Joretta Faye Buckles

October 13, 1940 - February 19, 2017

Graveside services for Joretta Buckles will be 10:30 am, Wednesday, February 22, 2017, at Short Springs Cemetery with Rev. Max Ridgway officiating. Interment will be in Short Springs Cemetery under the direction of Marshall Funeral Home of Alva. Joretta Faye, daughter of Erma B. (Vincent) and Luverne G. (Red) Shelite, was born October 13, 1940 in Alva, Oklahoma. She passed away at Beadles Nursing Home in Alva on the February 19, 2017, at the age of 76 years, 4 months and 6 days. She attended Dacoma public schools and Northwestern Oklahoma State University where she received her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and Master’s degrees in Special Education. She also earned a Reading Specialist and Learning Disabilities certificate from NWOSU. Joretta married James O. (Jim) Buckles; to their marriage two daughters, Brenda and Kimberly were born. She was an elementary school teacher in Cherokee and Dacoma schools for 7 years before coming to Alva where she taught elementary and special education at Longfellow Elementary for 21 years. Joretta was selected as the Longfellow Teacher of the Year in 1989. It was her goal to make her students feel good about themselves. She made positive impacts in the lives of hundreds of children. Joretta was a member of Alva First United Methodist Church, Oklahoma and National Education Associations, Oklahoma and National Associations for Children with Learning Disabilities, Council for Exceptional Children, NWOSU Alumni Association, and Chi Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma Society promoting professional and personal growth of women educators and excellence in education. She was preceded in death by her husband, Jim Buckles and by her parents, Erma and Red Shelite. Joretta is survived by her two daughters and their husbands, Brenda and Mike Ridgway, of Stillwater, and Kimberly and David Crawshaw, of Owasso; six grandchildren, Josh Ridgway and Molly (Casey) Cleary; Megan, Mason, Madden, and Mackenzie Crawshaw; cousins, nieces, nephews, other relatives, and friends. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made through the funeral home in her memory to Beadles Nursing Home or to the Alva First United Methodist Church.