Thomas Eugene Wegley, known to our family as Uncle Tommy, was born on June 13, 1949, in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. He was the eldest child of Raymond Edward Wegley and Elsie Jane Hoag, who went on to raise four children together.

Tommy was part of the first generation of our direct Wegley family line to be born and raised in Oklahoma. His father, Raymond, had been born in Fort Smith, Arkansas, in 1925 and served in the United States Navy during World War II before eventually settling with his family in Oklahoma.

Parents

Tommy’s father was Raymond Edward Wegley, born December 15, 1925, in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and died December 4, 1992, in Sapulpa, Oklahoma. His mother was Elsie Jane Hoag, born June 22, 1927, and died April 26, 2018.

Raymond and Elsie married on June 5, 1948, in Pennsylvania. Tommy was born a little more than a year later, followed by his siblings Karen Marie, Raymond Junior, and Robert Thomas.

Marriage and Children

On November 24, 1975, Tommy married Margret Hinton in Brevard County, Florida. Together they had two sons:

• Thomas Eugene Wegley Jr., born 1976
• James Ray Wegley, born 1979

Through his sons, Tommy continued the Wegley family line, traceable through generations from Pennsylvania to Arkansas and eventually Oklahoma.

Death

Thomas Eugene Wegley died on May 1, 2026, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at the age of 76. His death marked the passing of the eldest of Raymond and Elsie Wegley’s four children.

For me, this page is also more personal than many of the older genealogical entries on this website because Tommy was not simply an ancestor whose life I have reconstructed through historical records. He was my uncle, someone whose lifetime overlapped my own and whose story belongs to the living memory of our family.

Continuing His Story

This biography is still a work in progress. Now that Uncle Tommy has passed away, I am continuing to gather photographs, records, memories, stories, and other details that can help preserve a fuller account of his life for future generations.

As additional information becomes available, I will continue expanding this page. My goal is not simply to record his birth and death dates, but to preserve something of the person he was and the place he held within our family.

Benny married his first wife, Karen Marie Wegley, on May 2, 1970. Together, they had three daughters. Melody, Tracy, and April. They would divorce on April 7, 1977.

In 1979, when he was 27, he had a fourth child, his only son, Nathaniel Wayne Richardson, with Cindy Walvoor, who was 15 or 16 at the time.

He married Carol J. Smith sometime around 1987. They had no children.

He played in bands his entire life. Mostly the guitar, but he also sang. He played in many local bands throughout the course of his life. Later, as his arthritis progressed, he taught himself the keyboard.

Raymond Edward Wegley Jr., my uncle, was born on December 11, 1952, in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. He was the third child and second son of Raymond Edward Wegley and Elsie Jane Hoag.

Raymond was born while his parents were establishing their family in Oklahoma. His father was born in Fort Smith, Arkansas, in 1925, served in the United States Navy during World War II, married Elsie in Pennsylvania in 1948, and eventually made Oklahoma home.

Parents and Siblings

Raymond’s father, Raymond Edward Wegley Sr., was born on December 15, 1925, in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and died on December 4, 1992, in Sapulpa, Oklahoma. His mother, Elsie Jane Hoag, was born on June 22, 1927, and died on April 26, 2018.

Raymond grew up as one of four children. His siblings were:

• Thomas Eugene Wegley, born June 13, 1949
• Karen Marie Wegley, born January 26, 1951
• Robert Thomas Wegley, born September 27, 1954

The family eventually became established in Sapulpa, Oklahoma, where Raymond Sr. spent decades working for the Bartlett-Collins Glass Company. Raymond Jr. therefore belonged to the first generation of this branch of the Wegley family to grow up primarily in Oklahoma after generations of the family had lived in Pennsylvania.

Marriage to Catherine Anne Burk

On April 17, 1974, Raymond married Catherine Anne Burk in Fannin County, Texas. Their marriage lasted more than forty years, until Catherine’s death in 2017.

Raymond and Catherine had two sons:

• Shawn Dale Wegley, born 1975
• Jeremy Edward Wegley, born 1978

Through Shawn and Jeremy, Raymond and Catherine’s branch of the Wegley family continued into another generation. Their family eventually included grandchildren as well as numerous nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews.

Catherine’s Death

Catherine Anne Burk Wegley died on June 11, 2017. After more than four decades of marriage, Raymond spent his final years as a widower. Catherine was buried in Bonham, Fannin County, Texas. Raymond would eventually be laid to rest beside her.

His Final Years

Raymond died on February 12, 2021, in Paris, Texas, at the age of sixty-eight. According to his obituary, his death resulted from kidney failure.

His obituary remembered him through a passage from Ephesians 4:32:

Raymond Edward Wegley Junior, age 68, passed away on February 12, 2021, due to kidney failure. He was born December 11, 1952, in Okmulgee, Oklahoma to Raymond and Elsie Wegley. He married his longtime friend and love, Catherine Anne Burk, in April of 1974, who preceded him in death in 2017.

His life was a living example of Ephesians 4:32 — “And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.”

Raymond is survived by three siblings, Thomas Eugene, Karen Marie, and Robert Thomas, as well as his sons, Shawn Dale and Jeremy Edward, his wife, his beloved grandchildren, his many nephews and nieces, and great-nephews and nieces.

He had a wonderful life and will be missed by many.

His family presented that verse as an example of how Raymond lived his life. His obituary described a man his children, grandchildren, siblings, nieces, nephews, and extended family remembered with affection.

