Bee Bee Bryant

Arrangements were by Rice Funeral Home of Claremore, Oklahoma.Be Be McCormick

Services for Be Be McCormick are set for 10 a.m., Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2007 at First United Methodist Church. Her pastor, Rev. Ray Crawford will share words of comfort. Be Be will be laid to rest beside her husband, Kenneth at a committal service to be held at 3 that afternoon at Prairie Grove Cemetery under the direction of Rice Funeral Service. The family will receive visitors at the funeral home from 6:30-8 p.m., Monday. Friends may also visit from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday. Be Be passed away Friday, Jan. 19, 2007. She was 84.

Born in Fort Smith, Ark. on Nov. 28, 1922 to Byron Bryant and Minnie Izella (Hutcheson) Bronson, Be Be was reared and received her education in both Ft. Smith and Fayetteville. She graduated from Fayetteville High School and attended the University of Arkansas where she was active in the Zeta Tau Alpha Sorority. While at the University, she held the titles of Miss Arkansas and also represented Fayetteville as Miss Cotton. Talented as well as attractive, Be Be played piano and violin and sang in the church choir.

Not surprisingly, Be Be won the heart of a fellow U of A student, and member of the basketball team, Kenneth Pyeatt McCormick. The two were married on Feb. 18, 1943 in a South Carolina ceremony. With Kenneth serving in the Air Force, an attic apartment with the barest of amenities was their home in South Carolina. Ken?s career in the oil fields took them to Texas and then to Alma, Arkansas. In Alma he began coaching and Be Be enjoyed the opportunity to mingle with players, parents and fans, as she faithfully attended Ken?s basketball games. Eventually Be Be became a life-long fan herself and appreciated the sport as well as the socializing. As the wife of a coach, in the communities of Bristow and Sallisaw, Be Be met and made many more good friends. The family grew to include four siblings and their final home was in Claremore.

Be Be possessed an artistic ability and expressed it with gifts to family and friends ? china, egg and tile paintings were treasured by recipients. She loved African violets and frequently gave them as gifts also. Most recently she took up water color painting and thank you notes and letters were embellished with her designs. She was an avid bridge player and devoted countless hours to her service at the Claremore Hospital ladies? auxiliary. Only lately has Be Be been unable to enjoy all of the activities she so loved.

A loving mother, ?Memaw? and dear friend, Be Be is survived by her children, Kenna Parish and her husband, Tommy of Claremore, Karen Allen and her husband, Michael, of Afton, and Marty Barker, and her husband, Michael, of Ft. Worth, Texas; her grandchildren, Michael Parish and his wife, Stacy, and their son, Luke, of Claremore, Michele Brasher and her husband, Mike, and their children Brylee and Bryant, also of Claremore, and Andrea Simpson and her husband, Tyler, of Redmond, Washington, and Eric Crutchfield of Los Angeles, California. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Kenneth, on December 5, 1995, her daughter, Martha ?Betty? Elizabeth Hill, and her siblings, Winfield Bronson, Kakky Sexson, and Margaret Brown.

Memorial contributions in Be Be?s honor may be made to First United Methodist Church Children?s Wing, 1615 N. Highway 88, Claremore, OK 74017.