Janice Critchfield

Janice Elizabeth Critchfield, 72 of Geary Oklahoma, died at 1:58 a.m. on Tuesday, January 12, 2021 at the Integris Hospice in Oklahoma City. She was born on May 5, 1948 in Oklahoma City to Edward & Mary Beth Paxton. She married Herbert Critchfield on January 16, 1982 and he survives.

Also surviving are her three children; daughters Chrisanna and husband Kevin McMillin; Beth and husband Curtis Booth; and son, Robert Critchfield. Three grandchildren: Owen & Alexis Booth and Charley Critchfield, all in Oklahoma; along with sister-in-law Kay Paxton, sister Lisa Watson, brother John and wife Terri Paxton brother-in-law Cliff and wife Cheryl Critchfield, nine nieces and nephews, and too many cousins to count.  

She was preceded in death by her parents Edward and Mary Beth Paxton, brother Frank Paxton, brother-in-law Jim Watson, and in-laws Cleo & Margie Critchfield.

Janice graduated from Capitol Hill High School in Oklahoma City in 1966. She attended Oklahoma State University in Stillwater and OSU Technical Institute in Oklahoma City. She lived in Oklahoma City when she began work at Western Electric in 1969 and retired in 2001 after 32 years. Upon retirement from Lucent Technologies, she began working at the Yukon Hancock’s Fabrics until 2007.

In 1979, she moved to Yukon, Oklahoma where she lived for the next 27 years and was a member of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and later First United Methodist Church.

In 2007, she moved to Geary Oklahoma where she was active at the First United Methodist Church, volunteered as an election poll worker and at Angel’s Attic, a thrift and consignment store, owned and operated by the United Methodist Women in Geary.

She loved attending family events: 4th of July, Memorial Day, and other family gatherings and reunions. When she was home, she loved to read (we were recently told of a story of how her cousin Sharon would ask her to come over to play; and Janice would go to Sharon’s drawer where the books were kept and pull out a book to read.). She also enjoyed sewing, quilting, crocheting, completing crossword puzzles, working on the family genealogy, and watching Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. 

Her grandchildren have many fond memories of time with her: Owen will remember her as “Grandma Mine” as when she hugged him, she would say, “Mine! Mine! Mine!”. Charley remembers her playing Solitaire, Sudoku and making perfect bacon; and Lexi remembers shopping with grandma to buy dresses and spending the night at grandma’s house. Her kids remember that she was a second mom to all their friends; teaching them how to sew, feeding them, and always opening her door and heart to everyone. She enjoyed looking at gardens and flowers, but always said the green thumb skipped over her, as she had a brown thumb, keeping only airplane/spider plants and the philodendron’s alive.

Memorial contributions may be made to the United Methodist Women.

Please note: If you choose to attend the service, please be considerate of the high-risk population that will be in attendance, the church will be requiring the wearing of masks. For those unable to attend, both services will be available on Turner Funeral Homes Facebook page.

The visitation is from 9 am until 9 pm on Friday, January 15 and Saturday, January 16, 2021 at the Turner Funeral Home in Geary, Oklahoma.

Funeral Services:  Geary First United Methodist Church (325 W. Main Street, Geary, OK) on Sunday, January, 17, 2021 at 2:00 p.m.   Officiating: Rev. Charles King

Graveside Service and Burial: Wednesday, 2:00 p.m., January 20, 2021, at Glencoe IOOF (South) Cemetery (Yost Road, Glencoe, OK) Officiating:  Rev. Michael Scott

Services entrusted to Turner Funeral Home, Geary, 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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