Osage Gardens Cemetery

Skiatook, Osage County, Oklahoma

Clela Lawanna (Thornton) Wolf

© Tahequah Daily Press Tahlequah, OK December 14, 2010 Submitted by: Jo Aguirre

TAHLEQUAH — Clela Lawanna Thornton Wolf passed away Dec. 4, 2010 at the age of 97 in Tulsa. She is survived by two of her sons, David and Daniel, plus her daughter Nancy. She also has seven grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren, plus her nieces and nephews.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Wyly and Vacie Thornton, he eldest son John, her brother Andrew Thornton and a sister Patricia Boswell. She also lost a baby brother who was a few days old and a sister, Ruth, who died during the Spanish influenza epidemic at the age of 18 months.

Clela was born in Muskogee on Nov. 20, 1913. She attended Northeastern Sate Teacher's College. She graduated with honors and was qualified to teach any subject through the eighth grade, plus English and French at any grade level.

Her first teacher assignment was in a one-room school house near Stilwell. All of her students were Cherokee. She discovered that some of them had wonderful singing talent, but they refused to sing in front of the class. She got them to agree to perform if the other students faced the back wall. They went on to perform to standing room only crowds where people walked from miles away to stand outside and hear their angelic voices.

She eventually taught in Muskogee and from 1954 until her retirement in 1977, she was a Tulsa English teacher. She changed many lives and was the epitome of all that was good in education.

She never missed an opportunity to teach values, use discipline, and occasionally minister. She had a 14-year-old student as her after class one day who is God. She could not pass up the opportunity to teach him what she knew. That is what a good teacher does.

Clela was proud of her Cherokee ancestry. Her great-grandfather Wylie came on the Trail of Tears with his parents, Dr. John Thornton and his Cherokee mother Nannie. Wylie Thornton grew up to become Cherokee Nation Supreme Court Justice during the Civil War. He later rode on horseback as a judge dispensing law in Going Snake District.

By the way, Dr. John Thornton was a descendent of one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Yet, he had to travel on the Trial so he could be with his Cherokee wife and children. His son, Joseph Thornton, worked for "Hanging" Judge Parker as his court clerk.

Teachers like Clela Lawanna Thornton Wolf are leaving us in vast numbers and those who benefited from their style of teaching have been greatly blessed. She would want her former students to know that she was honored to be their teacher and that she loved teaching them.

Graveside services will be held on Wednesday, December 8, 2010 at Osage Gardens Cemetery in Skiatook, Oklahoma. Minister Jimmy Clare will officiate.

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.