Melba “Lois” (Owens) Andrews

October 3, 1936 – September 12, 2022

Melba “Lois” (Owens) Andrews, 85, of Cleveland, Oklahoma, formerly of Perry, passed away on September 12, 2022, at her home.

Lois was born on October 3, 1936, in Springer, Oklahoma, to William and Cuba (McMahon) Owens. She attended Springer Public School, where she lettered in basketball and played in the state championship game her junior year. The following year her family moved to Perry, Oklahoma, where she graduated from Perry High School.

While working at a drugstore in Perry, Oklahoma, she met the love of her life, and on June 11, 1954, in Camp Chaffee, Arkansas, Lois married her best friend, John “Jack” Andrews. Lois and Jack lived in many locations during their marriage, moving to different towns to get better jobs and provide for their large family of seven. Lois worked many different jobs from being a waitress to being a seamstress at a garment factory in Drumright, Oklahoma and as a med aide in the pharmacy at Blackwell, Oklahoma, hospital, but in 1974, she and Jack began an adventure that would take them and their family all over the country, by owning and operating Sonic Drive-Ins. From Lubbock, Texas, to Page, Arizona, later settling in Flagstaff, Arizona. Lois and Jack were even given the opportunity to help open the first Sonic in New Zealand. Though their work would take them to many different states, they always considered Oklahoma as their home and retired in the community of Westport on Keystone Lake near Cleveland, Oklahoma. Even in retirement, Lois continued to work at Walmart and later for the HOA in the Westport community. Even though Lois’s work history set a great example for her children to follow, she found the time to sew most of her family’s clothing and loved to cook meals for her large family. Her competitive spirit led her to love playing games from coaching little dribblers basketball to playing dominoes with her grandchildren. Lois’s other hobbies included gardening, shopping and an occasional trip to the casino.

Lois is survived by her four daughters: Vickie and husband Caroll Shinn of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Dona and husband Jim Almack of Blackwell, Oklahoma, Susan and husband David Bauer of Harlingen, Texas, and Tricia and husband Jeff Hollie of Cleveland, Oklahoma; one son, John and wife Sara Andrews of Cleveland, Oklahoma as well as one sister, Dee Henke of Perry, Oklahoma, and thirteen grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.

Lois was preceded in death by her loving husband, her parents, a sister and a brother.

Graveside services for Lois will be 1:30 p.m., Friday, September 16, 2022, at Grace Hill Cemetery Pavilion with Rev. Martin Foster officiating.