Sammie Lee Archer's Obituary
Mrs. Sammie Lee Archer, 87, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, was called from this life to her home in Heaven prepared for her by her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on Wednesday, June 26, 2024, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with family by her side. She was born on August 21, 1936, in Muskogee, Oklahoma to her parents, Sam Bennett and Dorothy Rector Bennett.
Sammie was a member of the South Tulsa Baptist Church and the Kingdom Explorers Sunday School Class.
Sammie is survived by her son, Mark Allen Archer of Sarasota, Florida; daughter, Lee Ann Kron and husband Ken Kron of Tulsa, Oklahoma; daughter, Julie Gay Stephens and husband Kernoal Stephens of Pipeton, Tennessee; sister, Donna Jean Brennan of Hendersonville, North Carolina; four grandchildren, Lauren Dykstra and husband Matthew Dykstra, Jordan Edmundson and husband Bryan Edmundson, Julia Petree and husband Aaron Petree, and Evyn Tankersly and husband Phillip Tankersly; four great-grandchildren, James Dykstra, John Dykstra, Olivia Dykstra, and David Edmundson, Also cousins, Nieces, Nephews and a host of dear friends.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Sam and Dorothy Bennett, and her husband, Wana Archer.
Sammie and Wana were married on July 8, 1955. They shared 66 years of married life together. At age 20 Wana was called into the Gospel ministry. Sammie also felt God’s calling on her life and gladly became a partner with Wana in the Gospel ministry.
Her delight was in making a home for her growing family. She had an exquisite sense of décor and created beautiful, comfortable, and utilitarian homes for Wana and the children.
Their first endeavor together was to establish the Gore Baptist Mission, in Gore, Oklahoma, in 1956. It is now the First Baptist Church of Gore, Oklahoma. Wana continued to pastor for 47 years. He was pastor of churches in Illinois, Ohio, and Oklahoma, always with Sammie faithfully at his side. The last was a 23-year pastorate of the First Baptist Church of Collinsville, Oklahoma. Wana said about the church, “It was an easy church to come to a hard church to leave.
Sammie took on any task asked of her by her husband, including the twenty-three years at Collinsville. One of the most important was as director of the pastor’s Sunday School class. This was an outreach effort into the community that God richly blessed over many years. Much of its success was due to the capability and dependability of Sammie.
Being a pastor’s wife was a challenging calling. In the early years, times were hard. Sammie could feed a family of five two meals on a pound of hamburger, and there was always plenty to eat at every meal and a snack after school. She could magically turn a can of eight biscuits into 8 hot, delicious cinnamon and sugar donuts, and often did.
As hard times passed Sammie and Wana enjoyed travel vacations, including two trips to the British Isles and Europe. They also traveled to the northeast several times and spent a week on Prince Edward Island. Branson, Missouri was a favorite destination, especially around the Christmas season.
After Wana’s retirement in 2004, Sammie and Wana kept busy with interim pastorates, supply preaching, and great Christian fellowship with the people of South Tulsa Baptist Church.
That all came to an end when Sammie fell, breaking a hip in 2014. This was the first of several falls and bone breaks. She and Wana spent the last of their years together in the home, enjoying one another’s company and making the best of each day that God gave.
Sammie was a woman who loved life and blessed the people who passed through her life. Her was a life journey well-traveled.
There will be a private family service.
In lieu of flowers please make a donation to Oklahoma Baptist Homes for Children.
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