Carolyn Elizabeth McKelvey has gone to work in the big kitchen in the sky. There she will be free to make all the food, including stringy roast beef, chicken and noodles, biscuits, dinner rolls and her nearly famous pecan praline pie. Much like her cakes and cookies, she was as sweet as they come. A funeral mass will begin at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, January 25, 2025, at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Strode Funeral Home and Cremation is in charge of the arrangements.

Carolyn was born in Okmulgee, Oklahoma on February 13, 1937, to James A. Slover Sr. and Hazel E. (Traweek) Slover. She passed from this life on January 14, 2025 (Mac's birthday) at 87 years and 11 months.

She graduated from Incarnate Word Academy in Corpus Christi, TX with the class of 1955.


On October 20, 1956, she and N.H. "Mac" McKelvey were wed in Kingsville, Texas. To this marriage, two children were born.

After raising children for several years, she went to work at the Stillwater High School Cafeteria. In 1980, she went to work at OSU at the Oklahoma Disease Diagnostic Lab and then moved to Civil Engineering where she stayed until her retirement in 1998.

In her spare time, she was a member of the Cherokee HCE, where she enjoyed making pies and working in the kitchen at the Payne County Fair; and making noodles for the annual Chicken and Noodle Dinner at Cottonwood Community Center. She was a member of the Lady Elks and enjoyed lunches with the St. Francis Serenity Society. She also served as a judge for the election board at various polling locations.

Carolyn was fierce before it was cool. She was analytical and organized, stubborn to a fault, but she was seldom unkind. She was a planner and could make a quick meal or delicious sweets appear before your very eyes, even when friends stopped by unexpectedly. She was quick to volunteer their home for a science club party, pre-prom dinner, youth group gathering or showers for weddings or babies alike.

She collected spoons and plates and loved her hot tea and Pepsi. She also needed you to stay out of her way when she played bingo. Her claim to fame was winning the jackpot on the final night of St. John's Tuesday Night Bingo in 1987. Of course, she made a respectable donation to the fund for a new roof. In her later years, she loved watching Hallmark movies and The Game Show Network.

She loved big, but you would be hard pressed to make her face light up as it did every time she saw her first great-grandchild, born last November.

Carolyn is preceded in death by her parents, her husband, 3 brothers, James A. "Jim" Slover Jr.; George W. "Duke" Slover; John T. "Stoney" Slover; brother and sister-in-law, John and Liz McKelvey, and brother-in-law Rowland E. Smith.

She is survived by her children and their spouses, Andy and Irene McKelvey of Stillwater; Maggie and Rance Johnson of Bethany, her grandchildren, Lisa McKelvey of Olathe, Kansas; David McKelvey of Tulsa; Brendan and Asia Yates and Caitlin Yates, all of Bethany, and her great-granddaughter, Bea Marie Yates of Bethany. She is also survived by her sisters-in-law, Harriett "Sissy" Smith of Bartlesville, Kay McKelvey of Allen, Texas, numerous nieces and nephews and many friends.

The family wishes to thank the staff at Stillwater Christian Villa, A Senior Living Community, for the friendship and loving support over the last 3 years. She was grateful to be able to stay independent while also being social.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be sent to Payne. Co. Extension, Attn: Dea Rash, 315 W. 6th Ave, Suite 103, Stillwater, OK 74074. Please designate Cherokee HCE in memory of Carolyn McKelvey.

Condolences may be emailed to the family and an online obituary may be viewed by visiting www.strodefh.com.