Willie Muriel Buchanan

Obituary Surrounded by her family, Willie Muriel Shipman Buchanan passed away on Saturday, July 25, 2009 in Cleveland, Oklahoma at the age of eighty-seven. She was the eldest daughter of eleven children born to Virgil Jackson and Mary Tennessee Shipman on March 25, 1922 in Gilbert, Searcy County, Arkansas. Muriel was raised and attended school in Cleveland and Osage, graduating from Osage High School in 1941. During her senior year, she met her husband Robert Wilson Buchanan, Jr., and the couple was married on January 21, 1942. During World War II, while her husband was stationed in Germany, Muriel was employed by Spartan Aircraft in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and later by Avion in Los Angeles, California working on aircraft parts for the A-20 and A-28 fighter planes for Douglas Aircraft. After the war, the couple established their home in Osage, Oklahoma, where Muriel became a devoted wife, accomplished homemaker and a relentless volunteer in her children's school and church activities. After her husband's death on September 7, 1970, Muriel began a career in the nursing profession as an assistant with Dr. Robert Henry. She also had affiliations with the Cleveland Area Hospital, the University Village in Tulsa and the Baptist Retirement Village in Cleveland. Additionally, she served as a private care nurse with various health care organizations in the area. Muriel's family and friends describe her as a loving and caring woman whose compassionate spirit was evident in her concern for those around her. She will be remembered as a dedicated individual whose life embodied service to others. Although she was also seen as a bit ornery at times, this seemed to be better described as her "Shipman Spirit." Muriel met Walter McCoy in 1996 and spent the remainder of her life enjoying square dancing, traveling, working in her flower garden, ceramics, oil painting, fishing, playing Bingo and attending auctions and garage sales. Her passion for dancing was seen in her membership and service to numerous square dancing organizations in the area. Walt and Muriel served as past president and vice president of the Cimarron Travelers and the Whistle Stop Traveler Clubs and also as board members of the Northeastern Oklahoma Square Dance Association. Muriel was preceded in death by her parents, husband, Robert Wilson Buchanan, Jr., one sister, Wilma and three brothers, V. J. , David Emanuel, and Buford Norman Shipman. She is survived by her daughter, Linda Buchanan Warford and husband Phil of Moore, Oklahoma; a son, Robert Wilson "Butch" Buchanan, III of Cleveland, Oklahoma; Walter McCoy of the home; grandson, Travis Ryan Warford and wife Tiffany of Edmond, Oklahoma, grandson, Robert Wilson Buchanan, IV (Buck) of Cleveland, Oklahoma and a granddaughter, Jennifer Daigle of Baton Rouge, Louisiana; great-granddaughter, Rilee Wilson Buchanan; three sisters, Jackie Denvalee Freeman and husband Earl of Cleveland, Oklahoma, Joy Johnston and husband Bob of Cleveland, Oklahoma, and Gayle Smith of Cleveland, Oklahoma; three brothers, Charles Laverne (Bones) Shipman of Brazoria, Texas, Dale Keith Shipman and wife Kathy of Tyler, Texas, and Michael Lloyd Shipman and wife Kay of Bartlesville, Oklahoma; sisters-in-law, Ruby Shipman of Lake Jackson, Texas, and Billie Carol Shipman of Stroud, Oklahoma. Memorial contributions may be made to the Cleveland Senior Citizensí Meals on Wheels Program.