Esther Buckallew McCray, 98. Our dearly beloved mother, grandmother, great grandmother and great-great grandmother went to be with her family in heaven on January 7, 2015 which would have been dad\s 100th birthday. What a party they must have had. Esther was born on May 25, 1916 to Annie Giyer and Samuel Albert Buckallew in Welch, Oklahoma.
Esther married Hubert Leo McCray in Miami, Oklahoma on August 12, 1939. Together they had fivechildren.
Mother was as tough as nails and was a hard worker all of her life. She worked on the farm in Oklahoma and in 1954 her family decided to take a two week vacation to Utah and ended up staying for two years before going back to Oklahoma on a two week vacation.
Mother loved gardening and mowing her lawn which she continued to do until her late 80\s. She was a quilter and many of us have her handiwork. She liked to sew while her vision was still good. In her early 90's she was still driving to the store close to home. Mother loved cooking for her family and friends she would say \"it\s not good unless you can fix a lot\". A couple of everyone\s most favorites were her Chicken and Dumplings (which some of us are still trying to duplicate) and her fried potatoes and Pinto beans with hot peppers from her garden in them. There was always enough food for one more at the table.
The grandchildren, friends and family always loved to listen to Grandma\s stories of her childhood and her growing up years. She always had an ice cold Coke for anyone that visited her. Mother loved and accepted everyone. She especially loved her dog, Rascal.
Esther is survived by her children: Doris (David) Quinn, Sonny-Hubert L Jr. (Jean), Cecil (Charlien), Dora (Bruce) Carter, and a sister-in-law, Georgia Buckallew. Mother considered the grandchildren\s spouses as her grandchildren also, in that case she had forty-six grandchildren, sixty-nine great grandchildren, and twenty great-great grandchildren with more on the way.
Esther was preceded in death by her husband; daughter, Wilma (Dan) Ingersoll, great-great granddaughters, sister and brothers.
Mother, we all love you and you are truly missed.
Special Thanks to \AI\ for looking after mother, \Esther Lou\ as he called mom.
Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, January 13, 2015 at 1:00 p.m. at the Larkin Sunset Lawn Mortuary, 2350 East 1300 South, Salt Lake City, Utah. Viewings will be held on Monday from 6:00-8:00 p.m. and also on Tuesday from 12:00-12:45 p.m. prior to services at the mortuary. Interment will be held in the Larkin Sunset Lawn Cemetery.
