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View Testimonials
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Edward & Carla Blackwell
(Owners)
In December of 2006 after having managed the funeral homes for three years Edward
and Carla Blackwell purchased the Dugger Funeral Homes in Tonkawa and Blackwell,
Oklahoma. Renaming them respectfully, Tonkawa Funeral Home and Blackwell Funeral
Home after the towns they are in.
Edward is a native
of Livingston, Texas. He is the son of the late Pat Applin Blackwell, formerly of
Blackwell, Oklahoma and the late Mary L. (Alloway) Blackwell of Lumberton, Texas.
Edward’s aunt, Lois (Blackwell) Fessenden, was a life-long resident of Blackwell,
where she was a realtor, wrote a weekly article “Dooles” for the Blackwell Journal
and was very active in the community.
 After graduating from Coldspring High School, Coldspring, Texas
in 1965, he attended Massey Business College getting a degree in drafting.
He served in the United States Army for three years, attaining the rank of Supply
Sergeant and served one year in Vietnam. He is a licensed funeral director
and embalmer in Oklahoma and Texas; he is also a licensed life insurance agent in
Oklahoma and Texas. He is a member of the Oklahoma and the National Funeral Directors
Association.
He is a member of
the Blackwell Rotary and Lions Club, Blackwell V.F.W. Post #2855, and serves on
the Blackwell Tourism Board. He is a member of the Tonkawa Lions Club (President
2009), Tonkawa American Legion Post #71, Tonkawa Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors
and past President, Masonic Lodge #157 of Tonkawa for which he is the Worshipfull
Master of the Masonic Lodge this year and deacon of the
First Baptist Church Tonkawa where he serve’s on the Personal and Elevator
Committee and is chairman of the men’s brotherhood breakfast. He served on
the ALPHA II board of directors for two and a half years as Vice President. Also
he is a member of the Lamont Lions Club in Lamont, OK.
Edward and Carla where
married April 2, 1966 in the First Baptist Church in Grapeland, Texas. They have
two sons, John and his wife, Ginny and their children, Travis and Cooper of Buffalo,
Texas; Technical Sgt. Michael and his wife, Tonya and their children McKenzie and
Kade of Francis E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming; their daughter, Susan
and her husband, Daniel Greak and their children Nathan and Cullen of Liberty, Texas.
Carla is a native
of Houston, Texas and is the daughter of the late Louis J. Wilson and the late Eunice
F. (Mathews) Wilson. She is a 1965 graduate of Grapeland High School, Grapeland,
Texas and a 1966 graduate of Massey Business College, Lufkin, Texas.
Carla operated a childcare
business in her home for fifteen years; then sold fine jewelry for Foley’s in Houston,
Texas before coming to work in the funeral business with Edward in 1999. She
is a member of the P.E.O., Blackwell Lions Club, the Tonkawa
Garden Club and the First Baptist Church Tonkawa.
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Velva Goodman
(Blackwell Office Manager)
Velva Goodman works part time helping with funerals, visitation and the office.
Velva Goodman works full time as the office manager at the Blackwell Funeral Home.
Velva was born October 31, 1971 in Fort Smith, Arkansas to Homer Jones and Lee Newkirk.
She grew up in Sapulpa, Oklahoma where she graduated from Sapulpa High School. Through
previous marriages she has three children, Courtney Daniell Swafford, Nathan Ryan
Lantz, and Desiree Ann Lantz. She moved to the Blackwell area in 1993. She has worked
in many locations through out the Ponca City and Blackwell area as well as selling
Avon and baking cakes from her home. Velva
and her family attend the Christ’s Church in Blackwell Oklahoma.
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 Billie Lou Whitehead
(Support Staff)
Billie Lou Whitehead works part time helping with funerals, visitation and the
office.
Billie was born at Lamont, Oklahoma to William “Bill” and Florence (Bennett) Cowen.
At the age of three, she moved with her family to a farm near Eddy, Oklahoma.
She attended Pleasant View (Old Red Top) School and transferred to Lamont School
District when she was in the seventh grade. Billie is a 1952 graduate of Lamont
High School. She was a Rainbow Girl in the Lamont Assembly.
She and Milo
Whitehead were married February 14, 1951 and made their home on the family farm
between Medford and Lamont, Oklahoma where they still live.
Billie worked
five years as a checker at Hub Food in Medford then went to work for the Grant County
Bank in Medford, where she worked for 27 ½ years. She held many positions
being an assistant cashier when she retired in 1999. She was a part time employee
of Dugger Funeral Home in Tonkawa and Blackwell, Oklahoma for three years before
it sold to the Blackwell's.
Billie is a
member of the First Christian Church in Lamont and is a former member of the Willing
Workers Home Demonstration Club. She says she is very fortunate to have her family
living close to her.
She and Milo
are parents of one daughter, Maxie Kay Skaggs and her husband, Lyndal; two sons,
Brad Whitehead and his wife, Jil and Ross Whitehead and his wife, Sherri, all of
Lamont, Oklahoma; also six grandsons, three granddaughters, four step-granddaughters,
two great-grandsons, Kelton Proctor, Isaiah Kerr; three great-granddaughters, Kinsey
Proctor, Liberty Davis, Zoe’ Cain. Billie has one brother Jack Cowen in Oklahoma
City.
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