Darla Jayne Matter

Funeral services for Darla Jayne Matter will be Friday, July 3, 2015 at 2:00 PM at the Last Chance Baptist Church north of Okemah. Interment will follow at the Oakdale Cemetery in Paden, Oklahoma. Family will greet friends at the funeral home for viewing and visitation Thursday, July 2, 2015 from 6:00 – 8:00 PM. Darla Jayne Matter was born October 25, 1943 in Stroud, Oklahoma, the 12th child to live of Aquilla Pearl Van Cleave Haley and George Elmer Haley, and there was still another son to follow. The family moved to various places, including parts of California, trying to make a living, so Jayne attended school all over. Still, she was particularly proud that she attended and graduated from Seminole High School in May of 1961. If was briefly after that milestone when, while working, she met Joe Edgar Cheatwood from Okemah, Oklahoma. She told us it was his determination and explanation of cattle breeding that finally persuaded her to marry him on September 3, 1961 and make their home in Okemah. She’s also suggested that the wedding announcement may not have been the only time this couple made the newspaper. There may or may not have been incidents involving thrown ash trays and possibly firearms. Still, she says with his patience and her love, they both brag about the greatest thing they did together were their three children. Darla Jo Cheatwood was born, August 2, 1962 in Okemah. Her brother, Steven Dale was born August 11, 1964, but around the age of three he changed his name to Steven Dale Joe Edgar Cheatwood. The baby sister, Andrea Marschelle' Cheatwoods was born July 23, 1966 also in Okemah. When Jayne’s marriage to Joe Edgar ended, she moved to Oklahoma City and later married Donald Lee Williams. With him, she had her fourth child, her baby boy, Cody Lee Williams, born in Oklahoma City, March 15, 1971. Jayne was a hardworking, loving, caring and compassionate woman who struggled in so many ways but on a daily basis seeking a better life for herself and her children. This brought about many relocations, job changes and multiple relationships and other marriages. If asked recently of her last marriage that ended more than 15 years ago, or how to pronounce her last name, she always laughed and said, “it doesn’t matter, M-A-T-T-E-R”. She spent hours on her feet in the factories, night shifts waiting tables in truck stops for little pay and even less respect and time as a care assistance providing for the needy and dependent. If her children needed something, she found the means to get it, despite her over worked body. As grandchildren began to arrive; she discovered a new joy. She had a deep and special relationship with each and every one of them, whether they were born into the family or added by relationships. She was their Grandma Jayne. Her grandchildren born into the family were Kelli Rene Willis, Stacy Deanne Willis, Landon Keith Willis, Crysten Codi Cheatwood, Christopher Dallas Borjon, Casandra Austin Borjon, Stephen John Dylan Cheatwood, Josephynne Pearl Cheatwood, B. Maisie Reanne Cheatwood, KyLee Jayne Williams and Addyson May Williams. David Eugene James, Jr. came to call her Grandma Jayne almost 20 years ago and there was also Candace Odessa Bahr and Julie Carol Jones. Brayden Wayne Sorrell was also an added grandson she adored and it made her proud to say that Nelson Gunnar Varner was a grandson as well. There was also Alana Crystal Hatt and Kristin Kay Fisher, not of the family, but who loved to be one of Grandma Jayne’s grandchildren. Her great-grandchildren are a blended mix as well. Her oldest great-grandson is Jesse James McCollum followed by Callie Jo Borjon, and her newest is Emmy Jo Watkins. Others who have been added are Trinity Odessa Bahr, Heaven Ann Bahr Epperson, Jacob Tayler Howard, Trenton Orion Howard, Hope Rae Bahr, Cherish Alayna Bahr, Brennan D. Bahr and Annabelle Carlee Jones. Still others who have loved Grandma Jayne as they became a part of her family. They are Paige Nicole Cossey, Madalen Brooke Apple, Tanner Lee Apple and Brody Dale Apple. After her retirement from Mrs. Smith’s Bakery, she returned to Okemah to be closer to grown children. She had been away for over 35 years. Still, she was happy making a new home with new pets. She has left behind her baby Malia, a black Chihuahua Yorkie mix. Besides her family, Jayne loved to sew, quilt, embroidery and play cards. She was an avid reader and could finish a novel in 48 hours reading 4 books every week. If not in her sewing room or reading chair, she’d have a can of spray paint and duct tape working on her latest DIY project. Saturday, June 27, 2015, she died peacefully at home, after her lengthy battle with lung and kidney disease and was surrounded by love and family, just as she said she wanted. Her bravery, courage and perseverance is our inheritance, if we will only accept and act on it.. She is preceded in death by both parents; brothers, James Lowell Haley, Glenn Allen Haley and Carroll Vance Haley and sisters, Norma Jean Haley, infant Yvonne Haley and Donna Marie Haley Schoefield. Survivors include her children, Darla Jo Cheatwood of Okemah, Steven Cheatwood and Rhona of Buckeye, Andrea Cheatwood James and David of Nuyaka and Cody Williams and Krissi of Yukon. She is also survived by the numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren and her sisters, Lena Geneva Haley Bywater and Thomas of Mid Fairfield, Connecticut and Julia Ann Haley Plum of Paden, Oklahoma; her brothers, Donald Dean Haley and Carolyn of Sulphur, Oklahoma, Reese Leon Haley and Donna of Three Fort, Montana, Steven Dan Haley and Carol of Plummer, Oklahoma, Richard Van Haley and Vickie of Shawnee, Oklahoma, Phillip Marshone Haley and Faye of Gridley, California and William David Haley and Vicey of Madill, Oklahoma. Services will be under the direction of Parks Brothers Funeral Home, Okemah and officiated by Rev. Donald Baker. Serving as active pallbearers will be Landon Willis, Gunnar Varner, Dylan Cheatwood, Davey James, Christopher Borjon and Brayden Sorrell. Honorary bearers include Joe Cheatwood, Dale Cheatwood and Jesse McCollum.

Darla Jayne Matter

October 25, 1943 - June 27, 2015