Dorothy Clowdus

Dorothy Clowdus passed away in her home in Chickasha, Oklahoma on June 12, 2018. Graveside services will be 10 a.m. Saturday, June 16, 2018 in the Olustee Cemetery with Johnny Tims officiating. Burial will be under the direction of Kincannon Funeral Home and Cremation Service.

Dorothy was born January 27, 1919 to Lawrence and Carrie (Beason) Jones in a small community called Victory, Oklahoma which is seven miles west of Altus. When she was one-year-old, her family moved to Porter, a community nine-miles south of Altus. Her father was a farmer; Dorothy helped her dad out on the farm by hoeing, picking and plowing cotton with two horses that pulled the cultivator, which was also used to shuck wheat.

Dorothy lived in the country, where there wasn’t much to do, so she played on haystacks, waded in the creek when it rained or fished for crawfish and perch. She didn’t have electricity or running water and had an outside toilet. She used a cistern to catch water when it rained and bathed in a #3 washtub. Dorothy joined Elmer Baptist Church when she was very young and was baptized in the Red River. She attended Porter High School, and she loved playing sports. She enjoyed basketball, tennis and volleyball. During the era when she played basketball, the women played on a court that was divided into three sections and could only dribble one-time before passing the ball.

Dorothy graduated high school in 1936. She married Neal Clowdus in 1937, who was also a farmer and worked at the Cotton Gin in Elmer. In Elmer, they went to First Baptist Church, Dorothy belonged to the Women’s Ministry United (W.M.U.) and the Elmer Home Demonstration Club. She won her first blue ribbon at the Jackson County dress review.

During the depression from 1937 - 1941, they moved to California to look for work and found employment on the railroad delivering block ice for ice boxes. In 1948, they moved to their home place in Olustee, Oklahoma. Her son Randal Clowdus was born in 1952, and her daughter Pam Clowdus Ratliff was born in 1958.

Dorothy was a stay-at-home mom until her children went to high school. Her first job outside of the home was at the Fabric Store, and then she found employment at the United Drug Store and the Western Flair, where they made western-styled clothes in the 1970s.

In 1973, Dorothy was elected as the Olustee City clerk, where she worked for 19 years. Her husband died in 1988, and her sister Pearl Richards moved in with her in Olustee. In 1992, Dorothy and Pearl moved to Chickasha, Ok to live next door to her daughter Pam. She joined Sharon Baptist Church and later attended First Baptist Church along with being a member of the Springcreek Club of Chickasha.

Dorothy Clowdus was preceded in death by her parents Lawrence and Carrie Jones, husband Neal Clowdus, sister Pearl Richards and brothers Fred and Jo Jones. She is survived by her children Randal Clowdus and Pam Clowdus Ratliff and several grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

The Clowdus family will greet friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday evening at Kincannon Funeral Home.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Olustee First Baptist Church, 615 W. 4th St, Olustee, OK 73560 or the Sharon Baptist Church, 2414 State Highway 92, Chickasha, OK 73018.

Online tributes may be made at kincannonfuneralhome.com