Ladine Keno

Ladine Keno, “Deanie” to close friends and family, was a caring mother and friend. She left this world suddenly in her home on Tuesday, July 26, 2022 at the age of 76.

She was born to Calvert and Gertie (Mouser) Smith on August 7, 1945 in McNary, Arizona. Growing up, she had four sisters and two brothers, Laura Ellen, Luella, Lovell, Lila, Calvert, and Carl Lee. Over those years, she adored her father who began his career as a brakeman on timber trains near Clebit, OK and later in life in McNary, Arizona. She had a loving mother who worked in the home taking care of their family, including several grandkids throughout their years. Ladine attended elementary schools in McNary and Lakeside and finished her education in Lakeside, Arizona. She married Zane Keno in 1961 and had two children the next three years, Audie and Zane. After her husband Zane passed away in 1967, for a couple of years she lived near her sister Luella and brother-in-law Al Thompson and their children in Twenty-Nine Palms, California. Then later, as a single parent, she moved to Burkburnett, Tx., near her Aunt Carrie and Uncle Bryant, who had a minnow/bait shop on the Red River and attended cosmetology school, then returned to Pinetop, AZ as a beautician, a profession she loved until allergy issues kept her from continuing. In her early years, she loved county music and dancing the jitterbug with a special childhood friend named Carl Wilson and continued to tell stories of those times often. Around 1972, she and her children moved to Oklahoma and lived in Idabel for a couple of years to be closer to her parents who lived on Felker Road near Valliant, Ok. During this time, she met a lifelong good friend Sandy Brewer and Sandy’s family. In 1975, she married Finis McClure from Valliant, moved to Millerton, and then approximately 7 years later and a divorce, she returned to California and lived for a brief time near her sister Lila and her children. There she earned a heavy equipment operator license and again returned to Idabel, Oklahoma, where she built her house. In 1987, she began working at Tyson Foods and advanced to a quality assurance position that she enjoyed. She worked for Tyson’s over 20 years before retiring and cherished her close friends until the days they and/or she passed away, some who were also neighbors, Wayne and Sharon (Burns) Thurman who lived across from her home and Carol Sivard, only a few blocks away, who continues to be her sister-like friend. Another co-worker she admired as family was Mel Butler and his wife, Gina and their children. Her family and friends knew she loved to pull pranks, aggravating people and making people smile and laugh. Sometimes it was difficult to know when she was being serious. She was Blessed to have survived a brain aneurysm and to be a two-time survivor of breast cancer. Above all, she loved God, her children, grandchildren, family and friends with a huge heart and those who knew her, know that she was proud of her kids and grandchildren as that was often her common topic of conversation.

Ladine is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Audie and Kent Smith of Haworth; grandchildren, Brent and Rachael Smith and Kayla Smith all of Haworth; sister and brothers-in-law, Lila and Clint Geller and Grobin Davis; brother and sister-in-law, Carl Lee and Rhonda Smith; numerous nieces, nephews, other relatives and a host of friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Zane W. Keno; son, Zane Keno; sisters, Laura Ellen Davis, Luella Thompson, Lovell Perkins Hale; and brother, Calvert Smith.

A graveside celebration of life service will be held at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, July 30, 2022 at the Redland Cemetery in the Redland Community, Idabel.

Viewing and family gathering will take place from 9:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. prior to the service.

In lieu of flowers, family requests donations be made to McCurtain County Treasured Chests, 123 Huntington Circle, Idabel, OK 74745.            

To send flowers to the family, please visit our floral store.