Wanita Fae (Hardy) Ketron

Wanita Fae Ketron, 91, of Laverne, Oklahoma passed away on April 10, 2026. She was born on August 25, 1934, in Shattuck, Oklahoma, and from those humble beginnings in the Oklahoma panhandle, she built a life defined by tireless service, boundless generosity, and an unshakable commitment to her community.

Wanita married Martin Ray Ketron Jr., and together they raised five children. She was never one to sit still. Over the years, she worked as a bakery clerk, a dress shop salesperson, a cleaner of a financial institution, private homes, and the local post office. Her work ethic was nothing short of remarkable, and she ultimately retired as the postmaster of the Laverne, Oklahoma post office, a role she carried out with the same dedication she brought to everything in her life.

Never content to stop learning, Wanita earned her GED and went on to attend college at Northwestern State University in Alva, Oklahoma. She gathered agriculture data for the Department of Agriculture, worked as a census taker for multiple years, and was politically active in her community, even working for the Harper County Election Board.

Wanita was a proud member of the Delphian Society and deeply involved in her community at every level. She served on the city council, contributed to the senior center, and played a pivotal role in providing infrastructure for the Laverne Public Library. She spent countless hours reading to elementary students and listening to them read, nurturing a love of learning in the next  generation. She was a lifetime supporter of Laverne sports and schools, and an avid sports fan who especially loved women's athletics and OU football, softball, basketball, and baseball.

She was also a talented seamstress, famously sewing four identical Easter outfits the night before Easter Sunday for her daughters. She loved to travel, visiting Puerto Rico, Alaska, and Nova Scotia, and she made trips to Colorado and New Mexico to ski and snowmobile with family and friends. Card games with loved ones were another favorite pastime, always full of laughter and good-natured competition.

Wanita had a heart for people who needed a hand. When one of her daughter's friends lost her mother and couldn't see a path to college, Wanita stepped in and helped get the young woman headed to Oklahoma City Community College. That was simply who she was.

She was also a survivor, facing both lymphoma and lymphocytic leukemia with the same quiet strength that defined every chapter of her life.

A devout Christian and devoted member of the Baptist church, Wanita's faith was not something she merely professed; she lived it. She mowed the adjoining church lot, organized and led funeral meals, and planned celebrations and church festivities. Her hands were always busy in the Lord's service, and her heart was always open.

She was preceded in death by her loving husband Junior, parents Paul Hardy and Anchor (Fore) Hardy and all of her siblings; Darrel Hardy, Harrel Hardy, Bonita Nelson (twin sister), Rosemary  Gilbreth and Clemetta Hamblin.

Wanita is survived by her children, Donita Moore, Molly Evans, Teresa Braswell, and Julonda Ketron, and Martin Ketron III, along with grandchildren, great grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and a wide circle of friends whose lives she touched in ways both large and small.

Pallbearers will be selected from her children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews. 

As Maya Angelou once wrote, "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away." Wanita Fae Ketron filled her 91 years with more of those moments than most people could imagine, and she gave just as many to everyone fortunate enough to know her.