Shirley Elizabeth Thomas
1935-2021
Shirley Elizabeth Thomas, age 85, a loving mother and grandmother, went to the Lord on February 3, 2021 in Edmond, Oklahoma after a long struggle with dementia.
Shirley was born June 10, 1935 in Bearden, Oklahoma to Agnes Skrimager Williams & Terry Williams. She graduated high school in Eunice, New Mexico in 1953 and shortly thereafter married Louis Eugene Laznik. She had two sons and resided in New Mexico until the death of her husband at which time she brought the boys with her and returned to Oklahoma in January 1967. In 1968, she met and married James Wesley Thomas in Okemah, Oklahoma. They moved frequently in Oklahoma for many years until they settled down in Okemah where they raised her two sons and one daughter from the union.
Shirley was a long-standing member of Calvary Baptist Church of Okemah and later in life became a member of the Shady Grove Missionary Baptist in Indianola, Oklahoma.
Shirley had a great spirit and great love for her family and her collections. Shirley grew up on a farm and loved hard work and animals. Shirley would travel around the state to attend auctions and loved finding bargains. She would grow a collection of oil lamps, crock bowls and pitchers, along with jars full of old buttons. Shirley loved telling stories of her wonderful finds. She had an eye for antiques, and she was extremely talented at crafting, sewing, painting, and embroidery. They would sell these items, but mostly she just loved decorating her house with beautiful homemade crafts.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Terry and Agnes Williams, stepdad, Muriel Robinson, son, Calvin Laznik, two husbands, Louis Eugene Laznik and James Wesley Thomas.
Her beautiful life shall be forever cherished in the lives of the loved ones she left behind: son, Terry Laznik and spouse Karen Laznik of Glencoe, Oklahoma, daughter, Jamie Cox, and spouse Glenn Cox of McLoud, Oklahoma, one granddaughter, Kendall Cox.
A graveside service will be held at 2:00 p.m., Monday, February 8, 2021 at Shady Grove Cemetery in Indianola, Oklahoma.