PROCTER, Genelle L. (Lanier)

Genelle L. Procter, 78, died January 10 at her home in Highlands Ranch, CO, surrounded by her family. Graveside service is 11:00 a.m. Saturday, January 23 at the Fairlawn Cemetery, Chickasha, OK. Arrangements are under the care of Ellis Family Services of Littleton, CO. A retired teacher and the wife of Dan H. Procter, Hazel Genelle Lanier (named for her Aunt Hazel) was born November 25, 1931, at her family's home on Dakota Street in Chickasha. Genelle graduated from Chickasha High School, where at age 16 she met her future husband, Dan. They married in 1952 at Epworth United Methodist Church and celebrated their 57th anniversary together in October 2009. Graduating from the then- Oklahoma College for Women in 1953, she began her teaching career in Hobbs, NM, and continued to teach in public schools in Tulsa and Oklahoma City. Her enthusiasm for helping children to learn stretched beyond the classroom walls to her own children, her grandchildren, and scores of neighborhood kids. She unraveled the bureaucracy of higher education to secure a full scholarship for one of her "adopted" kids, the daughter of a window washer, because the young woman deserved an education. She is survived by her husband, her daughter, Linda Burns, of Highlands Ranch, her son, Dan L. Procter, of Austin, TX, her grandchildren, Haley and Taylor Burns, of Highlands Ranch, her brother Bill Lanier, of Fort Worth, TX, and many more family members and loving friends. In lieu of flowers, suggested memorials include the Denver Hospice, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.