Dora Eleene Smith Martin departed this life to be with her sons and her Lord and Savior on September 16, 2018, at 11:55 a.m., in Chickasha, Oklahoma. She was born to John Arthur (Ott) and Maude Mozelle Comer Smith in Salina, Colorado on January 28, 1927. Dora and her twin Nora Ilene were the seventh and eighth children born to this union.
Unfortunately, Nora died in the winter of 1929. At the age of four Dora began her journey back to Oklahoma in a covered wagon, with the addition of a new sister. On the first day the sky opened up and began a torrential rain.
The family was forced to take refuge in a single room school house in Kansas. A local farmer heard about the problems the family was having and offered to give them shelter in his barn. The family lived there and worked for the farmer for six month before continuing their trip to resettle in the Zimmerman Valley between Carnegie and Apache, close to the Alden area.
On her sixteenth birthday Dora road horseback to Apache helping her family drive cattle to their new home northwest of Apache. The home was made of two, two room houses moved together. The only way for the children to get to their bedrooms was to crawl through the windows, as the front door to the house now was connected to the back wall of the other house.
While attending Apache High School, Dora began working for Floyd Moore at the City Café. During that time she met the love of her life, Floyd Leonard Martin. When he returned from active duty in 1947, they were married in the Baptist Parsonage on July 13.
Their first home was above the L&L Drug Store, that is now the City Hall. As an interesting side note, it was learned at their 70th Anniversary Party that Dora proposed to Floyd (a liberated women before her time). Dora was a shy young lady, but she fought her shyness to work in public.
After the birth of her children, she returned to the workforce with her sisters Audrey and Gracie at Kress’s in downtown Lawton. They were promoted to Department Managers and were task with moving the store to the new Cache Road Square location. Then she moved to a receptionist position in the old Reynolds Army Hospital.
Next was a positon at the First National Bank of Apache as a bookkeeper from which she retired; a position she loved. A devoted OU fan, you could always tell how the team was doing by how clean her house was. If they were doing well, she would sit and watch.
One mistake, the TV went off and cleaning with a vengeance took place, until curiosity would get the best of her. She was a member of First Baptist Church of Apache. With a strong belief in Separation-of-Church-and-State, she was known to walk out if she thought the teacher of the lesson in Sunday School had crossed the line.
After cooling off, she would return and discuss with the teacher where she felt they had gone too far. Her favorite role in life was as wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She once said, “It is a shame you can’t be a grandparent first and a parent second.
Unconditional love is better”. Dora is survived by her husband of 71 years, Floyd Leonard Martin; daughter, Sheila Audean Martin Fountain, Lawton; daughter-in-law, Toya Martin Wichita Falls, TX; grandsons, Robby Martin and wife Michelle, Piedmont; Klint Fountain and wife Staci, Marlow Central; Kliff Fountain, Norman; granddaughters, April Davis and husband Eric, Tulsa, Cari Clodfelter and husband Mike, Apache; Misty Patterson and husband Marco, Double Oak, TX; Nikki Davis and husband Joe, Apache; great-grandchildren, Jhanee Schuermann and husband, Denton; Taylor Woodall and wife, Brinlee; Mackenzie Killion and husband Joshua; Wyatt Williamson; Cara Brewer; Kyler VandenBroeck; Mason, Mia, and Madison Patterson; Taira Fountain; Jesse Lamb; Patrick Davis; great-great grandchildren, Waylon and Baker Schuermann, and Grace Woodall. Also, many nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Ott and Maude Smith; sons, Shelby Leonard Martin and Sherril Don Martin; brothers, two infant brothers; Jim Smith and wife Grace; Harry Lee Smith and wife Jesse; John Arthur Smith, Jr. and wife Maudebelle; Robert Smith and wife Opal; sisters, Henrietta Steen and husband, Milton; Audrey Donaho and husbands, Earl Linneman and Bill Donaho; Gracie Tipsword and husband Dale; Nora Ilene Smith; Adelphia Long and husband Jimmy. For those desiring, memorial contributions may be sent to First Baptist Church, Apache, OK.
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