At the time of Raymond’s death, his three siblings, Thomas Eugene, Karen Marie, and Robert Thomas, were still living. He was also survived by his sons Shawn Dale and Jeremy Edward, his grandchildren, and a large extended family.

Burial

Raymond Edward Wegley Jr. was buried in Bonham, Texas. He was laid to rest beside his wife, Catherine, who had died nearly four years earlier.

Their neighboring graves preserve the final chapter of a marriage that began in Texas in 1974 and lasted until Catherine’s death in 2017. Raymond followed her in death on February 12, 2021.

Remembering Uncle Raymond

Raymond’s life belongs to a much more recent part of our Wegley family history, where genealogy begins to overlap with personal memory. He was not simply a name discovered in a census, probate file, or centuries-old church record, but my uncle and a member of a generation remembered directly by those of us still living.

Ben Donald Price was born in what was then known as Grayson, in Jefferson county. However today the town is known as Waurika, Oklahoma.

His social security number was 526-24-0943, which can be found on the on the US Social Security Applications and Claims Index.

He was married to Elwynne May Lynell on June 4, 1949. They were very big into the Baptist church.

He died at the age of 79 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and was buried at the Resurrection Memorial Cemetery in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (find a grave page) His exact date of death was April 23, 2004. That means he died just a week after his 79th birthday.

He was born on July 27, 1927, in Waurika, Oklahoma.

His father was Benjamin Franklin Price and his mother was Ethel Ann Hopson.

His wife was Dorothy J Richardson. Apparently, she was no relation to us, it was just a crazy coincidence that she had the Richardson name. 🙂

They had a total of 4 children, Glen Jr, Gloria Jean, Freddy Dan and Joey.

Freddy Dan died on January 18, 2018. He had a stroke about 3 years prior and a friend of his had been taking care of him. Glen Jr. passed away about two years prior to that so about 2016 and that meant as of January of 2018 only Gloria Jean who they called sissy was still alive. Her family thought that she was still living somewhere in Mexico but know little else about her whereabouts.

He died of a cardiac arrest, due in part to his morbid obesity on August 3, 1982. His death certificate also tells us that he was a wrecker driver in Fort Worth, Texas. He was 55 years old. (Find a grave link)

At one time he lived at 2411 Warwick Ave, Fort Worth, TX, 76106-7557 and at another time his recorded address was 2226 Robinwood Dr, Fort Worth, TX, 76111-5117.

His photos are obvious shots of him in the Navy. His death certificate also states that at some time he was in the US Armed Forces. My grandmother (his younger sister), Alice Joann Price thought he went into the US Navy in 1941, but I knew that couldn’t have been right since then he was only 14. I found it though on his US Department of Veteran Affairs Death File.

He was in the Navy. He enlisted on November 29, 1944. He was released on May 11, 1946.

She was born on June 30, 1935, in Waurika, Oklahoma, and she died on July 8, 2020, in Houston, Texas, in the nursing home her daughter (Joanna) placed her in when she was unable to care for herself. She died just one month after her 85th birthday.

This photo is from 2011 (from left to right): her daughter Joanna Wright, Alice Joann Smith, Kelley DeVoe, the eldest daughter of Daniel Wright, Tabitha Wright, and Daniel Wright.

Born:  June 30, 1935, in Waurika, Jefferson, Oklahoma

• Father: Benjamin Franklin Price
• Mother: Ethel Ann Hopson

Married: Reuben Namon Richarsdon Jr.

• Date of Marriage:  August 26, 1950, in Henrietta, Texas
• Date of Divorce:  December, 1957 in Oklahoma City, OK

Children produced from this marriage : 3

• Benjamin Wayne Richardson (July 19, 1951)
• Joanna Sue Richardson (February 19, 1954)
• Frankie Richardson (November 22, 1955)

On November 14, 1961, she had a daughter named Kelley Lynn McDaniel. (Father unknown) Aunt Kelley was put up for adoption, but we would later be reunited with her after she turned 18.

I don’t know the date she married her next husband, who was Jean Noel Cash. She had 3 kids, he had 3 kids – it was like a real-life Brady Bunch. They would stay married until he died on July 14, 1996.

They had no children of their own, but again, with 6 kids between them, they had more than their hands full.

Married: Fredrick Milton Smith

• Date of Marriage:  November 12, 2005 – Conroe, Montgomery, Texas
• Marital Status:  Still Married (He died on August 31, 2016).
• Children produced from this marriage:  0

Alice Joann Price currently lives with her husband, Fred Smith, in Conroe, Texas.  Alice moved to Houston, Texas, from Oklahoma to live with her granddaughter, Tracy Joann Richardson (me), after the death of her husband, Jean Noel Cash.  It was at that time that she was introduced to Fred Smith.  Our housekeeper had a family who lived in Conroe near Fred, who was widowed.  They knew he was seeing a friend and/or travel companion of his own age, so Debbie introduced them, and they have been inseparable ever since.

I think this picture was from Thanksgiving 2012. Pictured from left to right ….

Eddie Wright, Frankie Richardson, Benny Richardson, Joanna Wright, Fred Smith, Alice Joann Price (Richardson, Cash, Smith), Malcolm DeVoe, Kelley Devoe.

Here is an updated picture of the family taken on November 25, 2017. From left to right – Joanna, Alice Joann, Benny, Kelly, and Frankie.