Submitted by

Karen Stewart

Estelle Maxine Vollmer Prather

Maxine Prather, longtime resident of Ponca City, died late Saturday evening, March 5, 2011, at Via Christi Village in Ponca City. She was 90.
The service will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday, March 9, at First Christian Church in Ponca City with the Rev. Larry Metzger, pastor, and the Rev. Roberta Shaffer, associate pastor, presiding. Burial will follow in Tonkawa I.O.O.F. Cemetery under the direction of Trout Funeral Home.
Casket bearers will be Scott Prather, Kenny Prather, Robert Corbin, Jim Corbin, Rick Cavener, Ryan Corbin, Sean Thornton and Jerry Bourland.
Honorary casket bearers will be Bob Gardine, Steve Black and Larry Thornton.
Estelle Maxine Vollmer was born to Scott E. Vollmer and Elizabeth Ann Dunn Vollmer on May 24, 1920, near Salt Fork. She attended grades one through eight at Salt Fork, where she walked to school or was dropped off by horse and wagon by her dad.
As a teenager, Maxine was temporarily sworn in as assistant postmaster and a room in her family's house served as the post office for seven years. In 1935, one room of her home became the telephone office as members of her family operated the switchboard giving 24-hour service to the community. Because there was no school bus to the nearest high school in Lamont, Maxine lived with a cousin, Hazel O'Mealey, to attend Longfellow Jr. High and then graduated from Enid High School in 1937. She graduated from University Preparatory School (Northern Oklahoma College) in 1939. She received a Life Teaching Degree in elementary education in 1941 from Central State College (University of Central Oklahoma).¬ 
Maxine's first teaching job for $75 per month was in Salt Fork, a one-room school with all eight grades. She was responsible for performing custodial work, supervising recesses, lunch periods, school programs, coaching track, carrying in wood and coal to build a fire in the potbellied stove and teaching. Her sister Carol was a student in her second year of school. During World War II — a time of sugar, gas and tire rationing — Maxine supported the war effort by participating with her school in a Grant County contest to collect scrap metal.
On June 14, 1943, Maxine married Paul L. Prather in Denver, Colo. They were married 55 years until Paul's death in 1998. When Paul left for overseas duty, Maxine moved to her mother's home in Blackwell, where she continued teaching.
Maxine's 40-year teaching career included two years at Salt Fork, two years in Denver, 13 years at Washington Elementary in Blackwell, and 23 years at Garfield Elementary School in Ponca City as library-reading teacher. She was honored as Teacher of the Year four times at Garfield and was included in the 1972 edition of Outstanding Elementary Teachers of America. After retiring in 1982, she joined the Oklahoma and Kay County Retired Teachers Association and served as an officer for many years. She was a lifetime member of Alpha Phi Sigma.
During her years teaching in Ponca City, she also helped Paul at Prather's Paint Center with custom framing, selling paint and wall paper and other duties. She also worked tirelessly with Paul, who was restoration chairman of the Marland Mansion and Estate Commission, to acquire, restore and refinish original furnishings for the Marland Mansion.
Paul and Maxine were interested in family history and traced their ancestry back to the 1600s in Europe. She was a member of the Pioneer Genealogical Society, the Land of Country Arts and Crafts Organization and served on the board of the North Central Oklahoma Historical Association during the time it published "North Central Oklahoma: Rooted in the Past — Growing for the Future."
During the years after Paul's death, Maxine devoted herself to working for various organizations and her family. She loved to travel and celebrate the lives of her extended family of 10 nieces and nephews, 19 great-nieces and nephews, and 34 great-great nieces and nephews.
Maxine is survived by her three sisters, Betty Prather of Pryor, Rosalee and husband Phil Corbin of Ponca City and Carol and husband Cliff Glover of Wichita, Kan.; and a sister-in-law, Anna Lee and husband Gene Thornton of Arkansas City, Kan. Maxine always remembered the birthdays, anniversaries and special occasions of all of her many nieces and nephews and their children, including Jonna and Bob Gardine of Chouteau, Ken and Patsy Prather of Pryor, Cindy and Steve Black of Pryor, Scott and Trissona Prather of Claremore, Robert and Lois Corbin of Ponca City, Jim and Randa Corbin of Blackwell, Lee Ann and Rick Cavener of Owasso, Anga Lee Everett of Arkansas City, Kan., Larry and Dianne Thornton of Muleshoe, Texas, and Jerry and Mary Ann Bourland of Harrah.
The casket will be open preceding the service.