Ramona June (Reed) Blair

Ramona June Reed Blair, age 91, of Clayton, Oklahoma, passed away on Saturday, June 25, 2022, at her home with her family by her side. Ramona was born November 16, 1930, in Talihina, Oklahoma to Ben and Marie Reed. She married Jim Blair, September 28, 1952. She was a member of First Presbyterian Church. Ramona graduated from Talihina High School, attended Colorado Women's College, Denver, Colorado and Peabody College, Nashville, Tennessee, majoring in English Literature. Before marrying and raising a family, Ramona performed on the Grand Ole Opry as the Martha White Flour Girl; she then began touring with Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys, where she was famous for her yodeling and her hit songs, including "I Want to be a Cowboy's Sweetheart" and "I'm Tired of Living This Lie" and "Betcha My Heart I Love You." While raising her four children, Ramona continued to sing and record on her own and on special occasions with Bob Wills around the country, as well with the Odessa Symphony. She appeared with Bob Wills as entertainment for the 1965 Country Music Association Awards in Nashville, TN. She was inducted into several Music Halls of Fame including Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona, California and Colorado. She will be featured in a soon to be released documentary on Western Swing Music. To her family, she will be remembered as a devoted mother and grandmother whose strong Christian faith inspired her to be a prayer warrior for her family. Her children and grandchildren will also remember the tea parties, walks in the woods, giving them a love for books and reading, as well as baking cookies for every school event, yodeling for all of their classroom parties. She worked by her husband's side with his land surveying company, walking almost every mountain and potato hill in Pushmataha County. Ramona was preceded in death by her parents; brother Sherman Reed; husband Jim H. Blair; son Jim Paul Blair; son in law Joseph "Skip" Gore, and grandson John Michael Gore. She is survived by daughters Marsha Blair Gore and Karen Blair Smallwood (Dusty), Clayton; son John Blair (Heidi) of Chesterfield, Virginia; grandchildren Jessica Blair Theilken (Kyle), Plano, TX; Sara Jane Smallwood-Cocke (Adam), Wilburton, OK; Valerie Blair Henderson (Kelly), Eagleville, TN; Blair Smallwood (Shawnda), Talihina, OK; Cassidy June Blair, Nashville, TN; Hayley Blair and Ben Blair, Chesterfield, VA; great-grandchildren Wyatt Theilken, Jane Elizabeth Cocke, Riverlyn and Arrow Smallwood, Knox, Ryder, and Jack Henderson. Services will be held on Saturday, July 16, at 3:00 pm. at First Baptist Church, Clayton. Services have been entrusted to McCarn Funeral Service of Talihina, Oklahoma. A Musical Celebration to follow at the Choctaw Council House Cafeteria (Tuskahoma) @ 6:00 pm, featuring City Moon, Morris McCann, and other special guests.

Ramona June (Reed) Blair

November 16, 1930 - June 25, 2022