Priscilla Ann Gunter's Obituary
Priscilla Ann Gunter, age 87, of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma joined her Lord in Heaven on Friday afternoon, August 26th, 2022. Priscilla was born March 19, 1935 in Pittston, Maine to Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. and Marion Lillian (Marley) Sparrow of Pittston, Maine. Priscilla was a 1952 graduate of Gardiner High School, and graduated from Forsyth College at Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts with a degree in Dental Hygiene. Priscilla then worked in Lewiston and Auburn, Maine for a local dentist.
Priscilla met Jack on the 4th of July, 1958 at Old Orchard Beach in southern Maine while he was stationed at Loring Air Force Base near Caribou, Maine. They were married February 14, 1959 in Gardiner, Maine, spending part of their honeymoon with Jack’s sister Wylene and husband James Wakefield in Florida. While in Daytona they chanced watching what became the inaugural Daytona 500 from third row seats, becoming covered with oil and soot by the end of the race, which made for a memorable honeymoon. A second stop was made in Manassas, Virginia to visit Priscilla’s aunt, Mildred (Sparrow) Litsis, who had painstakingly documented the family’s Mayflower heritage.
Following Jack’s discharge from the Air Force in December 1959, Priscilla familiarized herself with rice farming, including driving and dumping grain trucks into the farm’s bins. Priscilla provided her family a blend of (mostly) New England and Southern cuisine, acclimated her Maine accent over time, and supported her husband’s profession while caring for her family.
Priscilla is survived by her daughters Jill Ann Gunter of Somers, Montana and Joy Alicia (James) Johnson of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma; and her son John Robert Gunter of Waldenburg, Arkansas. Additional survivors are 13 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren. Priscilla is preceded in death by her husband, Jack Henderson Gunter of Fisher in 2003, her brother, Theodore Roosevelt Sparrow, Jr. of Pittston, Maine in 2017 and her son, Jay Russell Gunter of Jonesboro in 2021.
Priscilla was proud of her family’s Mayflower heritage, being a descendant through multiple lines, including Plymouth Colony Governor William Bradford and Capt. Miles Standish.
Priscilla cheered her children through their various school sports, musical pursuits, Girl and Boy Scouts, and academic achievements. She followed her husband’s varied interests such as camping as a family and founding a local chapter of the NCHA (the Riceland Ramblers), raising emus and Longhorn cattle, and enjoying folk music in the Ozarks. After reaching the empty nest years, she operated Priscilla’s Christian Bookstore for ten years in Wynne, Arkansas to share her love of books and Christ with others. Together with Jack’s sisters Sylvia and Wylene, Priscilla assisted Jack with operating Gunter’s Store in Fisher for ten years.
She loved spending time with her grandchildren and watching them grow into young adults, even moving to Montana at age 79 to be near them for the final years of her life. She was a faithful member of various churches throughout her life and a generous giver of her time and finances to support her local church. All those blessed to know Priscilla appreciated her wisdom, unconditional acceptance, and motherly advice freely offered.
A burial service with reception is planned for late September in Fisher, with details to be released when they become available. Priscilla lived a long life with many personal connections and the family wishes to provide those who knew Priscilla an opportunity to share their memories with one another and her family. Priscilla’s remains will be cremated and buried at the Fisher Cemetery. For lasting memorials, contributions to the Fisher Cemetery Fund would be appreciated.
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