Francine Ewy

FRANCINE EWY Memorial services for Cortez resident Francine Ewy will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday, March 4 at the Cortez Church of the Nazarene. Pastor Anthony Maes will officiate. Francine lost her 23 year battle with scleroderma on February 27, 2011. Francine was born in Seminole, Okla. on May 29, 1957 to Erma Jean and Booket Douglas. She attended Pleasant Grove School from kindergarten through the 12th grade, graduating as the valedictorian of her class in 1975. Francine attended Seminole State College from 1975-1976. She continued her education at South Eastern Oklahoma State University in Durant from 1976-1980 earning a Bachelor's and Master's Degree in education. After earning her Master's Degree, she taught English at middle and high schools in Oklahoma, Texas and California. In 1987, Francine found employment as a guidance counselor at Chinle High School on the Navajo Reservation where she met and married Thomas Ewy, a high school mathematics teacher, on July 8, 1988. The couple built their home in Cortez, raising one daughter, Megan, who graduated from Montezuma-Cortez High School in 2007. Francine became permanently disabled in 2000 due to health issues associated with scleroderma. In 2008, the couple purchased a cottage in Francine's hometown of Seminole where it was hoped the lower elevation and warmer climate might improve her breathing and overall health. As Francine's health continued to deteriorate, her wish was to return to Cortez to live out her final days of life. A giver by nature, Francine always made sure other's needs were met before her own. She enjoyed time spent cooking and sewing. Francine had an interest and talent for interior decorating. Francine is preceded in death by her brother, Booket Douglas Jr.; and by her nephew, Brett Booket Wolfe. She is survived by her husband, Tom Ewy of Cortez; her daughter, Megan Ewy of Cortez; her parents, Booket Douglas and Erma Jean Douglas of Seminole, Okla.; by three sisters, Vickie Wolfe, Terry Atkinson, and Sharon Streater, all of Seminole, Okla.; by her loving dogs, Max, Daisey, and Buddy; and by her cat, Sissy.