Shirley Fuksa & Laddie Fuksa
Shirley Ann (Green) Fuksa was born March 13, 1938, to Andrew Oren Green and Vera Pauline (Lightle) Green in Lovell. Due to CHF, Shirley, also known as Margret to family in Texas, went home to be with the Lord on Aug 27, 2020.
Laddie Louis Fuksa was born on April 11, 1934, to Louis Paul Fuksa and Bessie Lillie (Simunek) in Hennessey. Due to a short battle with sepsis, Laddie went home to be with his Lord and his beloved wife Shirley on Oct. 20, 2020.
Shirley grew up in Dover, working on the family farm and helping her mother with her younger siblings, Jimmy Green, Sue Garlett, Fern Wiggs, Gene Green and Debbie Lack.
She truly loved her family and told stories of their lives often.
She attended school at Dover where she played basketball. She always had fun with all her classmates and truly enjoyed adventures with her best friend Rosie (Kudlac) Moore, especially trying to decipher letters from Rosie’s crazy cousin named Laddie, who was in the Army.
Laddie grew up working on the Fuksa family farm east of Hennessey with his parents and brother William (Bill) Fuksa.
He attended St Joseph’s Catholic School in Hennessey where he said the nuns sure knew how to swat his knuckles with a ruler. He graduated from Hennessey High School where he had participated in basketball and played trombone in the band.
Laddie enlisted in the Army after graduation in 1954. He was proud to serve his country and was planning to make the military his life’s career when his lungs were injured while parachuting out of a plane, leading him to contract pneumonia with lifelong repercussions of lung issues.
His dad needed him to come home and help with the family farm, so Laddie headed back to Hennessey.
Shirley and Laddie were married Dec. 27, 1956, at St Joseph’s Catholic Church in Hennessey.
They started their life together by moving to Okmulgee so Laddie could attend OSU Tech and receive his degree in industrial electronics. They then moved to Fort Worth, Texas, where Laddie worked on aircraft at the General Dynamics plant.
Shirley (Aunt Margret) helped her neighbors, Roy and Lilly Urbanosky, with their nine children. They become lifelong friends.
In May 1962 while in Fort Worth, they opened their hearts and home to a 3-year-old boy from Ireland, James J. Fuksa, who became their first child. In the summer of 1964, they again opened their hearts and home to a baby girl, Caroll. (Fuksa) Harrison.
By this time the couple had moved back to Kingfisher County and purchased a farm near Lacey where they remained until moving to Hennessey in their later years.
They were always active with their children, whether it was being a Cub/ Boy Scout leader, Brownie/Girl Scout leader, 4-H and FFA parents, band parents, cheerleader parent... they were always there to support their children no matter what direction they chose in life.
Laddie was a fourth degree in Knights of Columbus and they started the firstbranch of TOPS (Taking Off Pounds Sensibly) Club in Hennessey. Shirley was crowned TOPS queen at their national convention.
Laddie and Shirley were preceded in death by their parents, Laddie’s brother Bill and wife Gerita Fuksa, Shirley’s siblings Jimmy Green, Gene Green and bother-in-law Neil Garlett.
They leave behind their son James Joseph Fuksa (aka Pickle) of Dover, their daughter Carol J. Harrison and husband Kevin R. Harrison of Dover, grandson Colton Harrison and wife Melissa of Kingfisher, granddaughter Kassie Swanson and husband Tanner of Dover, granddaughter Kaliegh Kastner and husband Keith of Cashion, and grandson Colby Harrison of Stillwater.
They truly adored their great-grandchildren Lauren Roach-Harrison, Hagen Harrison Swanson, Brooklyn Martin-Harrison, Kasen Kastner, Kohen Kastner, Haliegh Swanson, Kayci Harrison, Kendon Kastner and Holden Swanson. They were blessed to also have two great-great-grandchildren, Jentry Harrison and Josiah Hernandez.
They also left behind countless beloved family and friends they cherished with all their hearts.
They had requested to be cremated and have their services together when they both had passed. I’m delighted and heart stricken that they went so close together.
A memorial will be 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 23, at the Omega Baptist Church, 424 E. 790 Road, Omega, OK 73764.