Mary “Polly” Lanoy

Services for Mary Pauline “Polly” Lanoy will be held Thursday, March 14, 2019 at 2:00 p.m. at Brown’s Funeral Chapel in Coalgate with Pastors Joey Lansdale and Bill Sluder officiating. Interment will be in Lehigh Cemetery.

Polly went to be with her Lord and Savior on March 11, 2019 in Coalgate at 93 years of age. She was born December 21, 1925 in Cole, OK to Nannie (Jackson) and Orville Long.

Polly attended Lehigh Elementary School and graduated from Ada High School in 1943. She furthered her education at East Central University in Ada, OK and received her Bachelor’s Degree in Education in 1951, later earning her Master’s Degree. Polly started teaching in a one room school house in Coal County at the age of 20. She dedicated her life to learning and teaching others.

Polly taught multiple grade levels over her career and before she retired she became the school librarian. After 40 years of teaching, she retired in 1984 in Rawlins, Wyoming. Polly received Teacher of the Year in 1977 and also was named Outstanding Member of Delta Kappa Gamma. She was a member of the First Southern Baptist Church, a member of the Order of the Eastern Star, a member of the Department of Education Kappa Delta Pi, and a member of Delta Kappa Gamma.

Polly married the love of her life, Leon Lanoy on August 2, 1946 in Coalgate, OK. She was a coal miner’s wife, the wife of a Principal of Education, and she served as the wife of a WWII veteran. One of Polly’s lifetime achievements was authoring the book “A Colossal Fossil and The Life Story of Leon Lanoy”, a biography of her beloved husband. Polly and Leon were recipients of the Hallie Brown Ford Award, the Golden Tiger Medallion Award, by ECU for Philanthropy in 2008. In 2009 they were inducted into the Educators Hall of Fame and in 2016 the Education Building at ECU was named the Lanoy Building in their honor.

Polly and her husband spent their winters with family and friends in Coalgate, OK until finally residing in Coalgate permanently in 2013. She was a ranch hand and hard worker. Her past times included camping, fishing, and hosting dinners as well as weekly game nights with family and friends. She was dearly loved and will be missed greatly.

Polly Lanoy is survived by her nephews, John Long and wife Debra, Robert Long and wife Karen; niece Janna and husband Kyle Shelley; eleven great nieces and nephews and sister-in-law Margaret Sandmann. She is preceded in death by her husband, Leon Lanoy in 2015; parents, Nannie and Orville Long; brother, Gene Long; sister-in-law, Helen Long and niece, Susan Long Russell.

Special friends who were there for Polly every step of the way: Harold and Gwenda DePasse, Gary and Linda Hatridge, Mary Carnike, Floyd Williamson and Paula Howard and next door neighbor Helen Jones. A very grateful thank you to Polly’s caregivers, Jennette Wells and Darnetta Taylor.

Casketbearers will be Robert “Bob” Long, Andrew Long, Richard Ed-dings, Kyle Shelley, Peydon Griffith and Clayton Griffith. Honorary bearers will be Carroll Humphrey, Harold DePasse, Arthur DePasse, Tim Sandmann, Gary Hatridge, Odis Shipman, J. D. Smith, Carl McEntire and Floyd Williamson.