Christie Jo Worley

Mrs. Christie Jo Roberts Worley passed away peacefully at home last Thursday morning, December 12th 2019. On Christmas Day she would have been 97 years old. She was born in 1922 in Clarendon, TX, daughter of the late Josie Conn Roberts and John Lee Roberts. Christie grew up as a child of the depression, with her formative years in Stratford, Texas during the dust bowl. She had a large extended family including one step sibling, nine half siblings, and four siblings, who were hearty west Texas ranchers. This upbringing in a depression era farming community where she picked cotton as a child, and rode out tornadoes in ditches with her closest sibling, Ruth, forever shaped Christie into a strong-willed, determined, hardworking, and self-sufficient woman. She worked extremely diligently all her life to make sure she was never lacking as she was during the depression. She was particular about her personal care, professional presence and dressing presentation, as she believed these to reflect and represent herself and her family. Christie Jo was a devoted wife to her husband, Roy, a WWII Army veteran, and spent many years traveling with him all over the US throughout his training before his deployment to the China Burma theater. Through this time, she found a job wherever they were, and worked the entire time Roy was deployed. Christie Jo had a variety of professions throughout her 76-year work history including office manager at the Stockyard and Livestock Auction, and El Paso Natural Gas in Texhoma, OK and a legal secretary in Stratford, TX where she met her husband Roy. She also worked as an editor for a book company in Houston, TX, office manager for the county agricultural extension, office manager for the Federal Land Bank, and pastor's secretary at Victory Memorial United Methodist Church in Guymon, OK. Most recently she worked 39 years in accounting for a radiology practice in Oklahoma City, OK.Christie Jo worked tirelessly throughout her life to ensure her daughter and grandchildren had every opportunity. She was committed to ensuring they could pursue their artistic, educational, and athletic passions. As a parent, she passed her own love of music and performance to her daughter, Connie. Christie Jo loved to sing, dance, and play the piano and taught herself all three through her favorite movies with Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire. Her first singing and tap dancing performance to "Anchor's Away" was in a white satin sailor suit costume made by her mother. This routine won her several regional talent contests. She was also selected as the vocal soloist at her high school baccalaureate and sang regularly at events in the area. Through her mother's encouragement and support, Connie went on to become a performing arts professional with many musical and pageant achievements. Christie Jo even sewed many of her daughter's costumes and clothes by hand, utilizing another of her many skills as an expert seamstress passed down from her mother.Christie Jo carried this same passion in her love and devotion to her three grandchildren. She was an instrumental part of their upbringing, picking them up from school, and preparing home-cooked meals multiple times a week while still working full-time herself. She is remembered fondly for her extravagant holiday home-cooked meals, and made from scratch chocolate cream and cherry pies. She acquired a family membership to the Sportsman's Country Club in Oklahoma City, specifically so her grandchildren could have a place to learn to swim. They have all become avid swimmers and recreational water athletes proving her efforts meaningful. Christie Jo and Roy never missed a sports game, arts performance, or awards banquet for their daughter, Connie, or any of their three beloved grandchildren. Christie Jo was very proud of her grandson's service in the Marine Corps, carrying on the commitment to service that Roy had during World War II. There was nothing she wouldn't do for him. It was also extremely meaningful to her that Brigitte became a physician, since Roy was called away to service in World War II after completing his first year of medical school. She was also extremely proud of her youngest daughter's athletic prowess as Grandma always spoke of how adept she herself was at free throws and loved watching sports. Christie related to Briana's professional accomplishments and believed that Briana pursuing mathematics was incited by her own numerical aptitude. Christie Jo was a devoted Christian woman throughout her life, a legacy she carried on from her mother, who was a strong Christian woman in her own right. She sang in the church choir from an early age through her 80's, and continued to enjoy singing hymns even in her final days. She was a Worthy Matron and state officer in the Order of the Eastern Star. She also held many leadership positions regionally based in Guymon, OK, including President of the garden flower club, President of the United Methodist Women, President of the Ladies Auxiliary of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, leader in the band boosters, and was instrumental in helping to form the Guymon Little Theater.She loved to play dominos and bridge and never tired of card games with her grandchildren. She hosted dinner bridge clubs at her house throughout the years, which was easy for her, since she meticulously kept her house and herself at all times, ensuring everything was in place and looked beautiful. She seemed to never tire. Every day she made sure she was dressed completely with every curled hair precisely placed and ready to go wherever her daughter or grandchildren wanted or needed while working a full workweek for more than 70 years. She drove Connie all over the state, to lessons and competitions to ensure she got every opportunity, even if it meant driving through the night.Christie Jo was also a true animal lover, who never failed to adopt a stray animal. Her most favorite dogs were Gigi, her poodle, Blondie, her cocker spaniel, Fellar, her sheltie, and Judge, her adopted mut. She also got her grandchildren a Siamese cat named Mia and Briana's favorite pets, her snow-white rabbits Fluffy and Sugar.She had a legendary green thumb, with immaculate flowerbeds, a full garden in her backyard, and numerous indoor ferns and plants. She enjoyed gardening into her late 80's, and produced many of the delicious vegetables she would use in her home-cooked meals right from her own garden.She was preceded in death by her devoted husband of 58 years, Roy Delmar Worley, all 14 of her siblings, and her infant son, John Paul. She is survived by her daughter, Connie Sallee, and husband, Richard; her grandchildren, Briana Sallee, and fiancé, Jason Toth; Brigitte Sallee, and husband, Blaise Didier; Erik Sallee, wife, Kathryn, and great granddaughter, Eleanor. As a beloved mother and grandmother, she will be dearly missed. She was deeply involved in her family's lives as an ever-present supportive influence.