Wanda Vivion Jennings

Wanda Vivion Jennings (February 14, 1922 - July 19, 2022), née Florence Wanda Vivion, was born in Yonkers, Oklahoma, the first-born of five children to parents Lola Pearl Vivion, née DeMoss, a teacher and instructor at the teaching college, and Thurlow “Foe” Vivion, a farmer, firefighter, and filling station owner. When Wanda was one year old, the Vivions moved to Wagoner, where Pearl and Foe had Wanda’s four siblings—Chester Wayne, Avanell, Lynadell, and Sharon Joyce.

Growing up during the Great Depression, Wanda helped her father in the family’s bountiful and perfectly manicured garden and her mother with canning and preserving the harvested crops, from which the Vivions sustained themselves and numerous other Wagoner households. Wanda excelled academically in school and was a majorette in her high school’s marching band.                                                                                                         

Gerald Dee Jennings spotted Wanda on the street as she was on her way to the soda fountain at the town drugstore. Gerald walked into the drugstore and made an inquiry about Wanda to the soda jerk, who then introduced Gerald to Wanda.

Gerald and Wanda married on June 23, 1940, and moved to Oklahoma City, where they raised two sons, Gerald Kent and Charles Thomas, and two daughters, Gloria Gayle and Carol Gay.

Wanda and Gerald owned a grocery store for several years, and Wanda later worked for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. Like her parents, Wanda and Gerald grew luxuriant gardens of fresh fruits and vegetables. Like her mother, Wanda taught an adult Sunday school class every year she lived in Oklahoma City. She continued teaching a Sunday school or a weekly Bible class into her nineties—over seventy years of teaching the Bible.

In the early 1980s, Wanda and Gerald moved to Denver and retired, spending their time fishing, square dancing, and skiing. Wanda and Gerald were married for nearly fifty years until Gerald’s death in January 1990.

After Gerald died, Wanda lived with Gloria and her children, Lance and Jordan, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, until she moved to Arkansas in 2014, where she lived with her daughter and son-in-law, Gay and Ric Atkinson.

In her last years, Wanda derived joy from being surrounded by Gay’s family, including her granddaughter Maggie, Maggie’s children Elida, Dexter, Oliver, and Arlie Pearl, and her guard dog and constant companion, Fiona. Her family was the source of her delight.

Wanda was talented at painting, sewing, making jewelry, and baking. She loved growing orchids and African violets, listening to Elvis Presley’s gospel albums, and she never turned down ice cream. Wanda lived to serve others, and her patience was inexhaustible. She was smart as a whip, as funny and sassy as the day was long, and the sparkle in her eyes revealed her infectious joy for living.

Wanda’s Christian faith was deep and abiding, and her knowledge of the Bible was astounding. Her trust in God was unwavering. It sustained her through her deepest sorrows and engendered her gratitude for the uncountable moments of happiness in her life.

Wanda is preceded in death by her husband, Gerald Dee; her sons, Gerald Kent and Charles Thomas; her brother, Wayne Vivion; her sisters, Joanna Lavonne Vivion and Sharon Tweedy; and her grandson-in-law, Chris Macchiarella.

Wanda, the adored matriarch, is survived by her daughters, Gloria Henry and Gay Atkinson; her grandchildren and their spouses, Julie and John Hewitt, Brett Jennings, Lance Henry, Jordan and Nick Ross, Maggie and Beau Estes, Samuel and Michaela Atkinson; her great-grandchildren, Hannah, Parker, Elida, Dexter, Oliver, and Arlie Pearl; her sisters, Avanell Patton and Lynn Snider; and her nieces and nephews, Rick, Jeff, Jon, Jan, Lela, Genanne, David, Gretchen, Amber, and Heather.