Heddie L. Becks

Funeral Services for Mrs. Heddie L. Becks, 73, of Tishomingo, Oklahoma will be held on Saturday, December 9, 2017 at 1:00 p. m. at the Calvary Baptist Church with Dr. Rex Clayton officiating. Interment will take place on Monday, December 11, 2017 at 1:00 p. m. in the family cemetery in Jewett, Texas. Mrs. Becks passed away on November 29, 2017 at the Mercy Hospital in Oklahoma City. Heddie Middleton Becks was born May 8, 1944 near Tulsa in Clarkesville, one of the many small all-Black towns in Oklahoma, to Odessa Scott Middleton and Comer White Middleton. She was the sixth of seven girls in her immediate family, the eighth of ten, in total. In Clarkesville, she grew up surrounded by extended family from both sides, including grandparents, cousins, nieces. As a child, Heddie wanted to learn to read to gain insight into the tantalizing world of "grown folks" business. Though this particular motivation was undoubtedly thwarted, her love of reading remained lifelong. Heddie attended Clarkesville Elementary School; she then graduated from Carter G. Woodson High School in Tullahassee, Okla. in 1962. After graduation, she lived in Oklahoma City. Later, she moved Parsons, Kans. to attend junior college. In 1970, she married Laprell Becks. Heddie received her bachelors degree in education from Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kans. Though she never worked as a full-time teacher, like most of the women in her family, Heddie was a passionate advocate of education her entire life. One of the ways she passed this drive on to her three children was making frequent trips with them to the public library. Heddie was known to her family by her ability to turn a phrase, intelligence, and curiosity about the world at large. As a young woman, Heddies ambition was to work for a senator in Washington, D.C.; decades later, one of her great-nieces did so. Heddies decision to attend Pittsburg State University motivated one of her nieces to matriculate at that institution. At the age of 70, Heddie became a grandmother. It was also obvious to all how dearly she loved her children. Heddie is survived by two daughters Jackie and Courtney Becks; a son Wesley Becks, daughter-in-law Shannon Koonce Becks, and granddaughter; and husband Laprell Becks. She was preceded in death by her parents, three brothers, and three sisters.

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Heddie L. Becks

May 8, 1944 - November 30, 2017