Beverly "Kay" Latch

Oklahoma’s Honky Tonk angel, Beverly Kay Latch, passed away peacefully on August 9th in Austin TX after a courageous second bout with cancer.



Beverly Kay Strain was born in Okemah, OK to Leara and Owen “Tuffy” Strain on September 26, 1936. The Strain family moved to Claremore when Kay was 6 years old, where Kay went through all her school years and became a very proud member of the Claremore High School Zebra class of 1954. (Kay loved the class so much she wrote a song about her class, which she would serenade them often at their monthly meetings).



Kay achieved many awards throughout her school years, including Junior class homecoming queen, Oratory scholarship winner and Miss Claremore. Kay attended a few years at Oklahoma State University (or Oklahoma A&M to Kay), where she was selected as The Aggie Princess as well as the Queen of A&M’s Dairy Science Club. Kay was also a proud member of Pi Beta Phi and the Eastern Star chapter in Claremore. Unfortunately Kay’s love of bridge minimized her time in the classroom and prompted her Father to invite her back home to work. Kay quickly adjusted her chair and worked in Tulsa, starting at Warren Petroleum.




As a young professional she was introduced to Bob Latch, whom Kay married in 1958 and had 3 children. They raised their family in Tulsa until their divorced in 1982. Kay remained a hard worker and vowed to master the new world of computers in her job as Administrative Assistant at Green Power resources and in HR at Matrix Service Company. Kay worked at Matrix for 17 years before retiring to enjoy time in her yard and with dear friends in Claremore and Tulsa.



For the past 25 years Kay has also enjoyed many fun times and travels with her life companion, Gerald Jones, and remained “compadres” through the end of her cancer journey. Kay is preceded in death by some amazing elders, including Leara Strain, Owen “Tuffy” Strain, Uncle Homer Wilcox and Aunt Opal Wilcox. Kay is survived by her compadre, Gerald Jones, as well as her three kids: son Robert Latch and wife Lily and son Anderson, son Scott Latch, and daughter Brenda Laguarta and husband Graydon Laguarta and Grandchildren Alex, Graydon and Lucy Laguarta.



Funeral services will take place on Wednesday, August 16th at 11:00am at the First Christian Church, 200 E 5th St, in Claremore, OK. The family would like to extend special thanks to the Brookdale community in Austin, TX – both the caregivers in Assisted living as well as the Brookdale Hospice team that helped keep Kay as comfortable as possible towards the end of her cancer journey.

In Lieu of Flowers donations can be made to "The Little Lighthouse" http://www.littlelighthouse.org/