Ramona Sue Krotzer

Ramona Sue Krotzer was born May 17, 1931 in Mannford, Oklahoma. She was the daughter of James Roy and Lily R. (Raifsynder) Spess. She was raised in the East Basin area of Old Mannford, attending school in Mannford. She was an excellent basketball player and participated in basketball at all levels of her schooling. She was introduced to the operation of oil production business at an early age. As a youngster, she recalled seeing them “bring in” the first well on the farm of her grandfather, Charles Spess, who lived in the Basin area on the Cimarron River. She also recalled watching a well drilled with a “spudder”. When they were ready to “shoot” the well with dynamite, she and some friends were permitted to watch.

At the age of sixteen, Ramona was married to Clayton Samuel Krotzer, Jr. The couple made their initial home in the Mannford area and then moved to Osage County in 1950. During their marriage Ramona and Clayton had three children, Dan, Karl and Lonnie. After a short stop in Konawa and Tulsa the couple moved their family to Cleveland in 1959. For many years, she assisted her husband, Clayton, who operated Clayton’s Well Service and later Cimarron Oil Company, answering the phone, helping with the books, but never going into the field. In the mid 1960’s, Ramona accepted employment at the Cleveland American, working for Larry Ferguson. In 1974, she started a floral business, Ramona’s Gifts and Flowers. She attended a number of state conventions, design schools and workshops to learn about the business and keep up with the latest trends in the floral industry.


When she became the owner of twenty-two leases through a divorce settlement Ramona began her own oil production company, Candy Oil in 1985, although she had no equipment. When she took over there were no pumpers and she and a son went into the field. Assisted by Sam Rainbolt, a retired oil field man, they got the pumps going with Ramona herself lending a hand. She operated the company herself until recently for health issues has to relinquish control. Ramona was extremely proud that she was able to assist in the financial success of her family through the operation of Candy Oil.

During her lifetime, Ramona enjoyed traveling. She traveled around the world and enjoyed many places in different countries and continents, including trips to castles in England, the tulip market in Holland, Germany’s Berlin Wall, the Great Wall of China, the Eiffel Tower and an African safari to mention a few of her adventures. She loved watching her grandchildren participate in sports and any activities they were involved in. She also enjoyed Oklahoma State Basketball as well as the Dallas Cowboys. She was described by her family and friends as an independent woman who was fashionable and classy. She was an active member of the Republican Party serving in many capacities throughout the years. She was a delegate to the Republican National Convention the year Ronald Regan was elected President and actually had her photo taken with him. She was multi-talented in painting, quilting, gardening or sewing smocked dresses for her three granddaughters, she did it all. She was a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Sand Springs. She often said that the people who had the greatest effect on her life were Richard and Marjorie Spess Stegemeier (sister and brother-in-law), President Ronald Reagan and early in life her husband, Clayton S. Krotzer, Jr.

Ramona passed from this life on Tuesday, September 20, 2016 in Sand Springs at the age of eighty-five. She was preceded in death by her parents, three sisters, Ruth Spess Morris, Rebecca Spess Hangs and Marjorie Spess Stegemeier; and a brother, James Roy Spess as an infant. Ramona is survived by a son, Karl Krotzer and his wife Kay Lynn of Cleveland, Oklahoma, son, Dan Krotzer and his wife, Pat of Rogers, Arkansas; a daughter, Yolanda Davis and her husband, Dean of Sand Springs, Oklahoma; nine grandchildren, Nathan Scott Krotzer, Karla Penny, Kyla Christine Vaughn, Lacey Allison Graham, Carmen Allona Davis, Clinton Dean Davis, Kyle Von Krotzer, Grant Jared Krotzer and Caden William Krotzer; seven great-grandchildren, Isaac, Zackary and Gabriel Vaughn, Coleman Davis, Jade Krotzer, Miron Krotzer and Jasper James Krotzer; and a sister, Emmy Spess Wixson.

Funeral services will be held at 1:30pm, Monday, September 26, 2016 at the Chapel of the Chapman-Black Funeral Home. Interment will follow at the Oakhill Cemetery in Mannford under the direction of the Chapman-Black Funeral Home.