Jack Yelton Goree enjoyed life and honored God.  He and Mary Anne married in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and were blessed with 62 years together.  Jack was born in Shawnee, Oklahoma, on February 13, 1939.

Jack was a man of commitment and motivation.  He earned a degree in sociology and served in the army on a small island of Alaska as a Morse Code interceptor.  Afterward, he and Mary Anne moved to Tulsa and Jack worked full time as an insurance adjuster and attended night school to get his law degree.  In his professional life, Jack built a reputation for honesty and hard work and was particularly proud to practice law for a time with his two sons.

Jack loved to fish.  He fished with his brothers, his sons, and one or two close friends.  Whether it was the Illinois River, a lake in Alaska, or in the creek down the path behind the house in Prue, Oklahoma, Jack usually caught more than anybody else.

His faith was a priority.  Jack taught several Sunday School classes and served as a deacon in the churches he attended.  Once, while deliberating about whether to buy a small weekend home near Lake Fort Gibson, Jack committed it would never interfere with worshiping the Lord.  He led his family to get up early every Sunday morning on those summer weekends and they drove together back to Tulsa to attend church.

Jack enjoyed cars, a few boats, and his collection of antique glassware.  He was always a generous man and humbly kept quiet about the many people he helped through their difficult times even when it involved personal sacrifice.  As dementia gained ground in his later years, Jack trusted and relied on Mary Anne's loving care, and he never completely lost his sense of humor.  He wasn't afraid to die, knowing he would be in heaven at the finish.

Jack is survived by his loving wife, Mary Anne Goree, his son Brian Goree and his wife Jill of Oklahoma City, his son Christopher Goree and his wife Laurie of Colorado Springs, his sister Virginia Riffel and her husband Rich, his brother William Goree and his wife Maureen, and his brother Gary Goree; six grandchildren, Daniel Goree and his wife Chynna, Anna Spence and her husband Nathan, Michelle Tankersley and her husband Ryan, Aaron Goree and his wife Hannah, Philip Goree, and Kevin Goree; five great grandchildren, Theo Spence, Ella Spence, Nathaniel Tankersley, Skye Tankersley, and Joy Tankersley; and additional nieces and nephews.  He was preceded in death by his father and mother, Sidney Frederick Goree and Esther Ruth Yelton Goree, and his brother, Thomas Goree.

Private funeral services are being held.  Please keep the family in your prayers.