Jeanette Hortense Webster

Jeanette Hortense (Gall) Webster 93, passed from this life in Claremore, Oklahoma on February 5, 2023. Jeanette was born on December 7, 1929, at the family farm near Turney, Missouri to Clifton and Mary Hortense Gall. Jeanette and her mother shared the same birth date; a date seared into the nation’s collective memory with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

 Jeanette moved with her family from Missouri to Falls City, Nebraska in 1939. The family moved again during World War II, to Oklahoma City as her father’s business developed. Jeanette graduated from Oklahoma City’s Classen High School in 1947. She went on to the University of Oklahoma where she double majored in Mathematics and Art receiving a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1952. A believer in the value of education, Jeanette also took courses at Oklahoma City University, the University of Colorado and Rogers State University.

 Jeanette’s first professional job was in the Exploration Department of Shell Oil Company out in Midland, Texas conducting analysis of seismic data. Her job title was seismic computer. After being a member of the corporate world for a couple of years Jeanette returned to Oklahoma City where she engaged in post-graduate work at Oklahoma City University.

 Jeanette met Arthur Webster in a Sunday School class, at Saint Luke's United Methodist Church in Oklahoma City. The couple married on August 14, 1959. Jeanette and Arthur celebrated a total of 45 years together before his death in 2005. 

Arthur’s job moved the couple to Claremore in 1960 where Arthur taught in the public schools for 35 years. Jeanette worked for the Rogers County Surveyor’s office in 1960-61 before becoming a full-time homemaker with the arrival of her first son.

 Jeanette lived an active life in the community, busy with the school activities of three sons, Cub and Boy Scouts, church activities, and hosting several students from foreign lands through the American Field Service (AFS) Program. 

From the early years until declining health forced a move to Claremore Nursing Home, Jeanette liked to travel and record her adventures including a trip to the Holy Lands. In her later years, Jeanette’s constant companion was a video camera so she could serve as a voluntary videographer. Her devotion and life of service to her family, friends, church, and community will always be remembered. 

Jeanette is survived by two sons, Clifton Webster and family, of Aledo, TX; Andrew Webster and family of Claremore, OK; sister, Mary Alice Caywood of Honolulu, HI; and a host of extended family. She was preceded in death by her husband, Arthur Webster; son Alfred Webster, and parents Clifton and Hortense Gall. 

A Celebration of Life service will be held at the Claremore First United Methodist Church on March 14 th . In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Claremore First United Methodist Church where Jeannette was a member for over fifty years.