Peggy June Lovejoy

The service will be livestreamed and may be viewed here.
Peggy June Geiger was born on June 13, 1933 to Ludwig Henry Geiger and Vivian Marie (Ellis) Geiger of Indiahoma, OK. She died on Jan. 30, 2023 in Richmond, VA at 89 years of age following a long illness. Viewing will be held at Mercer-Adams Funeral Service on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023 with the family present from 4-7 PM. A memorial service will be held on Friday, Feb. 17, 2023 at 10:00 AM at Putnam City Baptist Church in Oklahoma City with burial following at Memorial Park Cemetery.
Peggy was preceded in death by her parents and three brothers, Luther Clyde Geiger, Billy Jarrell Geiger, and Jerry Wayne Geiger. She was also preceded in death by Luther's wife, Lena Fern (Null) Geiger and Jerry's wife, Royce Edith (Nix) Geiger.
Peggy Lovejoy is survived by a son, Grant I. Lovejoy (Donna) and two daughters, Beth L. Risedorf (Mike) and Kay L. Draelos. She was a loving and much-loved grandmother to Meredith L. Lee (Nathanael), Allison L. Frazier (Sam), Dana R. Risedorf, Nicholas D. Risedorf (Sarah), Andrew D. Risedorf, Mitchell T. Draelos, Preston T. Draelos, and Julia K. Draelos. She is also survived by her great-grandchildren Ian, Calvin and Cora Lee.
Childhood
Peggy grew up on the family farm located south and west of Indiahoma with her parents and three brothers. Luther and Billy were ten and five years older than Peggy, respectively. Jerry was seven years younger than she. When Peggy was nine years old, Billy died unexpectedly from injuries he sustained in a horseback riding accident. About that same time Luther was a tail gunner in an Army air force bomber crew that flew dozens of missions over enemy-held territory in Europe. When Luther returned home safely from the war, it brought immense relief to the Geiger household.
When she was ten years old, Peggy went with her parents to a revival meeting at Deep Red Baptist Church. An adult woman invited the children to form a circle with her in the church yard for a song and prayers before the revival service began. After the song and prayers, the woman said, "If you have trusted Christ as Savior, raise your hand." Peggy didn't know what she meant, but she knew she hadn't done it. Peggy felt an emptiness and knew she needed something. During the service that night, it became clear to her what it meant to trust Christ, and she put her trust in Christ that night. She went forward during the invitation and afterward felt happy, relieved, and secure. Many years later Peggy wrote that after that night she never doubted her salvation.
Subsequently she attended several churches with neighbors who gave her a ride. Her uncle and aunt, Carl and Arvesta Geiger, also took her to church with them and encouraged her faith. Most of the time she attended Maple Grove Baptist Church south of Indiahoma. Peggy learned more about what it meant to be a Christian and was baptized at age ten.
Education
Peggy Geiger was a graduate of Indiahoma High School, Indiahoma, OK; Cameron State College, Lawton, OK (A. A.); Oklahoma Baptist University, Shawnee, OK (A. B.); and Central State University, Edmond, OK (M. Ed. with Reading Specialist Certificate).
Marriage
In her first week as a transfer student at Oklahoma Baptist University, Peggy met fellow OBU student Bobby Wayne (Bob) Lovejoy of Tipton, OK. They were married on Aug. 6, 1954 at Central Baptist Church in Lawton, OK with Bob's brother-in-law, Rev. James D. Taylor, officiating. Peggy and Bob graduated from OBU in 1955. Her A. B. degree included a double major in religious education and elementary education.
Teaching Career
After graduating from Oklahoma Baptist University in 1955, Peggy and Bob moved to the Pawhuska, OK area. She taught grades 4, 5, and 6 in one room at the rural Wildhorse School near Hominy, OK in 1955-56. Bob commuted via train to Kansas City every Monday morning to attend seminary and returned home via the train each Friday. Peggy later admitted that she felt lonely with Bob away so much. The following school year, Peggy taught 4th grade at Pawhuska Elementary School and Bob served as pastor of the Linn Baptist mission congregation in Pawhuska in addition to attending seminary. Peggy played the piano for worship services. Bob and Peggy moved in 1957 to Fort Worth, TX so that he could finish his studies at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Peggy applied for a job with the Fort Worth ISD for the 1957-58 school year, but she believed her chances of being hired were not good. She and Bob planned to leave Fort Worth when Bob graduated the following summer. The district official employed her anyway, commenting that some of the best teachers that the school had had were the wives of seminary students. He said that he would rather have a caring, conscientious teacher for one year than a mediocre one who would stay longer.
Peggy and Bob considered this job an answer to their prayers and confirmation of God's plans for them in Fort Worth. Years later Peggy commented that she knew she was hired based in no small measure on the reputation of the seminary students' wives who taught there before her. She resolved that she would do nothing to diminish that good reputation.
In the 1957-58 school year, Peggy took six semester hours of night classes at Southwestern Seminary, plus a three-semester hour course at Texas Wesleyan University that was required of anyone teaching in Texas. She taught fifth grade full time at South Fort Worth Elementary School. By the end of the school year, she was near the end of her first trimester of her first pregnancy. It was a busy school year, to say the least. The week before Bob graduated from Southwestern Seminary in the summer of 1958, he accepted the pastorate of the Carey Heights Baptist Mission in Oklahoma City. With a baby on the way, Peggy suspended her teaching career to be a stay-at-home mother. Their son, Grant, was born in Oklahoma City five months later.
