Mary Beth Gay Mattox

March 8, 1960 - July 31, 2009

Throughout this walk of life there are those who touch us in ways we never forget.  Mary Beth Gay Mattox was one of those people.  Whether it was her beautiful smile and sparking eyes or her mischievous spirit and playful wit or her plain, simple, down-to-earth charm; Mary Beth left her mark on all of us. 

The Sallisaw High School Class of 1978 deeply mourns the passing of Mary Beth Gay Mattox.

Mary Beth, you left us much too soon.

I don't even know where to begin.  I don't know of any two people who could have had more fun than Mary and I did.

The first day of school for me at Sallisaw was sooo scary.  I knew no one.  I wore a new dress, panty hose (YUK) and high heels.  My locker was directly below Mary's.  As we were changing classes, I went to my locker to change books, and Mary deliberately knocked me over.  There I was, all sprawled out on the floor.  I looked up at Mary and she looked down at me.  Then, she gave me her hand to help me up.  Now, this was a great start to a friendship!  HA!  About a week later, Mary asked me to go to lunch with her.  I did.  From that time on, we were inseparable.

I remember when we stole the janitor's trash can and Mary pushed me in the trash can down the hall.  Unfortunately, Mary couldn't catch me before I went sailing down the stairs at the end of the hall.  Luckily, no bones were broken.

I remember Mary knocking on Mr. Lenington's door during first hour, saying that someone in the office needed to see me.  Mr. Lenington said, "Jamie, someone needs you in the office".  Gee, I guess Mr. Lenington forgot that Mary was also in HIS class!  We left, went to Dodson's, and ate breakfast.

I'm sure everyone remembers when we took Senior Day off and went to the beach (when we weren't even seniors!).  Mr. Stites called me and Mary into his office, one at a time.  He asked Mary how she got her sunburn.  Mary said, "Well, I had to take Jamie to the dentist and I hung my arm out of the window on the way there."  So, Mr. Stites asked her, "How did you get the other arm sunburned?"  She replied, "On the way home."  When Mr. Stites called me in, he asked me the same question:  "How did you get that sunburn?"  I told him we were picking up rocks on the track field.  BUSTED! For punishment, J. T. made us sit and answer his telephone in his air-conditioned office during lunch one day.
 
I remember when my daddy died.  Somehow, that day, Mary still made me smile.

I don't know what I would have done without the love of Betty, Hank, and, of course, Mary Beth.  Through all of the laughter and all of the tears, we were always there for each other.
 
Well, my dear friend, I will miss you deeply.  With your passing, part of me is now gone, too.  I could go on and on, and, in my mind, I always will.  All I can pray is that you are now at peace.  And I pray for the children you left behind.

I will forever love you!

~Jamie Bachus Bonds

Mary Beth Gay Mattox was one of the most beautiful individuals I have ever known.  Not just on the outside, for she was that; but, on the inside—where it counted.

My memories of Mary start when I moved to Sallisaw, about nine weeks into our eighth grade year.  Sallisaw is no easy place to be the new kid on the block.  I thought it would be forever before my new classmates would accept me.  But, it was never that way with Mary Beth.  Because Mary Beth was a person who didn’t care who you were or from what walk of life you came, she treated you as if you mattered.  Mary was gifted at making an underdog feel like a winner.  Eventually, I did begin to feel like one of the gang, and Mary was at the heart of that.

Mary was a fun-loving individual who enjoyed being the center of attention.  She loved to entertain.  I remember getting in trouble for something (know that’s hard to believe) and ending up in study hall as a punishment.  Mary was there and made the time worthwhile.  She kept me laughing with an impression she used to do of a televangelist-type preacher.  I remember one specific routine:  “Friends-uh.  My very, very, very, dear friends-uh.  Yes, you can pick your friends-uh.  And you can pick your nose-uh.  But, you can never, and I mean never, pick your friends-uh nose-uh.” 

Mary also enjoyed singing.  I remember sitting down at the piano with Mary and Cindy Vann Welch.  We’d get the hymn book out and tear it up.  Mary called us the “Trinity Trio.” 

I got my first speeding ticket (of many) driving Mary’s car.  A group of us gals were coming home from Jamie’s wedding rehearsal in Tulsa. It was late and Mary didn’t feel like driving.  So, she asked me to get us home.  Somewhere in Wagoner County, I saw red lights behind.  I ended up with a ticket for going 75 in a 55 mph zone (remember those days?—now the speed limit is 75).  Mary felt so badly about that.  But, of course, gave me a hard time about it, anyway.

Mary Beth was a true friend.  She knew how the words “friendship” and “loyalty” run together.  If someone gave one of Mary’s friends a hard time, she took it personally.  If Mary Gay was in your corner, she was IN YOUR CORNER. 

As time marched on, we began to lose touch and we didn’t spend as much time together as we once did.  But I never doubted that I could have picked up the phone and called Mary with a need and she would have come running.  And, when we did see each other, we picked up right where we left off.  It was as if no time had passed.

The last time I saw Mary was at our 30^th reunion.  After the reunion, a handful of us didn’t want the party to be over.  So, we gathered up and went to a local tavern to continue visiting.  I treasure the time I got to spend with Mary that night.  She was so tickled that I’m riding again.  We talked about getting her over to my barn and getting her rear in an English saddle.  Unfortunately, that never happened.

