Obituary for Mac McWhorter

Mac McWhorter – Veteran.

September 10, 1926 – July 1, 2016

Mac McWhorter, long time resident of Ponca City, passed from this temporary world into everlasting life with his Lord and Savior on July 1, 2016. Mac was born to Walter William and Florence Wright McWhorter on Sept. 10, 1926, in Okemah. His mother died when he was young and his aunt Ethel McWhorter Grimma Johnson saw to his upbringing.

Mac lived in Ponca City most of his life. He, along with his brother Robert, attended Garfield Elementary School and Ponca City Junior High. He graduated from Ponca City High School in 1944.

Promptly after graduation he enlisted in the US Army. He was trained as a paratrooper and played French horn in many parades set up to welcome home troops from Europe.
After discharge from the Army, Mac traveled to Taos, New Mexico, where he met Clara Wailes of Natchitoches, La. They were married in 1948 and settled in Ponca City.
Soon after Mac and Clara's first child was born, Mac became a Christian and joined First Baptist Church. He took the responsibility of Christian service seriously. He led the family in daily Bible reading and prayers and served as a leader with the Church's youth.

He joined Continental Oil Company as a carpenter in 1952. He maintained his membership in the local carpenters' union throughout his 38 year career with Conoco.

In 1960 the McWhorter family moved their church membership to Southside Baptist Mission. The Mission became Southside Baptist Church then Providence Baptist Church. There he was a teacher and a deacon and served on a multitude of committees and in various church leadership roles.

Mac always liked live music and a good conversation. And he was struck with wanderlust. He often took the family traveling. Trips to visit relatives in Louisiana were routine. They traveled several times to Glorieta, N.M., attending church oriented Bible studies. In 1965 he outfitted a van with camping gear and took the family to the World's Fair in New York City, down the East Coast, around the Gulf Coast, then home. He and Clara took opportunities to visit Australia, New Zealand, and Japan when their children lived there. They traveled with friends to Colorado and Washington, D. C. He jumped at the chance to take short-term assignments with Conoco in Ireland and Lake Charles, La. Mac made mission trips to Wyoming and Mexico. Also he and Clara made a mission trip to Campeche, Mexico.

After many years in Ponca City the McWhorters moved to Houston, Texas, to be closer to their daughter.

Mr. McWhorter was preceded in death by parents, Walter and Florence McWhorter, and Aunt Ethel Johnson.

Survivors include his wife, Clara McWhorter; brother, Robert McWhorter, of Ponca City; cousins, Wanda Wood and Lila Mae Arnold of Wichita, Kan.; children, Philip and Rita McWhorter, of Largo, Fla., Diana Plum of Oklahoma City and Melbourne, Australia, and Deborah Suzanne and John Posey of Houston, Texas. The grandchildren through Phil and Rita McWhorter are Tom and Karen Greenhow, Kimberly and Chris Riley, and Melissa and Stacy Woodard; through Diana Plum are Nicole and Duffy Turner, Jay Dougrey, Jodie and Peter Hickey, Kirilly Plum, and Lyndal Plum; and through Suzanne and John Posey are Robert and Philip. There are 11 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.

Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m., Friday, July 8, at Providence Baptist Church, 493 Fairview Ave, Ponca City. Internment will follow at Newkirk Cemetery, Newkirk. Funeral arrangements are being managed by Grace Memorial Chapel, 2016 N. 14th St, Ponca City.
Online condolences may be done at www.gracememorialchapel.net.