It is with heavy hearts that we announce that Jody Eugene Flury has gone Home to be with his Savior. He passed away peacefully, in his home in Guthrie, Oklahoma, on May 22, 2024. He was born at home, in Avard, Oklahoma, on November 11, 1941 to Joe Dan Flury and Almira Agatha Darbe.
Jody attended Guthrie High School before he decided to take off and see the United States, on foot. It wouldn’t be long until he learned just how cold it gets in the north, in November. This is when he decided he would join the service. First he tried to join the Army but was told he was way too skinny. So, he went next door and tried to join the Marines. The recruiter told him he would have to be able to do at least ten push ups to prove he was tough enough to be in the Marines. He dropped and did way more than ten, and he was in! He made many lifelong friends in the Marine Corp. He also did many, many more push ups!
He was always the life of the party. He really impressed the young Glenda Went, after he jumped into the convertible that she was riding in. Her date wasn’t that impressed. It wasn’t very long until they were driving to Las Vegas to elope in November of 1961.
They were stationed near Newport Beach in California. This is where their first daughter, Tracy, was born. As soon as he was discharged from the Marine Corps, they moved back to Guthrie where they settled down and had another daughter, Tarey.
Jody eventually became an owner-operator of a Tractor Trailer. He set out once again to see the United States, this time from the comfort of his warm truck, while getting paid. He had a lot of adventures while traveling, including meeting Evil Knievel in a truck stop. He also hauled a lot of the pipe used for the Alaskan Pipeline. He loved to tell the story about traveling on that gravel highway, almost all of the way there!
He was a wonderful dad, even if he wasn’t home all the time. His children were convinced that they had to share him with “his other family”. One time he brought a large brown paper bag back from Safeway, and it was full of bubble gum. He also put cherry bomb pipes on Tarey’s car, just so Glenda could hear when she got home at night. He was such a character!
Growing up the family spent a lot of time at the lake skiing and fishing. Jeff Flury always had a flashlight. They always had a really good time! He once pulled 5 kids up behind his boat, water skiing at the Okemah lake. Another time, it got so hot at the lake that Jody cut his jeans into shorts, without taking them off and he used his pocket knife!
Every time the kids would say “Grandma Went” he would say, “Grandma went where?”
There was one time when Tracy, Tarey and Barry Brockman were sitting on the couch watching him and Grandpa Tom trying to open the flue on the chimney. He kept saying, “Can you see the crack?” Yes, both of their cracks were visible! Barry was almost more like a son than a nephew. I know Jody loved him like a son!
Jody loved his grandkids and great-grandkids too. I’m pretty sure, more than his kids! He always had a horse for them. When that didn’t satisfy them, then they got a motorcycle, even if they were only five. “He will grow into it”...or whatever else they wanted. It would just appear.
He was a pretty good landlord too. If you had a job he would rent to you. And he would buy you a good car so you could make it to and from work, so you could pay your rent. He helped a lot of young men just starting out. He made lifelong friends of those men.
When he finally decided to retire, he began grooming his lawn full time. He had it looking just like a golf course. He was really proud of that lawn. He was still taking a few laps around the pasture on his zero radius mower at 81, only a few days after having chemotherapy.
Glenda did talk him into going on a cruise. He was right at home. He could drink beer, tell jokes and walk to his room. Wake up and do it all over again. After that, they went all over the world and he didn’t have to drive! His jokes, laughter and smile will be greatly missed by all who knew him.
Jody is preceded in death by his father, Joe Dan Flury; mother and step- father, Almira (Darbe) and Thomas Seal, Sr.; wife, Glenda (Went) Flury; daughter, Tracy Flury; granddaughter, Jodi Parker; brother-inlaw, Choc Branscum; and his step-brother, Thomas Seal, Jr.
Survivors Include his sisters, Janet “Sue” Branscum, Rita Seal, and Myrna Castle and husband, Doyle; his brothers, Jerry Flury and Randy Flury and wife, Jo Ann; daughter, Tarey Coldren and husband, David; grandson, Troy Larsen, Jr.; granddaughter, Alexa Wyman; and great-grandkids, Austin Larsen, Alice Parker, Jaxon Parker, and Symphony Stephens. He is also survived by many beloved nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends all over the country.
Funeral services will be held at 11:00 A.M., Wednesday, May 29, 2024 at SouthPointe Baptist Church with Pastor Robby Robbins officiating. Interment will follow at Memory Gardens Memorial Park. Services are under the direction of Smith-Gallo Funeral Home, Guthrie.
Visitation will be held Tuesday, 2:00 P.M. - 5:00 P.M. at Smith-Gallo Funeral Home.
Friends may sign the online guestbook at www. smithgallo.com.
Published in the Guthrie News Leader - May 29, 2024