Jessie Waleah (Sanders) Skrzypczak passed from this life on Saturday, October 12, 2024 in Tulsa at 94 years of age. She was the last remaining of twelve children, born on August 25, 1930, in Westville, Oklahoma, to Charles and Jessie (Starr) Sanders. Jessie graduated from Sequoyah High School. She later attended the Oklahoma Baptist Hospital School of Nursing earning her nursing degree. It was when she was working at at Dr. I Brown Oldham's office that she met her future husband of 64 years, Raymond Francis Skrzypczak.

Jessie was proud of her Cherokee Indian heritage. Her high school years were spent in a Cherokee boarding school, where she enjoyed playing basketball, making pottery, among other activities.  After graduation, Jessie went on to nursing school becoming a registered nurse, a very special accomplishment for her and her family.  She spent more than 35 years as a surgical nurse and supervisor at Oklahoma Osteopathic Hospital and then at Saint Francis Hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Jessie's Catholic faith was very important to her life. She converted to Catholicism soon after her marriage to Ray.  She and Ray volunteered as sacristans at their home parish, Holy Family Cathedral, for many years. Each Saturday morning after attending the 8:00am Mass, they would stay to do various tasks in the Cathedral, such as clean and refill the holy water bowls, clean the sacred vessels, clean the candle followers, and any other task that needed to be done.

Jessie and Ray were very family oriented! Jessie enjoyed supporting her children's sports activities, from ice skating out on the frozen ponds during the winter months, to hockey, figure skating, baseball, and tennis. She and Ray would often take the family on summer vacations to explore and experience the beauty of the northwest and southwest United States and northeastern Canada, visiting many national parks and monuments.  She loved keeping busy with sewing clothes, gardening, planting flowers throughout the various seasons, and growing vegetables and herbs for preparing meals and canning vegetables for the winter months.

Later in life, Jessie enjoyed watching college and professional basketball and football games. She looked forward to the weekends when she would spend the day watching "her teams" play—keeping her own player rosters and stats of these games. A recent highlight was attending an Oklahoma City Thunder exhibition game at the BOK Center last year. She even bought a t-shirt of her favorite player and wore it at the game! She loved watching old movies and musicals, especially South Pacific and Gone with the Wind.  The Lawrence Welk show continued to be one of her favorites throughout her life, and she couldn't resist singing along with the performers. Even to the late Friday evening before her passing on Saturday morning, she sang songs to her children and grandchildren.

Jessie and Ray loved babysitting the grandchildren, preparing hot dogs and sandwiches for the homeless downtown, making scapulars and rosaries to send off to missions throughout the world, and sponsoring the education of children in third world countries.  Jessie was a twin to her brother Joe. She loved going to family reunions, connecting with as many of her 11 siblings and extended family as possible.  For her 94th birthday, she had a lovely celebration with many of her family and friends. Throughout her life, she engaged fully in her nursing career, her family life, and her own personal faith life.

Jessie is preceded in death by her husband Raymond Francis Skrzypczak, her son Keith Skrzypczak, parents, Charles and Jessie Sanders, five sisters, Susie Raines, Louisa Swake, Crystal Butler, Charlotte Cone, Violet Hull, and six brothers, Arthur "Judd" Sanders, Martin Sanders, Calvin Sanders, Robert William Sanders, Joseph Sanders (her twin brother), and Lemuel Sanders.

Jessie is survived by two daughters, Monica Skrzypczak of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Katherine David (Skrzypczak) of Allen, Texas, and her husband Darin David, five grandchildren, Matthew Skrzypczak, Elizabeth Skrzypczak, Kateri David, Therese David, and John Paul Skrzypczak, and numerous nieces and nephews, countless friends and loved ones.