Theresa Spencer Isbell, of Yale, passed away at Charlton Methodist Hospital in Dallas, Texas on Monday, Aug. 4, 2008, at the age of 84. She was staying with her granddaughter, April Isbell Salas, while recovering from surgery.
She was a familiar face to anyone who has walked through the doors of Yale First Baptist Church in the past few years, always ready with a hug for the adults and a lollipop–and more hugs–for the kids.
Funeral services for Theresa have been entrusted to the Palmer Marler Funeral Home in Yale and will be held at 10:00 a.m. Friday, August 8, 2008, at Yale First Baptist Church. Burial will follow in the Lawson Cemetery, Yale, OK.
Theresa was born to Andrew and Jennie MacDonald Spencer on Feb. 16, 1924 in Gloucester, Mass., and moved with her family to Tulsa, Okla., in 1938, graduating from Central High School in Tulsa.
She married Grant Isbell, Jr., on Oct. 24, 1942, in Tulsa, and graduated from Oklahoma School of Accountancy in 1944. Theresa and Grant moved their family to Drumright in 1966 and then to Yale in 1973.
Theresa worked off and on as an accountant throughout her life, but her passion was always her family, including her three children, 10 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. She was very active in her children’s lives, serving as a Girl Scout, Cub Scout and Boy Scout leader, as a member of the Yale PTA and also the Yale High School Booster Club.
Theresa was also passionate about serving the Lord, and was active in every church with which she was associated, from her Catholic roots in Gloucester, Mass.; to Memorial Baptist Church, in Tulsa, where she was a founding member; to Plainview Baptist Church, also in Tulsa, where she taught girls’ Sunday School; to Drumright First Baptist Church, where she was director of the junior high group; to Yale First Baptist Church, where she helped with Vacation Bible School, was assistant director of the Adult Sunday School Department and was director of the Homebound Ministry.
Theresa enjoyed visiting the church’s homebound members, at home or in the hospital, taking them their Sunday School study guides and sending them birthday, get well and Christmas cards for the past 13 years. It also brought her an enormous amount of joy to serve as a greeter every Sunday morning, welcoming people as they came through the doors at Yale First Baptist Church, and presenting each child with a lollipop.
“I like the hugs I get in return, and seeing the kids’ smiling faces,” Theresa said in January.
Theresa is survived by her sister, Ruth Savarino of Chandler, Ariz.; her son, Brian Isbell, and his wife, Sherry, of Houston, Texas; her daughter, Sharon Fauquher, and her husband, Tom, of Santa Clarita, Calif.; her 10 grandchildren; and her four great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Grant Isbell, Jr.; and her son, Grant Isbell III.
Condolences and an online guestbook are available at www.palmarlerfh.com.
