehrs; John Richards; Michael Tharp; Ken Gwynne.
The family requests that memorials be made to the Grand Avenue Methodist Church, 225 East Carl Albert Parkway, McAlester, Ok 74501; PEO Chapter AT c/o First United Methodist Church, 225 East Carl Albert Parkway, McAlester, Ok 74501 or the charity of your own choice.
