Frankie Gail McCauley

Frankie Gail McCauley, our Grannie, walked through more heartbreak than most people could imagine, but she never let it change who she was. She held tightly to her faith, and she carried what she lived through with a quiet strength. Growing up, I used to think Grannie was so strong because she was Choctaw, like strength was simply part of who she was. Now I understand it differently: she was strong because God knew what she would face, and He gave her what she needed to survive it, and to keep loving us through it.

In her early years, her mother was unable to care for the children, and her father did his best. By God’s grace, Ma-Sloan, a great-aunt, stepped in to raise her and her two siblings but loss found them early, beginning with the passing of their little sister. Then later, as a young teenager, she endured the tragic death of her father in a coal mine accident. She married young and became the mother of three sons, building a home with love and sheer determination. She could make something out of nothing, and even when they didn’t have much, it was enough.

Grannie could do anything she put her mind to. If she wanted to add a room onto the house, she would figure it out and build it. If she wanted to learn something new, she would learn it and do it well. She was fiercely independent, the kind of person who did not wait for permission or help. She just made things happen.

Family was never a duty; it was simply who she was. When one of her sons needed help, Grannie stepped in and raised her grandson from the time he was a baby all the way up until her last day.

In the years that followed, she endured even more, the slow goodbye of her husband to muscular dystrophy and cancer, and then the unimaginable loss of two sons in their twenties…taken far too soon. And still, she remained a light. She stayed loving, steady, and generous in a way that made you feel like you belonged.

And even with everything she carried, she never lost her light. She had that gentle, quick sense of humor that could lift a room. She didn’t have to try; she would just slip a comment that would have you smiling. We will miss that about her. We will miss seeing her smile. We will miss sharing secrets, because she was the best secret keeper. She never told one.

We will miss her Oklahoma accent, and miss calling her by her first, middle, and maiden name. We will miss everything about her. We will always love her, and we are so thankful for the many years we were able to have her as ours.

Carrying on her Choctaw bloodline are her son, Dr. William Thomas McCauley III; her grandchildren, William Thomas McCauley IV, Whitney Tamaran McVay, and Darrell Joe McCauley Jr.; and her great-grandchildren, Harlow Grace and William (Liam) Matthias McCauley, Scarlett Moon, Beschen Soleil, Teddy Ellis, and Monroe Estelle McVay.

No service will be held, in keeping with her wishes. We ask you to remember her in your own way and cherish time with those you love.