Zenola Orene Upshaw

Zenola Orene Adams Upshaw was born September 15, 1930, on a farm east of Perry. She was the daughter of Eugene and Hettie Adams. Orene passed away on June 12; services will be June 23, 2024 at 2:00 at First Baptist Church of Ochelata. On April 16, 1948, she married Lee Roy Upshaw. He had just recently returned home after a tour in the Navy. The first five ears of their marriage they lived and worked on a farm in Blackburn moving to Ponca City in 1953, where Lee Roy went to work for Conoco Oil Company, and Orene worked as the Assistant Director of Nurses at St. Joseph’s School of Nursing. In 1954 Lee Roy was transferred to Carlsbad, New Mexico, where their first son, Darvin, was born. The next year they were transferred to Canyon, Texas, where their second son Steven was born. They traveled with Conoco until 1958, when Lee Roy was sent back to Ponca City, Oklahoma to work. While living in Ponca City, Orene was a member of St. Luke’s Church of the Nazarene, where she taught Sunday School for 28-years. She taught in the Junior High Department for 20-years and in the Primary Children’s Department for 8-years. In 2016 she moved to Bartlesville to be closer to family. She attended Bartlesville Southern Baptist Church with her family and most recently Ochelata First Baptist Church where her son Steven is an interim pastor. Orene was an avid gardener and faithful to her work and witness for the Lord. Her family was the center of her life, and she loved to cook family dinners. Orene loved children and worked in a day care for 30-years. She is survived by brother Glenn Adams and his wife Delores of Odessa, TX, sister-in-law Violet Blanchard of Biloxi, MI, cousin Carolyn Vaughn of Cleveland, OK, nephew Derek Adams of Stratford, CT, son Darvin of Edmond, son Steven and his wife Opal of Bartlesville, 4 grandchildren: Lauren Eastham and her spouse Michael of Brentwood, TN, Victor Upshaw and his spouse Erin of Knoxville, TN, Aaron Upshaw and his spouse Jessica of Bartlesville, and Lara Hensley-Williams and her spouse Rhett of Oklahoma City, 8 great grandchildren: Davis and Averi Eastham, Ava and Leighton Upshaw, Nash and Jade Upshaw and Reese Hensley and Emma Williams. She was preceded in death by her dad Eugene Adams, mother Hetti Adams, husband Lee Roy Upshaw, daughter Vicki Denise, brother Larry “Bud” Adams, nephew Cornell, nephew Anthony, and grandson-in-law Eric Hensley.

Zenola Orene Upshaw

September 15, 1930 - June 12, 2024