Juanita June Koch

Juanita June (Guffey) Koch, a long-time resident of Prague, Oklahoma, passed away on July 13, 2021, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, just three days after her 90th birthday. “June”, as she was known by family and friends, was born on July 10, 1931, to Ray Vernon and Camea Mary (Collins) Guffey in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She grew up in and around the Prague area and attended school and graduated from Centerview School, Prague. June married Bill J. Koch on June 8, 1956, in Enid, Oklahoma and together they raised three children. Bill and June were married for 28 years before Bill’s passing in 1984. When June’s children were young, her years were spent as a stay-at-home mother and home maker. June was very creative. For many years, she owned and taught classes on painting and craft making at the “Craft Shack” in Shawnee, Oklahoma. She served her community as the executive director of the Shawnee Senior Citizen Center for 15 years. June also enjoyed listening to gospel music and she was a huge basketball fan. She loved gathering her neighbors together and watching Oklahoma City Thunder basketball games and being quizzed on players and stats. June faced adversity in her life with grace and her reliance on the Lord was known to all. She was quick to seek him out in prayer for answers, strength, and in that she was a great encourager to others. June’s main calling in life was as an extraordinary mother. She kept her children and grandchildren covered in prayer, and the concern and sacrifice she had for them was very apparent. Her kind and gentle spirit as a mother lives on in those she loved and left behind. June was preceded in death by her husband, Bill J. Koch; her parents, Ray and Camea Guffey; and brothers, Karl Guffey, James “Jimmy” Guffey, and Billy Guffey. Those left to cherish her memory are her sons, Bruce Koch, and Mark Koch and his wife, Anna; daughter, Donna Seymour, and her husband, Henry; grandsons, Kyle Koch, Joseph Seymour, Benjamin Seymour, and Andrew Seymour; as well as a host of nieces, nephews, other extended family members and friends; and her fur baby companion of 16 years, Oreo.