Paradise Cemetery
Payne County, Oklahoma

Dortha Mae [Jafek] Pepmiller
March 15, 1928 ~ December 9, 2017

Dortha Mae Jafek Pepmiller, 89, passed from this life Saturday, December 9, 2017 in Stillwater, OK. Services will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 16, 2017 at the Strode Funeral Home Chapel. Reverend Charles Armstrong of Coyle will be officiating. Interment will follow at Paradise Cemetery east of Coyle.

Dortha came into this world March 15, 1928, weighing only three pounds, the daughter of Elgin [Buck] Jafek and Jonnie Alice Hesser Jafek. She had one brother, Emil Elgin Jafek. When she was 8 years old, she had polio and at the age of 9, she was burned so badly that the doctors gave her only 3 days to live. When she was 14, she accepted God and was baptized in the Glencoe Christian Church. At the age of 15, she started helping her dad in the blacksmith/machine shop he owned in Glencoe and she ran the shop during her father’s lengthy illness. On December 27, 1945, at the age of 17, Dortha married Wilmer William Pepmiller. She lived in the Coyle area since 1954.

Dortha was a member of Coyle First Christian Church and the Rebekah Lodge. She loved doing volunteer work and was the founder of the Coyle Nutritional Center where she served as head cook, preparing meals onsite and delivering to seniors who could not attend. In 1991, she was honored as one of the OKC Channel 5 Television “5 Who Care Recipients”, appearing on television to receive this award and cash for the Center. She sang and played piano in several country music bands. She also enjoyed growing a garden, which included vegetables, flowers and trees.

She is preceded in death by her husband of 40 years; parents and brother.

She is survived by her son, Max Pepmiller and wife Evelyn of Perkins, OK; daughter, Reba Pepmiller Perrin and husband Michael of Hammond, Louisiana; one granddaughter, Michele Perrin Clinkenbeard and two great grandchildren, Kayla and Michael Dunagan of Terre Haute, Indiana.

In lieu of flowers please donate to Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation 1-800-932-2423, option 1.

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

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Norman Public School Foundation or Alzheimer’s Association.