Family Life
In 1961 the family moved to Fletcher, OK, where Bob became pastor at First Baptist Church and Peggy continued to be an exemplary pastor's wife as well as mother to a growing family. Beth was born in nearby Cyril, OK the next year and Kay followed two years after Beth. Peggy was devoted to her three children. As much as she enjoyed teaching, she considered being a mother and homemaker a higher calling. She invested herself fully in being a loving wife, mother, neighbor, and active church member. In 1967 the family moved to Lawton, where Army families from Fort Sill came and went regularly. Peggy was among the first to greet anyone who moved to her street, and she usually took them delicious food of some kind. She was an excellent cook.
In 1971 the family moved to Oklahoma City when Bob took a position with the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. Peggy and Bob spent countless hours attending baseball, softball, and basketball practices and games for the three children. They taught Grant, Beth and Kay to compete and do their best, but that a loss was not the end of the world.
Peggy and Bob encouraged their children to do their best in school, and they invested time and energy to help them succeed. Peggy patiently coached one child who practiced a one-minute speech over and over. She created extra worksheets when her children needed extra practice to master math facts. She made flash cards when they were working on words and their definitions. She and Bob rejoiced when their children did well in school and won awards for academic achievements.
Peggy was not perfect, as she was quick to acknowledge, but even children and teens realized she was a special person. More than one of her children's friends told them, "Don't tell my mom, but I wish your mom was my mother." She put others' needs ahead of her own and was always ready to encourage people who needed it. She was resolutely optimistic even when things were not going well. In response to life's challenges, she was quick to turn to prayer and her Bible for wisdom and strength. She wore out multiple Bibles by reading them and studying them as she prepared to teach Sunday School. She wrote numerous notes in the margins.
Return to Teaching
With their children in school and the children's college years approaching, Peggy returned to teaching and graduate school. She taught second grade from 1977-1993 at Central Elementary School in the Putnam City ISD. Peggy was selected teacher of the year at Central Elementary in 1980, 1985, and 1990. In 1991 she was nominated for the National Phoebe Apperson Hearst Outstanding Educator Award.
Among her personal papers was this statement: "Teachers have opportunity to help children and youth prepare themselves for living. I accept this challenge." The motto in her classroom was "We do our best." She taught that and she lived it. She considered teaching public school to be a high calling, one that deserved her best effort. In 1979 she was awarded her Masters in Education with Reading Specialist Certificate for grades K-12 from Central State University.
Church and Community
Peggy always taught in the churches where she was a member: Linn Baptist Mission; Carey Heights Baptist Mission; First Baptist Church of Fletcher, OK; First Baptist Church of Lawton, OK; and Putnam City Baptist Church (PCBC) in Oklahoma City. She was a member of Putnam City Baptist Church for 51 years. For many years she taught sixth graders in Sunday School at PCBC. Later she played the piano for the international Sunday School class and took an active part in that group. She also taught English as a Second Language.
Much of Peggy's time away from school and church was spent providing education in the community. She provided free tutoring to adult internationals, taught a course in English at the Mission Center, and worked with minority and disadvantaged children at the City Mission. Other volunteer efforts include reading to and writing for patients in hospitals and nursing homes.
Grandchildren
Peggy enjoyed her eight grandchildren and made sure that their visits to her house were fun. She usually had a jigsaw puzzle set out on a side table and joined the grandchildren in assembling it. One granddaughter recalled that Grandmother Lovejoy would play with the children all day and play whatever game they chose. When they played board games, she always let them win. She did not care about the competition; she just wanted everyone to have fun. One time three grandchildren each wanted to go to a different park, so she and Bob took them to all three parks on the same day!
It was no surprise that Peggy had a whole shelf of excellent children's books. She read to and with her grandchildren often. They all enjoyed the experience; however, the grandchildren noticed that sometimes Grandma dozed off and had to be awakened to continue reading. Their parents were not surprised to hear that.
Peggy gave each child and grandchild individual attention; she listened and made people feel special. She wrote letters to her children and grandchildren regularly, and always in her perfect printing or cursive penmanship, depending on the age of the recipient. She often included a joke or a couple of cartoons from the newspaper that she thought the recipient would enjoy.
Peggy invited her children and grandchildren to assist her in cooking their favorite foods. She never scolded them for making a mess or getting in the way. Even when one of her children accidently broke a cherished bowl that was an heirloom from Peggy's mother, Peggy reassured the child that although it was a favorite bowl, the bowl was nothing compared to her love for her children. She always said that she loved her children equally, and she did. But after her children had children of their own, she admitted, "I always loved my children equally, but I appreciated some of them more than others at times."
Last Years
In their retirement years, Peggy and Bob traveled extensively both in the United States and abroad with a travel group. They toured western Europe, Turkey, Costa Rica, and Australia. They enjoyed each other's company for more than sixty-five years of marriage. After Bob died at age 90, friends and family asked Peggy how she was doing. She replied simply, "I miss him, but I am glad he is not in pain any longer." Putting his well-being ahead of her own was a reflexive action for her, rooted in her deep love for him.
Even as her memory slipped away, she consistently told her family and caregivers that she was grateful for them. She made sure that they had a good day even when she did not. She followed the example of her Savior, and in love put the interests of others ahead of her own. Her friends and family will miss her, but we are glad she is not in pain any longer. Christians find comfort in Jesus' words: "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand."