Jewel grew up on a farm and graduated from Lamont High School in 1948 where she was clarinetist in the band, played the piano, and was a guard on the girls’ basketball team. Throughout her marriage to Roland, she served as his loyal and supportive partner as he taught in the public schools of Fox, Velma-Alma, Norman, and Sulphur. She was also Roland’s “first lady” as he served as full-time or interim pastor of Christian Churches (Disciples of Christ) in Sulphur, Tishomingo, Pauls Valley, Ardmore, Duncan, Ada, Healdton, Weleetka, Wetumka, and Lindsay.

Jewel’s upbringing led her to use farming and gardening as tools to educate her five sons, teaching them to care for cattle, goats, sheep, pigs, geese, ducks, chickens, dogs, and cats. She continued feeding her beloved wild birds until near the end of her days.

Over the years, she served as Den Mother for Cub Scouts and volunteered at the Montessori School as well as serving as a substitute teacher at Sulphur Middle School. Jewel was a dedicated volunteer for the Arbuckle Historical Society of Sulphur, Oklahoma, for more than forty years, and served as a precinct official for the Murray County Election Board for over twenty years.

Neither Jewel nor Roland believed that some tasks were exclusively “women’s work,” so she taught her sons how to wash and dry dishes, how to wash clothes and iron them, how to cook and clean up afterwards, and how to darn socks and sew on buttons.

Jewel was preceded in death by her husband Roland; her parents; her brother, Gerald Ward Staggers; and her sister, Ava Lee Staggers Hillhouse.

She is survived by her sons, Roland Eugene, of Oklahoma City, David Lee and his wife Javonna, of Sulphur, Roger Kent and his wife Julie, of Francis, Charles Arthur and his wife Deborah, of Sulphur, and Stephen Dean and his wife Elsie, of Roanoke, Virginia. She is survived by seven grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; and one great-great grandchild. She is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews, cousins, former students, and a host of dear friends.

A family visitation was held on Tuesday, July 22, 2025 at 4:006:00 p.m. at Hale’s Funeral Home in Sulphur.

Memorial services will be held at Central Baptist Church at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, July 23, 2025. Jewel and Roland both continued service to their community after death by dedicating their bodies to the Willed Body Program at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.

In lieu of flowers or other gifts, memorial contributions may be made to:

• Arbuckle Historical Society of Sulphur, 402 W Muskogee Ave, Sulphur, OK 73086. Email address: [email protected]

• National Audubon Society, www.audubon.org

• Central Baptist Church, 116 Goddard Youth Camp Rd, Sulphur, OK 73086 Cremation Services are “entrusted to” Hale’s Funeral Home of