Darla Jo Harrel
Darla Jo Harrel
Darla Jo Allen Harrel, 81, passed from this earthly life on Sept. 21, 2024, surrounded by her family.
Jo was born Oct. 26, 1942, in Trail to Loney and Wilford Allen.
Jo was the third of four daughters and she had a lively childhood with her sisters on the farm.
She attended Trail School from first through fourth grade and then attended Camargo Schools. She played basketball and liked to go dancing during her high school years.
After graduating from Camargo High School in 1960, Jo attended Southwestern Oklahoma State University for one year before transferring to Oklahoma State University. She graduated from OSU in 1964 with a degree in education.
Jo married Celo Jackson Harrel on Oct. 5, 1963.
During their sixty years of marriage, they made homes in several communities always staying close to western Oklahoma and their families. They had three children, Rona (1967), Russell (1969) and Monte (1974). The family moved around with Jack’s jobs, with long stays in Mooreland (1977-1985) and Kingfi sher (1985-2008).
Jo and Jack moved to Stillwater in 2008. They enjoyed many adventures together, including trips to Colorado; Raton, New Mexico; Florida; Hawaii; California and an epic houseboat adventure on Lake Powell. Over the years they enjoyed dancing, raising bulldog puppies and attending Cowgirl basketball games. For their 50th anniversary they took the entire family on a cruise. Jo thought it was a perfect way to celebrate.
Jo worked as a teacher at Thomas, Yukon, Leedey and Kingfisher. She especially enjoyed her many years at Gilmour Elementary School in Kingfisher, where she made lifelong friends and retired from teaching in 2001. Her favorite age to teach was fourth grade.
Jo devoted her life to her family, including the grandchildren when they came along. She spent many hours reading books to her children and grandchildren.
An avid life-long learner, she enjoyed reading all types of books and loved journaling her activities and writing letters to friends and family. She liked to tell everyone that “bored” was not a word in her dictionary and she did not understand people who became bored. There was always something to be done.
No description of Jo’s life would be complete without mentioning what a great baker and cook she was. Her chocolate chip cookies, chocolate covered peanut butter balls and homemade noodles are family legends. There’s nothing she loved more than having a pack of kids to feed and the door to her house was always open to friends of her children and grandchildren.
Jo’s lifelong love of basketball started as a child, when her dad put a basketball goal up on their barn so all four girls could practice as much as they wanted. She followed various teams throughout her life and the OSU Cowgirls have lost one of their best fans. Whenever Jack and Jo moved to a new location, Jo always made sure a basketball goal was installed.
Other activities Jo enjoyed were sewing, walking with her friends, going to garage sales and picking up Colorado peaches from the peach truck every summer and sharing them with friends.
Jo’s greatest legacy is the consistent and unconditional love she showed to her family and friends. She preferred to live quietly and serve behind the scenes.
She followed God’s ways and tried to help her family in any way possible. She spent hours praying for her kids, grandkids, friends and other family members. She often sent encouragement in the form of a Bible verse, weather report or a pep talk via letter or text.
Jo loved the holidays, or anytime the family would gather. She was very proud of Jack, her children, and the grandchildren and she was an avid fan of whatever sport or activity each grandchild was involved in. Most recently, she took great joy in the arrival of grandchild Aaron Celo.
Jo was preceded in death by her parents, sister Willa Dean “Tootsie” Arnold and brother-in-law Jerry Arnold, brother-in-law Jr. Hazelbaker and brother-inlaw Jerry Don Myers.
Jo is survived by her husband Jack Harrel, daughter Rona Tracy and husband Dan of Stillwater, son Russell Harrel and wife Suzi of San Diego, son Monte Harrel and wife Brooke of Oologah, and grandchildren Reece Harrel, Raegan Harrel, Celo Harrel, Rio Harrel, Cal Tracy, Tess Tracy and Willa Tracy; sisters Connie Hazelbaker and Vicki Myers and a host of relatives and friends.
Services were held Friday, Sept. 27, 2024 at the Leedey Harvest Fellowship Church with burial following at the Shirley Cemetery. Condolences may be made to the family at shawfuneralhome. net.
Services were under the direction of Shaw Funeral Home of Leedey.
Memorials may be made to Sunnybrook Christian Church, Stillwater, OK (Specify the Down Home Ranch mission fund), or to the Shirley Cemetery Fund in care of Shaw Funeral Home, P.O. Box 276, Vici, OK 73859. The Down Home Ranch is a working ranch for adults with intellectual disabilities.