Nancy Stuckey
Stuckey, Nancy Lee (Hunter), age 84, of Burlington passed away Monday evening April 12, 2021, at 7:07 p.m.
She was preceded in death by her parents Ernest Melville Hunter and Ellen Isabel (Hendrickson) Hunter, Burlington, and her sister Carol Rosemary (Hunter) McOsker and husband Perry McOsker, Alva.
Nancy is survived by her husband, Harvie Max Stuckey, of the home, and son Kent and husband Joseph (Watson) Stuckey, Wichita, Kan.; her sister Melva Ellen (Hunter) and husband Robert Armbruster, Kiowa, Kan. Three nieces: Marsha and husband Jerry Smith, Alva; Cheryl and husband John Granzo, Belding, MI; Kate and husband Craig Maloney, Hooker. Three nephews: Jeff and wife Charita McOsker, Alva; Steve Stoddard, Flushing, MI; Andy Armbruster and husband Benjamin Smith, St. Louis, MO; And many grand and great-grand nieces and nephews.
Nancy was born at the Hunter home on December 24, 1936 in Gage, Ellis County. Through her years of primary and secondary school she attended both Gage and Arnett schools, and graduated high school in Gage. She enrolled in college at Northwestern State College (which later became Northwestern Oklahoma State University in 1974) to pursue a bachelor’s degree in education.
During that time, her parents moved to Burlington in 1956, where her dad became superintendent, and her mom worked in the office of the Burlington School District.
After completing of her degree, Nancy began her teaching career in the Byron-Driftwood School District, where she taught elementary education for two years. She wanted to get experience as a teacher on her own before working under her dad. She then took a teaching position at Burlington School where she taught forty-one years until her retirement.
Nancy was certified to teach English / Language Arts, Mathematics, and Library Science classes, with most of her classes in the area of English / Language Arts. Her students learned spelling, reading, grammar, and literature. In her classes, students also learned respect, confidence, a greater command of the English language, and self-worth. Many of her students will remember specific instances that helped them become better people.
For several years, she was director for the Junior/Senior plays, and she was also a sponsor for the Academic Bowl groups at Burlington School District.
After forty-three years teaching, Nancy retired. She then became active in the Oklahoma Retired Teachers Association. During this time, she was President of the Alfalfa County Retired Teachers Association and the Northwest Oklahoma Retired Teachers District Officer. This work had her traveling to most of the counties in northwest Oklahoma for their county meetings. Nancy got to know many other retired teachers in this time. She was always social and enjoyed meeting people. She also traveled to Oklahoma City for the executive meetings of the Oklahoma Retired Teachers Association. Nancy loved being able to help other retired teachers.
Nancy and her family were active in the Burlington Christian Church for many years. In later years, she and Max became members of the First Christian Church in Cherokee, OK, where she taught a Sunday School class and loved working with the Christian Women’s Fellowship (CWF) of the church. She was always cooking and bringing food to many of the church group events. Nancy had a strong faith in God and her Savior, Jesus.
Nancy was proud of her heritage, of growing up in Ellis County. Even decades later, she remembered people, their families, their faces. Her clarity of detail was astounding. Her students and family would always go to Mrs. Stuckey for information about something she knew.
She was also fascinated with her ancestry in the Scottish Clan of Hunter, dating back to the 12th Century. Nancy understood the balance of learning from your past, looking toward the future, and living in the moment. She touched many lives through her dedication to education and life of serving others.