Virginia Ann Dell

Virginia “Ann” (Kemper) Dell passed away on May 30, 2025. Ann was born in Tulsa, OK on November 9, 1940. She is predeceased by her parents, Harrison Henry Kemper and Margaret Irene Sommer, and her brother Thomas Marvin Kemper. She was raised in Oklahoma City. She attended Putnam City Schools, St. Patrick grade school and Bishop McGuinness High School, where she met her future husband, Brian Maurice Dell. They were married in 1961 and had three children. Ann worked as a cytotechnologist for Medical Arts Laboratory for more than 15 years before attending college. She obtained a bachelor’s degree in French, and master’s and Ph.D. degrees in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. After three years of postdoctoral research at the OU Health Sciences Center and the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, she taught at the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics for 25 years. From 2006-2008, she served as an appointed member of the Oklahoma State Textbook Commission. Ann and Brian were instrumental in starting the Mesta Park Neighborhood Association in the early 1970s and were active in that organization for 41 years. Ann enjoyed taking water aerobics at the YMCA, participating in her neighborhood book club, gardening, and attending French conversation events. She also loved music, especially bluegrass, cooking and baking as well as sewing and knitting. Ann left an indelible mark on this earth and will be sorely missed by her family, friends, and students. She is survived by her husband, Brian Maurice Dell, her children, Vickie Dell (Jean-Baptiste Casse); Louis Patrick Dell (Maria Dones Dell); and Sarah Rose Dell (Philip Knecht), as well as eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her sister, Cynthia M. Kent and numerous other much-loved family.

A Requiem Mass will be celebrated at St. Joseph Old Cathedral (307 N.W. 4th St.) on June 21, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. For those who cannot attend the Mass (and for those who do), a memorial/reception will follow at the OSSM Library (1141 N. Lincoln Blvd.) at 2:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to your local PBS station.