Hazel "Marie" Rice

On Saturday, September 13, 2025, Hazel Marie Rice was met by her Savior in paradise at the age of 88 years – two months shy of her 89th birthday.

Hazel Marie Rice was born on Saturday, November 28, 1936, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to Claude and Lois Fields. In 1954, Hazel was introduced to her future husband, Travis Jack, through a mutual friend in Oklahoma. They dated on and off for three years. In a letter sent from Edwards Air Force Base, Jack asked for Hazel’s hand in marriage. The couple were wed in a small ceremony on August 11, 1956, held in the home of Jack’s mother.

Marie and Jack moved to California shortly after their wedding, beginning their lifelong journey together. By 1958, they were expecting their first child, a daughter named Linda. Their son, Gerald, was born in 1961.

While living in California, Marie’s talents as a seamstress flourished, eventually leading her to work as a tailor, creating designs inspired by the McCall’s pattern company. During the following two decades, while Jack was frequently deployed, Marie moved the family across the globe, living in Imperial Beach, California; the Philippines; and Naples, Italy. She often shared stories about her time as a Girl Scout troop leader in California and her work managing a ceramics workshop in Olongapo City, Philippines.

After Jack’s retirement from the Navy in 1977, he and Marie moved their family to Seminole, Oklahoma, where they built a home and farm named Stately Oaks and spent the remainder of their lives. But Marie’s journey didn’t end there. Upon settling in Oklahoma, she enrolled in the nursing program at Seminole State College, where she earned her Licensed Practical Nursing degree. She went on to spend the rest of her career working in the medical field.

Marie was known for her exceptional skills as a tailor, which later evolved into a deep passion for quilting. She enjoyed creating quilts for family and friends, teaching quilting classes, and was honored with the Governor’s Choice Award at the Oklahoma State Fair for her Baltimore Beautie-style quilt. Her favorite and most admired technique was hand appliqué.

Beyond her love for family and quilting, Marie had many other joys in life. She adored Braum’s ice cream and hamburgers, popcorn, and mowing the lawn on her Kubota tractor. A talented gardener, artist, and painter, she also found great pleasure in listening to recordings of tenor Luciano Pavarotti. Marie was a devoted member of the Church of Christ at Little, where she faithfully served the spiritual needs of her family, herself, and the community for many years.

Marie is preceded in death by her husband Jack, brothers Glen and Walter Fields, sister Alice Fields, father Claude Fields, and mother Lois Fields.

She will be loved, remembered, and missed for generations to come by those who knew and loved her: Her daughter, Linda Qualls and husband Zane of Moore, OK, son Gerald Rice and wife Kim of Ardmore, OK, and family member Jana Blalock of Shawnee, OK. Marie was an intensely devoted grandma to two grandchildren: Lucas Qualls and wife Jennifer of Norman, OK, and Zachary Qualls of Tulsa, OK. She was blessed to enjoy her two great-grand-sons: Sullivan and Declan Qualls of Norman, OK; and brother Pat Fields and his wife Judy, of Harrah, OK.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the American Cancer Society: by phone, call 1-800-227-2345, or mail: P.O. Box 22478, Oklahoma City, OK 73123.