Pansy Elizabeth Taylor Gerfen Kucera Lorett, longtime resident of Cushing, Oklahoma, passed away at age 90 on June 22, 2022, at her home south of Cushing, with her husband and her daughter, Jawana, at her side.
The daughter of Harry Earnest Taylor and Leona Roxie (Munson) Taylor, Pansy was born on December 14, 1931, on a farm north of Stroud, Oklahoma. She was delivered by her two grandmothers, Pansy Ellen Munson and Catherine Elizabeth Taylor. She started school at age 5, attending Salt Creek School, Pleasant Mound School (also called “Buzzard’s Roost”), Forest Dale School, then Stroud High School. She graduated from Stroud HS in 1949. She was known to write her classmates’ papers for them because she could write.
Someone who loved education and learning, she received a scholarship to then-Oklahoma A&M College upon graduation from high school, but family finances prevented her from using it. Because of that, she was always determined that her three children would get a college education, and all did, with each graduating from Oklahoma State University.
Raised on her family’s farm, she helped raise cotton, kaffir corn, and maize. They also raised chickens, pigs, and cattle, and bailed hay. She worked at grocery stores and country stores in Prague and Stroud during high school.
She was united in marriage to Harold Robert Gerfen on June 14, 1953, at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Avery, Oklahoma. To this union were born three children, Debra Jo, Kevin Anthony, and Jawana Ann. Harold died in a highway accident on August 13, 1969.
She married Marvin Wesley Kucera on May 12, 1972, at Immanuel Lutheran. Marvin owned and operated MKW Machine Works in Cushing for several decades, where he began working as a teenager and then later bought the business. Marvin passed away from a long illness (interstitial fibrosis) on August 20, 2009.
She married Jack Russell Lorett on December 1, 2013, at Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer in Cushing. To this union are one cat, Lizzie, and one dog, Shadow.
Several things were important to Pansy in raising her family. She was determined that her three children would be raised in a church and attend church faithfully, love their country and understand the importance of patriotism, respect law enforcement, and develop the musical and academic talents God had given them.
Pansy was very active in Sunday School Christmas programs and Vacation Bible School as well as the PTA for Harrison Elementary School in Cushing, helping with fundraising efforts for the school, and serving as a scout leader of Brownies, Girl Scouts, and Cub Scouts in the 1960s. She worked for a few years at Dalton Precision foundry in Cushing and for many years at a local supermarket in Cushing as checkout cashier and then as office manager, retiring after 30 years there. Pansy was devoted to her children, grandchildren, and greatgrandchildren. Her greatest joy was time spent with them, especially watching them play ball and their other activities. She loved big family holiday celebrations, especially Christmas and Easter, and that included her extended family. She loved her nieces and nephews and enjoyed spending time with them in Vacation Bible School and Sunday School Christmas programs. In her later years, she became a fan of the Oklahoma State Cowboys and Cowgirls and the Oklahoma City Thunder, and played cards with family members, especially a card game called “Hand and Foot.”
She is survived by her husband, Jack Lorett, of the home, and her children, Debra Jo Stein and husband Alvin Stein of Wellston, Kevin Gerfen and wife Priscilla Warner Gerfen of Stillwater, and Jawana Kirkpatrick and husband Rod Kirkpatrick of Cushing. Also surviving are five grandchildren, Travis Harris, Kyle Stein and wife Amanda Stein, Heath Harris and wife Dixie Harris, Autumn Stein Pappan, and Cord Harris and wife Jennifer Harris. Greatgrandchildren are Maddie Harris, Paden Harris, Jake Harris, Leyton Stein, Derek Stein, Brock Pappan, and Nora Pappan.
She was predeceased by her parents, Harry Taylor and Leona Munson Taylor of Cushing and all of her siblings, sisters LaWanda Jo (Taylor) Wolff of Stillwater, Mary Mae (Taylor) Seabolt of Muldrow, and brothers Tommy Taylor of Cushing and Marvin Taylor of Sallisaw.
Late in her life, she was helped again and again by her neighbors, Kelly and Paula Holder read.
Funeral services will be held at Redeemer Lutheran in Cushing, Oklahoma, on Tuesday, June 28, 2022, at 2:00 p.m. with Rev. Ron Rafferty officiating.
Pallbearers are Travis Harris, Kyle Stein, Heath Harris, Cord Harris, Paden Harris, and Jake Harris. Honorary pallbearers are Leyton Stein, Derek Stein, Brock Pappan, and Nora Pappan.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be contributed to Redeemer Lutheran Church, 730 East Cherry, Cushing, OK, 74023.
Visitation will be in the Matherly-Davis Funeral Home Family Center on Monday, June 27, 2022, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Burial services are being handled by Matherly-Davis Funeral Home.
