Obituary of Chiquita J. LaFon

Chiquita J. Lafon, 77, of South Coffeyville, Oklahoma passed away Tuesday, February 10, 2015 at Coffeyville Regional Medical Center. She was born January 5, 1938 at Boulanger, Oklahoma to Oscar Lee and Louise (Parton) McElroy. She lived her young life in Kansas and Oklahoma. Chiquita started school at age 4 to her mother who taught at a one room school house near Elgin, Kansas called Cedar Creek. At age 16, she graduated from Sedan High School where her mother was again one of her teachers. She had attended Oklahoma College for Women at Chickasha, Oklahoma, Coffeyville Junior College and Success Secretarial School in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. After which she worked for Southwestern Bell Telephone Company in Pawhuska and later for Phillips Petroleum Company in Bartlesville, Oklahoma before working with her husband. On July 17, 1976, she married Frank M. "Sonny" Lafon at Las Vegas, Nevada. Following her marriage, she became a licensed pest control operator and resided in Wann, Oklahoma, where she and her husband owned and operated Town and Country Pest Control Company for 30 years. She retired with her husband when his health failed in 2003. She was a member of the Order of Eastern Star and a two time worthy matron. She was also a member of the Order of the Great White Shrine of Jerusalem. She was also a member of the Kansas, Oklahoma and National Pest Control Association. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Sonny and two brothers and one sister. Survivors include her one and only child, Melanie Wheelock and her husband, John of Bartlesville, Oklahoma and her one and only grandchild, Travis Taylor Phelps. They were the love and joy of her life. She loved keeping a beautiful house and yard and the birds and animals of the great outdoors; this was her heaven. She is also survived by her sisters Nona Black of Stillwater, Oklahoma and Twila Lister of Sedan, Kansas and six nieces and nephews. Funeral services will be Friday, February 13, 2015 at 10:00 a.m. at the Chautauqua Baptist Church in Chautauqua, Kansas with Pastor Kevin Fogerty officiating. Burial will follow at the Oak Hill Cemetery in Chautauqua, Kansas. Friends may sign the register Thursday, February 12, 2015 from 9:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. at the David W. Barnes Funeral Home in Coffeyville.