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If ever there was a woman who lived life to the fullest—full of faith, family, and a little bit of feisty—it was Keturah Rogers Brown. Born on June 8, 1929, in Seminole, Oklahoma, to Lucius Terrell Rogers and Mildred Juanita (Hearn), Keturah spent her 95 years making the world a little brighter, a little livelier, and a whole lot spicier.
After graduating from Seminole High School in 1947, she married, Bill Brown, in 1949 at the Church of Christ in Seminole. Together, they built their life on the family farm south of Stroud, where Brown’s Lake became more than just a place—it became a legacy. If you needed a boat, bait, or a good story, Keturah had you covered.
Keturah was a proud Sooner, traveling far and wide to watch OU football, including many trips to the Orange Bowl. But education was her own sport, and she played it well—earning degrees from Seminole Junior College, Tulsa Junior College, Central State University, and the University of Oklahoma, capping it all off with a master’s in Nursing in 1989. Nursing was her calling, and from Stroud Hospital to home health, hospice, and consulting across the South, she touched countless lives with her care and wisdom.
She had a heart for service, playing instrumental roles in establishing Jacob’s Ladder (a church program for latchkey kids) and the Stroud Food Pantry. Her efforts earned her a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Stroud Chamber of Commerce in 2012, though if you asked her, she'd say the real reward was the friendships she made along the way.
Travel was another great love—England, Israel (twice!), China, where she rode a camel on the Great Wall, and countless road trips with her sisters and friends to Graceland (she LOVED Elvis!), Vegas, New Orleans, Juarez, and Tunica, just to name a few. But no matter where she went, her favorite thing was always coming home.
Keturah spent her final years at Prairie Pointe in Stroud, where she was the life of the party—sometimes quite literally, like the time she rocked a Willie Nelson wig for Halloween. She was preceded in death by her parents, siblings; Edward, Junior, Sarah Nell, Tommy, & Sydney, husbands, and grandson Allen Neal Smith. She is survived by her beloved daughters and their spouses; Suzy & Bryan Hightower of Brown’s Lake, Ginger & Jeff Barsotti of Edmond, and Tammy & Jimmy Smith of Brown’s Lake, along with six grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren, all of whom carry on her legacy of love, laughter, and maybe just a little bit of feistiness.
She adored her family, the farm, her Sooners, her church, and her friends. The family would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to the devoted staff at Prairie Pointe, and especially her personal caregivers Sharon Mitchell, Janice Dervin, Sam Miller, and Kendra Walker.
Boomer Sooner, Keturah—may you rest in peace, knowing you lived an impressive life.
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