Frank Malcolm Jay
11 Sep 1924 - 18 Jan 2015
© Strode Funeral Home
Reprinted with permission

Frank Malcolm Jay, 90, died at his Stillwater home on January 18, 2015. A funeral service will be held at 1:00 p.m. Wednesday, January 21 at First United Methodist Church, Stillwater. Interment will follow at Sunset Memorial Gardens, Stillwater. Strode Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.

Frank was born on September 11, 1924 in Chelsea, Oklahoma to Rufus Sim Jay and Minnie Jackson Jay, the fifth of five children. He was raised in Chelsea and graduated from Chelsea High school in 1942. One year later, he married Mary Frances DeLozier. They were married for sixty-two years until Mary Frances passed away in February, 2005. Frank and Mary Frances had three children, Frank Malcolm Jay, Jr., Stephen Alan Jay, and Frances Ann Jay Berry.

After marrying, Frank and Mary Frances moved to Stillwater where Franked worked with his brother, Ruben, at R. Jay Cleaners located on S. Washington St. In 1978, Frank and Mary Frances purchased the business from his brother. They owned and operated the business until selling it to their daughter, Ann, and her husband, James E Berry, in 1992. At that time, Mary Frances retired, but Frank continued to work as the drycleaner until 1997. Frank decided to retire in 1997 and R. Jay Cleaners closed their doors for good when they were unable to find a drycleaner to replace him.

Frank was an avid guitar player and singer. In high school and for some time after, he played guitar and sang in Western swing bands in the Chelsea area. Throughout the rest of his life, he played and sang at home with his wife, children, and grandchildren. He was an avid hunter and fisherman. He spent many weekends during his younger and middle age years hunting quail and doves, and fishing the lakes and ponds near Stillwater and throughout Oklahoma. He regularly attended his two sons’ sporting events as well as the annual dance recitals of his daughter during the children’s years in school. Frank and Mary Frances continued this tradition with their ten grandchildren. Frank was a member of the Stillwater Rotary Club and the First United Methodist Church of Stillwater.

Frank will be remembered by many in Stillwater as the dry cleaner with amazing dry cleaning abilities. He could remove spots from clothing that were considered to be unremovable. To those who knew him well, he was considered to be very bright and as honest as the day is long. To his wife, his children, and his grandkids, he removed heartaches from our hearts.

Frank was preceded in death by his wife, Mary Frances Jay; parents, Rufus and Minnie Jay; brother, Ruben Henry Jay; sister, Ruth Nell Jay Odom; brother, Louie Jay; and brother, Fred Omar Jay.

He is survived by his three children, Frank M. Jay, Jr (Roxanna Jay) of Houston, Texas, Stephen Alan Jay (Nancy Allison Jay) of Tulsa, and Frances Ann Jay Berry (James E. Berry); ten grandchildren; and fourteen great-grandchildren.

Contributions in his memory may be sent to Judith Karman Hospice, PO Box 818, Stillwater, OK 74076.

Condolences may be emailed to the family and an online obituary may be viewed by visiting www.strodefh.com.

This site may be freely linked, but not duplicated in any way without consent.
All rights reserved! Commercial use of material within this site is prohibited!
© 2000-2024 Oklahoma Cemeteries

The information on this site is provided free for the purpose of researching your genealogy. This material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, for your own research, as long as this message remains on all copied material. The information contained in this site may not be copied to any other site without written "snail-mail" permission. If you wish to have a copy of a donor's material, you must have their permission. All information found on these pages is under copyright of Oklahoma Cemeteries. This is to protect any and all information donated. The original submitter or source of the information will retain their copyright. Unless otherwise stated, any donated material is given to Oklahoma Cemeteries to make it available online. This material will always be available at no cost, it will always remain free to the researcher.