Maybelle Landagora

Maybelle was born in 1933 during the Great Depression in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Her father, Charlie was a District Supervisor working in the oilfields and she often talked about those bustling times as she grew up. She and her sister, Virginia grew up in a house built by their father, just off the Trosper oil lease in SE Oklahoma City where lifetime friendships were established. Maybelle's talents and gifts became evident at Southeast High School in Oklahoma City where she was the high school's yearbook editor and won a contest in naming the high school's sports teams as the Southeast Spartans.
She went on to attend Oklahoma A&M in Stillwater, Oklahoma which is currently known as Oklahoma State University between 1951 and 1953. It was during this time, she met the love of her life, a fun-loving Filipino graduate student in the OSU Agricultural Division at a dance on the rooftop of the Student Union. She married Francisco Landagora a year later in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1951 where he was studying in the PHD program for Animal Husbandry at Louisiana State University. This was where they started their family that eventually included Dustin, Dan, and Rise.
After living and teaching at the University of Puerto Rico in Mayaguez,PR for 6+ years, Maybelle and Frank moved to Cali, Colombia, South America where Frank was an Agricultural Project Director for the FAO branch of the United Nations. They returned back to the United States to live in Booneville, Arkansas on a farm, putting into practice what he had taught. Unfortunately, Maybelle lost Frank to cancer in 1972 and was called to be the breadwinner of the family in Moore, OK at the young age of 39.
Maybelle was a strong, faithful and loving mother who loved to laugh. She continued to raise, support, and provide the encouraging home environment for her 3 young children even as she had to enter the workforce. She began work as a nuclear compliance administrator for Kerr-McGee Corporation, OKC in 1973. One of the most memorable experiences for her was participating in the highly publicized Karen Silkwood - Kerr-McGee lawsuit trial. After her 18 year work career, she retired to live in Denver, Colorado and later on in Phoenix, AZ as she stayed close to her children. She enjoyed reading to expand her knowledge about nutrition and health, gardening, and travelling with her children.
After 92 years of a productive and fruitful life, Maybelle passed away on January 22, 2026 at her home in Phoenix, AZ surrounded by her loving children to be with her Savior, Jesus Christ.
She was survived by two sons, Dustin from Phoenix, AZ and Dan (Trudy) Landagora from Bennett, CO and one daughter, Rise Landagora from Parkville, MD; 3 grandchildren, Darlene (John) Boyink from Golden, CO, Amanda (Joey) Grandy from Arvada, CO, and Adam (Jennifer) Lackey from Nooksack, Washington, 7 great grandchildren, and 3 great great grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her devoted husband of 21 years, Francisco T. Landagora and her father, Charles Lewis Barrett and her mother, Beulah Lucy Jane Barrett.
Maybelle's Celebration of Life remembrance will be arranged at a later date and she will be interred in Del City, OK alongside her husband in May, 2026.