Elizabeth Fern (Walker) Krehbiel

Elizabeth Fern Krehbiel was born April 6, 1932 at home on her family’s farm near Lacey, Oklahoma to Ben and Isol (Acre) Walker. She passed away November 24, 2019 in Hydro, Oklahoma at age 87 after suffering a stroke.

Fern accepted Jesus Christ as her savior and was baptized March 14, 1945 at the Lacey Methodist Church. She was the fifth of six children and attended Lacey Schools. Fern graduated in the class of 1950 and remained close friends with five others with whom she graduated. After high school, she attended Oklahoma A&M College and studied home economics. Her roommate, Minnie Lou (Ottinger) Bradley, set her up on a blind date with a farm boy from Hydro, Oklahoma, named Wayne. Eldon Wayne and Elizabeth Fern were married August 16, 1952, and shared 64 wonderful years of adventure together before Wayne passed away in 2016.

Wayne and Fern moved around the first few years of their marriage while they finished Wayne’s military obligation and then settled in on the family farm Wayne was raised on, near Hydro in 1956 and welcomed a son Randall Walker that same year. Fern worked as a homemaker and helped Wayne around the farm and on harvest as they custom cut for farmers all across the plains. In 1963, they brought home another bundle of joy, Jeffery Allen.

Fern was active in the National Wool Growers Association Women’s Auxiliary and was the National President from 1989-1990. She and Wayne owned the Hydro Hardware Store for many years and enjoyed traveling and visiting with friends and family. Fern cared for many family members in her home as they aged and took great pride in serving others. She enjoyed entertaining and was a wonderful cook. The door to her home was always open for family and friends – really, the door was never locked. She loved having her grandkids around and later in life, got to experience that same joy with her great-grandchildren. Fern moved away from the farm to assisted living and closed that chapter of her life in 2018. She loved living at Brookdale in Weatherford, and would tell everyone that came to visit how much she loved it there.

Fern was preceded in death by her parents, Ben and Isol Walker, her son, Jeffery Allen Krehbiel, her husband, Eldon Wayne Krehbiel, four brothers, Charlie, Harry, Willard and Jack Walker, and one great-nephew, Thad Walker.

Those left to cherish memories of Fern are her son, Randy Krehbiel (Tulsa, OK), grandson, Jay Krehbiel and wife Rebecca (Morgantown, WV), granddaughter Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton and husband Jacob Burton, great grandchildren Addie Burton and James Burton (Tulsa, OK), daughter-in-law, Karen (Krehbiel) Dodson, and husband Terry (Hydro, OK), granddaughter Brittany Hukill and husband Logan (Hydro, OK), sister, Nell Fine and husband Bruce (Yale, OK) along with numerous extended family members and friends.

Services to celebrate Fern’s life will be held Monday, December 2, 2019  at 10:00 a.m. at Bethel Mennonite Church in Hydro, Oklahoma. Burial will be under the direction of Turner Funeral Home at the Bethel Mennonite Church Cemetery.

Family will greet visitors Sunday, December 1, 2019 from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. at the Turner Funeral Home Chapel.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the cemetery fund at Bethel Mennonite Church in Hydro, OK or to the Krehbiel Family Scholarship set up through the Oklahoma State University Foundation. Checks for the scholarship fund may be made payable to the OSU Foundation with “Krehbiel Family Scholarship” listed on the memo line and mailed to the OSU Foundation 400 S. Monroe, Stillwater, OK 74074.

 Services entrusted to Turner Funeral Home, Hinton, Oklahoma. Condolences may be sent to the family at turnerfuneralhomes@gmail.com, turnerfh.net, or you can find us on facebook.com (Turner Funeral Homes).

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