Shirley Wynell Boudreaux

Funeral services for Wynell will be held on Sunday, September 8, 2024, at 2:00pm at MMS-Payne Funeral Home Chapel. Visitation will be held from 1:00pm-2:00pm before the funeral service. Wynell will be laid to rest next to her husband, Claude Boudreaux at Woodlawn Cemetery in Claremore. 

 Shirley Wynell Boudreaux, known to many as Wynell, was born on August 27, 1947, in Downey, California, to John and Shirley (Neal) Collins. She grew up in Norwalk, California, and graduated from Excelsior High School in 1965.

 After high school, Wynell dedicated herself to raising a family. She suffered the heartache of losing two baby girls in infancy, but her son, Rob Blanchette, kept her heart alive and strong. When Rob was seven, they moved to Claremore, Oklahoma, an area near the Collins family roots. Wynell started working at Wood Manor Nursing Home as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), a job where she found her passion for helping others. During this time, Wynell met and married Claude Boudreaux. Claude’s work took them to Wichita Falls, Texas, where Wynell continued working in healthcare, this time in home health. Later, they returned to Claremore, where Wynell worked at the Cherokee Bingo Parlor and then Hard Rock Casino as a floor supervisor for many years. She loved her job and the friends she made there. They loved her too and thrilled her with recent visits. They extolled her as the sweetest person they ever knew. On the job and in general she had a keen eye for spotting problems and solving them in creative ways when needed, never shying away from a challenge. While her co-workers and later, caregivers, saw her serious side and her sweet side, she regularly toppled them with hilarity. Wherever she landed she quickly became a favorite.

 Wynell was preceded in death by her parents; her children, Kimberly and Dawn Blanchette; her brothers, Terry, Randy, and John Collins, Jr.; her husband, Claude Boudreaux, and brothers-in-law Don, Duane and Gary Boudreaux.

 She is survived by her son, Rob Blanchette and wife Jane; her grandchildren, Dusty, Peyton, and Sam Blanchette; great-granddaughter, Jakalynn Blanchette; her brother, Greg Collins and wife Nancy; her niece, Meagan Collins; and nephew, John Collins, III. Also brother-in-law Charles Boudreaux and wife Cynthia, and sisters-in-law Mary Boudreaux and Lori Boudreaux.