Roll Call Tribute

Carol Ruth Phelps 

May 12, 1942 - November 18, 2023 

Carol Ruth (McKee) Phelps, 81, passed away on November 18, 2023, at her home in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, after a long fight with Alzheimer's Disease.

Carol grew up in Borger, Texas, where she graduated from Borger High School in 1960 and won a Phillips Petroleum scholarship to attend college. Next to her senior picture in the 1960 Borger High School yearbook was her wish for the future "To graduate from college and see the world." Carol graduated from Frank Phillips Jr. College in Borger, where she was a member of Phi Theta Kappa National Honor Society. She went on to Texas Tech University, in Lubbock, Texas, where she graduated with a B.S. in mathematics. After graduation she worked briefly for Phillips Petroleum in Bartlesville, OK as a computer programmer/analyst.

Carol married Jim Phelps in December 1964, and they began a life-long partnership. In 1966, they moved to College Station, TX to attend Texas A&M University, where they both received master's degrees in computer science. Their daughter, Janie Michelle, was born in 1969 in College Station. In 1970, the Phelps family moved to Tulsa, OK. Carol took a job with the newly established Tulsa Junior College as a computer science/programming instructor. After her son Michael Jason was born in 1973, she took a job as a programmer/analyst with Standard Oil of Indiana (Amoco). She worked for Amoco (and later BP) for 25 years, retiring in 1998. Carol and her family traveled around the world, including Alaska, Hawaii, Tahiti, New Zealand, Acapulco, St. Maarten, Europe, and took numerous motor home adventures around the U.S.

After retirement, Carol attended Tulsa Junior College, where she majored in horticulture and plant sciences. She joined the Tulsa County Master Gardeners Volunteer program, and worked with them for many years. She was an active member of the Tulsa Garden Club, and traveled with the Garden Club throughout the U.S. and Europe, including tours of the famous gardens of London, Paris, Ireland, Amsterdam, Spain, and Italy. Carol and Jim continued their successful partnership to the end. Carol lived a full life and accomplished her goals of travel and education far beyond her wildest youthful dreams. She was much loved and will be missed by all who knew her.

Carol is survived by her husband, Jim Phelps; her daughter, Janie Michelle Phelps; her son, Michael Jason Phelps, and wife Sarah; two grandchildren, Grace Phelps and Owen Phelps; her sister, Vicki Ann Gilbert, and husband Craig; and her brother, Mike McKee, and wife Karen. She was preceded in death by her parents, William Prentice McKee and Francis Ann (Simmons) McKee, and her sister, Sharon Brown.

No services are planned at this time.

In the care of Bixby Funeral Service