Yvonne (Haikey) Spradling

Yvonne Spradling Obituary Services to honor and celebrate the life of Yvonne (Haikey) Spradling will be 2:00 p.m. Friday, October 12, 2018 in the Haikey Chapel (8815 E. 101st St., Tulsa, OK 74133) with interment to follow at Bixby Cemetery. Family will receive friends for visitation from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. Thursday, October 11, 2018 at Bixby Funeral Service. Yvonne passed away on Tuesday, October 9, 2018 in Tulsa. She was 83.Born March 11, 1935 in Tulsa County, Oklahoma, Yvonne was the daughter of Jessie and Cordelia (McCullough) Haikey. It so happened that baby Yvonne entered this world during a snow blizzard. Fortunately, the doctor was able to arrive at the family home in time to deliver, but it would take three additional days before he would be able to dig out and return to his own home. Throughout the rest of her life, Yvonne cautioned others that winter was not over until after her birthday!Raised in Bixby, Yvonne met the boy she would marry at an early age. She and some of her friends were out in the school yard when Yvonne noticed a handsome, young man who happened to be a couple of years older than Yvonne. Once she laid eyes on him, she told her girlfriends that he was the one! It so happened that soon thereafter, the seventh graders had to borrow a book from a ninth-grade student to complete a science project. Yvonne borrowed Jack Spradling's book and the rest is history! This would be the beginning of a long-lasting relationship!Upon graduating high school, at the age of fifteen, Jack furthered his education by attending Oklahoma State University. Yvonne followed Jack to Stillwater where she too furthered her education after graduating from Bixby - also at the age of fifteen. It would be during her Sophomore year, at OSU, that the two decided to marry. Neither were old enough to obtain the proper marriage license, so Yvonne's mother and Jack's father stepped in to make sure the wedding could take place. It would be on December 27, 1951 that the couple said, "I do" in the old Bixby First United Methodist Church. It was a tradition, at that time, for the groom to push his bride in a wheelbarrow down main street after the wedding reception, but Yvonne and Jack would get the last laugh as they devised a plan to avoid this ruckus. Their plan included multiple getaway cars and even disguises. They made it all the way to Drumright, on their way back to Stillwater, before they ran into anyone they knew. This, when they walked into a café to find Jack's brother and his wife eating a late dinner. The four enjoyed a nice dinner together and plenty of laughs!Yvonne would graduate from OSU with an Associate's degree in Business. Once Jack completed his Bacherlor's degree, he entered the United States Army and Yvonne would follow Jack from Colorado to Louisiana, Virginia and Texas before they built a home in Bixby. Prior to Jack's deployment overseas, during the Korean War, the couple made their Bixby house a home when they went to Jack's cousin's furniture store to pick out as much furniture as they could afford. As the budget dwindled, Yvonne was forced to decide between purchasing a washing machine or a television. With a new born baby boy in tow, she decided on the washing machine. It would be upon Jack's deployment that Jack's dad went over to see Yvonne and he just could not believe that his son had left Yvonne with no TV. A couple of days later, Yvonne answered the door and, to her surprise, being delivered was a television. Yvonne wrote Jack to let him know that his father had purchased a TV for them. Come to find out, this wasn't exactly true. Jack's dad definitely got the thing delivered, but he sent the bill to Jack!Through the years, Yvonne served as a homemaker. Through this endeavor, she took wonderful care of her family and it has been said of Yvonne that her family was her life! When son Steven was young, Yvonne would take him to the pool to swim. One day, Steven said, "Mom we have to go now and we can't ever come back." It wasn't until relentless questioning that Steven finally told his mom why they had to leave. It was because someone at the pool wanted to know how old Steven's sister was and they were talking about Yvonne! When daughter Shawna was in school, the Spradling house was the place to be and her friends grew to love Yvonne and affectionately referred to her as "Momma Vonne". Upon welcoming grandchildren, she certainly attempted to make every activity she possibly could including: soccer, baseball, football and basketball games along with baton twirling competitions throughout the country. Outside the home, Yvonne passed on her expertise in baton twirling through teaching in and around the Tulsa area. At one point, her Bixby Stars twirling corps included over 100 students. At times, Yvonne would travel with Jack as he worked on various tribal lands with his engineering outfit. While trying to get a job with one of the tribes, a spokesperson told Jack that they wanted to talk to Yvonne, the native, rather than to him. One of the questions they asked Yvonne pertained to engineering. She replied, "My husband is the engineer and he runs the engineering, but I run my husband." Needless to say, they got the job!Proud of her Creek heritage, Yvonne has also been described as loving, strong-willed and a fighter. She was unwavering and started many sentences with, "Well, this is what I think..." Having deep convictions about her beliefs, faith, and also surrounding politics, Yvonne read up on these topics and this helped to keep her mind sharp. In recent years, Yvonne was a pretty big Facebook user and accomplished something that not very many could say. This when she was kicked off of Facebook for a short-time because of some of her strong convictions and comments. No matter what Yvonne was up to, she gave it her all. It could have been while twirling her baton or passing that passion on to next generations, working at White Bears Trading Post, her father's Native American store in Broken Arrow, or simply engaging in a deep conversation where she shared her opinion - the fact of the matter is - if you were a part of Yvonne's life you got her best because that's what she gave ALWAYS. Yvonne passed away on Tuesday, October 9, 2018 in Tulsa. She was 83. She is survived by her loving husband of nearly 67 years, Jack Spradling of the home; her children: son, Steven Spradling and wife, Janet of Bella Vista, Arkansas; daughter, Shawna (Spradling) Hart and husband, Brad of Owasso; five grandchildren: Joshua and Jarrod Spradling and Halie, Hunter and Hayden Hart along with a great-grandson, Aven Spradling. Yvonne was preceded in death by: an infant sister, Treva Louise Haikey; her father, Jessie Haikey; her mother, Cordelia Bullock and her step-father, V.O. "Barney" Bullock.Visitation Bixby Funeral Service 13307 S. Memorial Dr. Bixby, Oklahoma 74008 6:00 PM - 8:00 PMService Haikey Chapel 8815 E. 101st Street Tulsa, Oklahoma 74133 2:00 PM To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Yvonne (Haikey) Spradling, please visit our floral store. Read More

Yvonne (Haikey) Spradling

March 11, 1935 - October 9, 2018