Jody Surber
August 8, 1944 - June 3, 2025
Jo Del "Jody" Surber, 80, of Claremore, OK, left this life on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. A Funeral Ceremony will be held at 11:00 am, Monday, June 9, 2025, at Trout Funeral Home Chapel. A private graveside ceremony will be held at a later time at Resthaven Memorial Park. Arrangements are under the direction of Trout Funeral Home & Crematory, 505 W. Grand Ave, Ponca City, OK, 74601.
Jody was born Tuesday, August 8, 1944, at Camp Rucker, Alabama, to Raymond and Dorothy (Wooden) Novak. Jody was born at a military base while her father, Captain Ray Novak, was leading his company in the effort to liberate occupied France from Nazi control. Jody and her mother returned to Ponca City before the end of WWII and Ponca City was always her home no matter where she lived. She graduated from Ponca City High School in 1962 where she played clarinet in the Wildcat Marching Band, then attended Oklahoma State obtaining a business education degree while a member of the Chi Omega sorority.
She returned to Ponca City to do her student teaching and met her husband Joe and they married in 1967 in a union lasting 58 years. Jody worked as a travel agent for International Tours and then at Conoco for several years before taking a job with the PO-HI athletic department so she could be home with her children during the summer. She absolutely loved her career in the athletic department, which spanned over 30 years as she grew close to so many athletic directors, coaches, and athletes over the decades.
Jody’s parents bought Ponca Floral in The Great Depression which had Ponca City’s only active greenhouse for decades. Her parents converted her mother’s dance studio next door into a home, so Jody grew up around dancing and playing for hours on end in Ponca Floral’s greenhouse.
Joe started with the Ponca City School System in 1965, retiring as assistant superintendent in 2008, and with Jody’s work for the athletic department, the employees and students were their second family. Joe could not have obtained his doctorate without Jody’s continual support, including doing all the typing for the drafts of his dissertation. Jody and Joe were members of the First Christian Church of Ponca City and considered that their church home even after moving to the Tulsa area.
Jody loved to travel, especially all-family vacations and the many adventures she and Joe had with their close friends. Jody was a lifelong fan of Oklahoma State passionately rooting for the cowboys in all sports, but her main hobby and passion was her family. She and Joe moved to Claremore 15 years ago to be closer to their grandchildren as she became the full-time “Mimi” to all of her 5 grandchildren.
Jody is survived by: husband, Joe of Claremore, OK; children, Brian Surber and wife Lynel of Coweta, OK; Karrie Cuttler and husband David of Claremore, OK; grandchildren, Jacob Surber, Lydia Surber, Jonah Surber, Lexie Cuttler, and Sydney Cuttler.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Alzheimers Association, 6465 S. Yale St. Suite 206, Tulsa, OK 74136.
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