Tanya Elizabeth (Adams) Gunter

Tanya Elizabeth (Adams) Gunter, longtime Seminole County resident, passed away Saturday, August 16, 2025 at the age of 57 after a courageous battle with cancer for three years.

Tanya was born August 4, 1968 in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma to Jimmy Earl and Teresa Elizabeth (Wheeler) Adams. She graduated from Maud High School in 1987. Tanya married Richard Gunter, Jr on April 18, 1987. They later divorced but remained best friends forever.

Tanya worked at Walmart in Henryetta and Seminole for several years. She later worked as a paraprofessional with special needs children to whom she loved so much. She also worked as a paraprofessional at Seminole, Wewoka and Bowlegs Schools. Her last position as a paraprofessional was at The Academy of Seminole (TAOS) where she dearly loved the kids including her buddies Ben Coats and Service Dog Lucy. She also loved working with such wonderful friends at TAOS.

Tanya loved spending time with her sons and family. She enjoyed going to concerts, eating Mexican food and a good well-done steak. She was outgoing, had a soft heart and loved helping others when she could. Tanya loved her fur-babies, Hank and Molly, and Hank protected her to the very end.

Surviving Tanya are her two sons, Bailey Gunter and wife Kelsi and J.T Gunter and Melissa; best friend and father to her children, Richard Gunter, Jr., grandchildren, Braylee Gunter and Taylor Mims and a granddaughter expected February 2026. She also leaves behind her father, Jimmy Earl Adams; loving sisters, Norma Jean Melton and husband Chip, Jimmie Lynn Fluitt and husband Robert and Tina Sue O’Dell and husband Shawn; several nieces and nephews and a host of other family and friends.

Tanya was preceded in death by her mother, Teresa Elizabeth Adams, her aunts, Joann Lucas and Geneva Davis, and her grandparents, Verna and John Deatherage and Earl Frank Adams and Pauline Geneva Adams

Tanya was a devoted mother who always put her children first. She was a kind and compassionate friend, a dedicated sister, and a loving daughter. She touched the lives of all who knew her with her warm and gentle spirit.

Tanya will be deeply missed, but her memory will live on in the hearts of those who loved her.

The family would like to thank Manoi Birdsong and Meagan Weeks with Frontier Hospice for the best care in the world. Also thank you to Dr. Jenna Geohagan and Emily Payne of COFMC and all the ladies at SSM Health Oncology Shawnee. A special thank you to Candyce Brewer for being a wonderful friend to Tanya.

A Celebration of Life for Tanya will be held on Saturday, August 23, 2025 at 2:00 PM at New Life Church in Wewoka with Rev. Bill Chesser and Pastor Kevin Merriman officiating.

Services are under the direction of OK Cremation & Funeral Home, Oklahoma City.