Vera Gilmer

Vera Lee “Kay” Gilmer, 86, of Norman, OK was the daughter of Archie and Mary Lasswell Gilmer. She was born on Nov. 21st, 1925 in Cromwell, Oklahoma. She passed away on Dec. 2nd, 2011 in Norman, OK. Vera and her two sisters, Doris, 5 years older and Rosie, five years younger grew up in a “nice home” in Cromwell, once an oil boom town, now a ghost town, where their father worked for Humble Oil. Although on more than one occasion, the girls and their mother stayed in a tent on the oil field with their father. The family members were active in the local Methodist church, where Archie held a leadership role and the girls learned the value of faith and the love of the Lord. Vera graduated as Valedictorian from Cromwell High School in 1943. She went on to attend Oklahoma State University in Stillwater where she met Robert “Bobby” Corbet. They married in 1951. They established their home at Jet, OK in the Vining Community where Bob and his extended family farmed and raised cattle. Vera and Bob had 3 daughters Ginger, Cherry and Ceci. After her daughters entered public school, Vera worked as a legal secretary in Cherokee, OK. She completed her college degree in Business and Secondary Education at Northwestern State University in Alva, OK. After completing her degree Vera went on to teach Business classes in several high schools in Oklahoma. In 1969, when Bobby passed away, Vera and her daughters moved to Shawnee, OK to be near her parents who had retired there. Vera “Kay” became receptionist and then secretary at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church. Later she went on to work for the state of Oklahoma retiring in 1980. Afterwards she traveled the country for several years, eventually settling in Norman, OK near daughter, Cherry, where she lived the rest of her life. Vera “Kay” Gilmer Corbet is described by her daughters as a gentle person and yet a woman of strength and of dignity. She saw the silver lining and was positive towards others. She taught us how to dress well and how to display good manners with worthiness. From her heart, she gave her best to each of us. Vera “Kay” was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, her sisters and their husbands, Dr. Gene and Doris Smith, Alva, Ok and Grover and Rosie Wamsley, Seminole, OK, and her youngest daughter, Ceci Corbet Griffin, Amarillo, TX. She is survived by her daughters, Ginger Corbet Grotts and husband Harold of Kingston, OK, and Cherry Lynn Frailey and husband, James, of Norman, OK, grandsons, Obadiah and wife, Lauren of Oklahoma City and Roy DeWitt Griffin, III of Dallas, TX and grand-dogs, Tucker, Owen, Bean, Gobey and Alice Frailey of Norman, OK. A memorial service is being planned for this spring in Shawnee, Ok. Services will be announced at a later date. To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of Vera Gilmer please visit our Sympathy Store.