MARY ELIZABETH HANING, 89 passed peacefully into the arms of her loving Heavenly Father on July 20th, 2023. She was born to Edna Naoma and Ezra Carroll HARP. She attended Military School in Vinita, Oklahoma. Upon graduation she attended Northeastern A&M University in Miami, OK where she met Ben, the love of her life. They were married almost 67 years prior to his passing in 2021. They were married in 1953 before he joined the Air Force. Ben was stationed overseas in the Korean War. While he was there Mary continued her education and worked in the Eastern State Hospital as an aide. Upon completion of military assignments and honorable discharge from the military service, daughter, Lisa was born while they were stationed in Victoria TX . Then they returned to Oklahoma where Mary began her lifelong service and devotion to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and Department of Public Safety, Mary began her career there in 1961, the year her son, Benjamin (Les) was born.
She was named an Honorary Oklahoma Trooper for her 42 years of service for the troopers and employees of the Department of Public Safety. She fought for them every day and was never afraid of a challenge. She was a true servant leader in her career. When Mary retired as the Executive Director of the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Retirement System in 2001, retired troopers gifted her with a quilting frame. Since her retirement she has completed beautiful hand stitched quilts …truly a lost art. She was a talented seamstress and made all the family clothes for years – kids’ clothes and Ben’s shirts as well as her dresses and dresses for her mother prior to her death. She loved to cook and as the hostess, Mary always had enough for a surprise guest and if you went away from her table hungry, it was your own fault. She loved her family, friends, and her pets but more than that she loved Jesus. She taught children’s Sunday School in the Southern Baptist church for many years and never missed a ball game or child’s recital. She and Ben worked many hours investing in the education of their children. Mary completed her bachelor’s degree in Technical Business at Oklahoma City University. Mary and Ben enjoyed spending time teaching the kids to love the outdoors, God’s beautiful world; fishing was a fun event, and she had a bit of a competitive spirit. Mary enjoyed sports events with the family. She had a beautiful singing voice when she was young and paid for lots of music lessons for her children.
Mary loved birds, trees, and gardening of all kinds. She really had a green thumb! She was admired, respected, and loved by all the those who really knew her! Survivors include Benjamin L. Haning (Nancy) of Langley and Lisa Blackburn (David) of Oklahoma City; grandchildren Katie Haning and Stephen Haning, Siblings: Emmett Harp of Langley, Naomi Yalch of Tulsa, and Stephen Harp of Langley. Mary had many nieces and nephews and Alpha Phi sisters, family and friends who will dearly miss her. Parents and siblings predeceased: Virginia Boyer, Leon Harp, Curtis Harp, Jane Gourd and two little sisters Nancy Harp and Martha Harp. The family will receive friends on Friday July 21, 2023, from 5:00 to 7:00 PM Buchanan Funeral Service on Council Rd. Oklahoma City OK Funeral services will be conducted at 1:00 PM on Saturday July 22, 2023, at Otterbein Country Church of Langley, OK Interment: Military Cemetery , Langley , OK
