Eulalia Frances Gowen (“Frances”) went to be with Jesus on November 4, 2022. Frances was born August 5, 1924, to Joseph and Macy West of Strang, Oklahoma in what was then known as Cherokee Nation Indian Territory. Frances attended Strang School and graduated high school in 1943. She then attended Northeastern Teacher’s College in Tahlequah, Oklahoma where she received her teaching certificate. Frances taught at Bellvue School in Nowata County. It was there that she met her future husband, Carl Joseph Gowen, at a pie supper.
Carl and Frances were married February 1, 1947 and were married for 56 years until Carl’s passing in 2003. Carl and Frances lived on a farm in rural South Coffeyville, Oklahoma for over 50 years. While on the farm, they raised cattle, pigs, chickens, grain, and hay. Two children were born from this marriage – Dewayne Gowen and Elaine Gowen Stevens.
Frances was a proud citizen of the Cherokee Nation. She was a matriarch in every sense of the word, head-strong and intrepid in her role as a wife, mother, and later grandmother and great-grandmother. She cared deeply about her family and loved when they would visit her at the farm. After each visit, she and Carl would stand outside together, waving as their family packed up in the car and watching until the car was out of sight.
Her cooking was legendary, as evidenced by her family’s repeated attempts to match her famous potato salad recipe. Ever stoic in nature, her family always knew their potato salad attempts didn’t hit the mark by the small, amused smile on Frances’s face after a taste.
Frances is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Dewayne and Mary Gowen of Augusta, Kansas, and her daughter and son-in-law, Elaine and Larry Stevens of Bartlesville, Oklahoma. She is survived by 5 grandchildren, Dana Henry and husband, Shane, of Norman, Oklahoma; Tia Ann Wilson and husband, Dan, of Wichita, Kansas; Amy Graves and husband, Luther, of Blanchard, Oklahoma; Emily Eleftherakis and husband, Roger, of Edmond, Oklahoma; and Michael Stevens and wife, Erica, of Dallas, Texas. One of Frances’s great joys was watching her grandchildren have children of their own. She is survived by 8 great-grandchildren, Christian, Bailey, Kollins, Madelyn, Kelby, Kayden, Ellis, and Theodore.
Frances was preceded in death by her parents, Joseph A. and Macy West, both of whom were Cherokee Indians by blood; her brother, Quintin P. West; and her husband, Carl J. Gowen; and many beloved aunts and uncles.
Funeral services will be held on Thursday, November 10, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. at Ford-Wulf-Bruns Chapel 2405, Woodland Ave., Coffeyville, Kansas, with Pastor Jason Petermann officiating. A viewing will be open to any friends of the family that wish to pay their respects beginning at 2 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 9, 2022, at Ford-Wulf-Bruns Chapel. She will be laid to rest next to her husband in Restlawn Memorial Park Cemetery following the service. Services will be streamed live under her obituary page at www.fordwulfbrunscahpel.com where you may also leave an online word of condolence or share a memory.
