Arlene Sue Maynard

Arlene Sue Dees Maynard

Born 12-16-1957 El Paso, TX

Died 6-29-2023 Norman, OK

Married to David Maynard 3-12-1982 in Los Angeles, CA

Survived by: Husband David, Daughter Calista May Heard (husband Brian) of Jones, OK and grandchildren Kaylena, Jospeh, Brynn, Elias, Astrid and Anders Culpepper; Daughter Destiny Maynard of Noman, OK and grand-doggies: Daisy, Mossy Oak, and Mufasa. She is also survived by her mother Dorothy Dees and brother Jerry Dees (wife Susan) of San Ramon, CA. She is preceded in death by her father Richard Dees and her brother Charlie Dees.

For Arlene’s early years, she grew up on or near several military bases around the country. Upon her parents’ divorce, her and her brothers lived in Southern California with their mother and visited their father in New Mexico during the summers. She had three very dear girl friends growing up, that have stayed close since they were about 10 years old (The Four Musketeers): Cindy and Shelley still living in So. Cal, and Laurie who passed away in 1997. As a young adult, she served a church mission in Minnesota where she also made some more lifelong friends.

Arlene worked at various places, mainly restaurants and retail stores: specifically, May Company. She was the regional trainer. She would go around to the numerous stores in the LA area and train people on how to be an efficient employee. She loved it! Sometimes she was that person that would be called when a customer was unhappy with the service they were receiving, or needed help with a product; she would ALWAYS find a suitable compromise for both the customer and the Company. She was a top-notch employee. She also worked on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California ...… as a tax preparer! This job was great to have when the girls were growing up. She could set her own schedule and was the go-to person on anything Income Tax related.

She loved Rock ‘n’ Roll music! Practically every single memory she would talk about always somehow included music, whether it was playing in the background: “I remember because that song was playing on the radio at the time”; or it was the main topic of the story she was telling: “This song came out just in time for the 6th grade dance!”. In the 1970’s when Elvis Presley was performing in Los Angeles, she woke up reallllllllly early and stood in line to get a ticket for his concert; she was third in line. Unfortunately, the concert had sold out before she got to the window. She was extremely disappointed. She knew the lyrics to every single Beatles song and would often challenge people to see if they could stump her: nobody ever could. She loooooved dancing! She was a member of the drill team in high school, performed in several church roadshows, dance routines, and often helped with the choreography. In 1976, she was a part of the Southern California Bicentennial Festival Rose Bowl performance held in Pasadena, California. She made and wore a Martha Washington style dress.

Arlene was a talented seamstress and made many of her clothes as a teenager and adult. For the Halloween, she and Dave would have fun and dress up, whether it was as Frankenstein and his bride, as the Ms. Pac Man characters, or as clowns with the full make-up and everything! When she became a mother, she made practically every costume for her girls: from the Little Mermaid, to magicians, to the Statue of Liberty, to Medieval peasants, to Morticia Addams, and several other everyday clothing items.

In January of 1999, her life drastically changed when she had brain surgery that resulted in the loss of hearing in one ear, and various other deficits, including chronic vertigo. Despite that, she was able to find a ‘new normal’ and continued to live her life the best she could. As time continued on, she began developing all those genetic aliments, such as arthritis, psoriasis, and several auto-immune diseases, which made life even more of a struggle. The ‘new normal’ was becoming even more of a challenging to find. It seemed that once she became accustomed to a new routine, it was time to change it again, making her life more difficult. She continued to face the challenges with the help of her loving family. As time went on and her pain and aliments increased, she was at last approved for hospice home care.

On the morning of June 29, 2023, she was FINALLY able to get that concert ticket to see Elvis Presley.

Arlene actively contributed to bettering the community she was in: from serving on a jury for a high-profile murder trial, to making blankets for the Infant Crisis Center, to being a parent volunteer with her daughters’ school. In lieu of flowers, Arlene invites you to donate at least an hour of your time (about the length of a funeral) to do some form of community service that you are not already involved in.

“You either contribute to or contaminate the world. Which one are you going to do?”

-Arlene S. Maynard