In our senior yearbook, Mary wrote:  “I’m glad we’ve been so close.”  Me, too, Mary.  I am the richer for it.  I love you and always will.  The world is a little bit dimmer without you in it.

~Carol Miller

After graduation, I didn’t see Mary much, just here and there every once in awhile.  But, in the last few years, I saw her a lot.  We attended the same church; we sat together often. I lost my sister last February, and Mary was so comforting to me.  I’ll never forget how kind she was.  I’ll miss her.

~Angie Asbill Rogers

Mary and I weren't very close.  But, I do remember, as young teenagers, we had a party at my house.  There was about five of us, and Mary was one of them.  Well, we got bored.  There was a peach tree in the middle of our back yard with fallen peaches.  We decided we would stomp them and smash them all over the ground.  Needless to say, my mother was not a happy camper about that idea.  So, the next day, she told me I had to pick up all of the smashed peaches.  And, ewwww, some were really rotten.  So, by now, I am not a happy camper.  In the meantime, Mary called and asked me what I was doing.  I told her.  The next thing I knew, Mary was at my house, helping me pick up those rotten peaches.  Now, that's a friend--don't you think?

~Brenda Humphrey Jannain

I was always moving in and out of Sallisaw schools as a kid.  But there was one thing I could count on whenever I came home to Sallisaw.  I knew that whenever I saw Mary, she would have a smile on her face.  I honestly can't remember her without a smile.  She was truly a beam of sunshine on any cloudy day, loved everyone, and made us all feel like we belonged.  I will remember her beautiful smile and sweet loving soul.

~Kristi Noblett Ritson

Once again I find myself contemplating my childhood.  Only this time, I would like to give all of you the view of our friend and classmate, Mary Beth Gay. Many may say right away that Mary was not my friend.  But the truth is that Mary didn't do friends easily.  And I may have been Mary's very first friend, Janet [Harrison] aside that is.  Janet shared a special place only cousins can have. 

Mary was born to older parents.  Her father and my grandmother were classmates.  They greeted each other that way every time they met.  As very small children, Mary and I knew we were linked forever as the family's businesses were on the same end of town.  We knew each other from the womb it seemed.  That said, Mary figured out very quickly that it was hard to have older parents.  (Deanna can attest to this.)  Mary figured out that if my grandparents were on board for something, her parents would come around to letting her do it.  When we were small, it was things like the picture contest at Rigsby's,  riding horses, Girl Scouts, going to the movies (some of you may remember it was a controversial decision in the sixties whether our parents would even have a TV in the Bible Belt of Sallisaw), hanging out at our family's businesses eating a ton of candy, pop, and donuts. 

I thought Mary's mother was the most wonderful person when she did Girl Scouts for us.  All that arty stuff really stuck with me, and I guess it did with Mary, too, since she had such a passion for decorating and such.  I was surprised, years later, to find Mary in upholstery class when Karen and I took it with our mothers.  She was very talented.

Somewhere along the line, teachers began to push us together even more.  Everyone knows Mrs. Aydelott "told" us what instruments to play.  There was Mary and I on the French horn.  When I tried out for cheerleader the first time,  Mary got it and I got alternate.  Later, when Kay talked me into trying again, I was mortified when I got it because I knew Mary would not like it.  But by this time Mary had Jamie.  Thank God for Jamie.  Mary needed someone who was bigger than Sallisaw for a friend.  She needed someone from somewhere she could dream of.  Someone who could learn who Mary was that hadn't already learned the story from doting loved ones.  Someone who would let her shine brighter.  The first week Jaime was at school, we all just knew she was Mary's.

Mary always gave me hell because I made good grades.  This was not about me being smarter than her.  She just did all the other things better.  If you wanted a great fundraiser, or a prom or dance decorated, you got Mary on board.  If you wanted class officer, Mary campaigned for you.  She was our social calendar girl.  What would high school have been without Mary on our side?  Not near as much fun.

Mary enjoyed doing everything first.  Later, she would be one of the first to marry; one of the first to have a child; one of the first to lose her mother and father; one of the first to divorce. 

Shining brightly is what Mary did best.  She never knew that she was the small town girl who made well, as they say.  Shining brightly is the way I will always think of her.  I hope Mary knows there is a big hole where she once lived in our lives.  And I am truly sad for the ones left behind--her children.

Farewell, Mary, farewell.

~Cheryl Bagley Leake

Christmas at Jan's:  (L-R) Cindy Vann, Mary Beth Gay,

Janet Miller (standing) and Paula Rhoades.

I'll never forget having a class with Mary Beth.  Mr. Bradshaw was the teacher.  She and Jamie Bachus would take roll everyday.  They always had some kind of stunt to do that always made it funny!  One day, they had both cut out pictures from a magazine.  One had a picture of a glass of wine and the other a picture of a bottle of beer.  They tried to pretend they were drinking them and were far toooo drunk to take roll properly.    They staggered around the front pretending they couldn't see us well enough to do things correctly.  It was hilarious!!!  RIP, Mary Beth! 

~Susan Miller (Class of '76)

At the 30-Year Reunion:

Anita Poindexter, Mary Gay Mattox and Rena Sizemore

Jim Philpot, Mary Gay Mattox and Carol Miller

Barrett Johnson, Roger Stites, Cindy Vann Welch,

Gary McClanahan and Mary Gay Mattox

Mary Gay Mattox dances with Barrett Johnson

while Randy Feger looks on

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