Marjorie Joan Cowden

Marjorie Joan Cowden, of Chandler, Oklahoma, passed away on September 13, 2007. She was born January 28, 1937, in Wellston, Oklahoma, to Walter and Georgia Jarvis Kriel. Marjorie, a life-long Christian, was a member of the First United Methodist Church in Wellston and later in Chandler since she was fifteen years old. Marjorie was married to Franklin D. Burkett on January 24, 1954. They had two children: Michael and Susan. Franklin died on June 9, 1978. She married Buddy Cowden on May 24, 1979. They had a wonderful married life together until Buddy?s death February 26, 2002. Marjorie was raised on the Kriel family farms north of Wellston originally at the confluence of the Deep Fork River and Bear Creek and then later near Fallis. She attended Wellston Public Schools and later received a high school diploma. Early on in her first marriage she lived in Nebraska, New Mexico, etc. In the late 1950s and early 1960s she, with her husband, Franklin, owned and operated a restaurant, the City Caf, in Wagner, Oklahoma. In the late 60s and early 70s they owned and operated a clothing store, Wellston Mercantile, and Burkett?s furniture store in Wellston. She worked for the State of Oklahoma?s Department of Human Services in Oklahoma City for 22 years and then the Oklahoma Health Care Authority for 3 years. She retired in 1999. She was a member of the Forum of Chandler, loved gardening, her yard and travel. Despite her eight month long battle with pancreatic cancer, she took a week-long trip to Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara, Mexico in March of this year with her relatives, Jim and Doris Lee. Marjorie was preceded in death by her parents, first husband; Franklin, and second husband; Buddy. She is survived by her son, Rev. Dr. Michael Burkett, his wife, Cathy, and son, Matthew of Guymon, Oklahoma; her daughter, Susan Musser, her husband, Alan, and daughter Stacy of Edmond, Oklahoma. Two sisters: Doris Lee, and her husband, Jim, and their children, Cindy and David, and their families of Tulsa, Oklahoma; Deanna Evans and her husband, Marvin of Wellston, Oklahoma, and their children, Kristi, Lisa, and Dana, and their families. A number of relatives in the extended Kriel and Jarvis families as well as through the Burkett and Hanshew families by her marriage to her first husband, Franklin. Four step-children through her marriage to her beloved second husband, Buddy: Lee Ann Cogert of Blaine, Washington, Sharla Cowden of Evansville, Indianan, Shannon Webb and husband Steve of Edmond, Oklahoma, and State Trooper Charles Cowden and wife Kristie and their children of Chandler, Oklahoma. Also a number of friends made during her time living in Wellston, Chandler, and working for the State of Oklahoma. Her sincerest wish in her final days, and indeed, during her whole life, was to go to heaven when she died and to see our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.