Lavon Wells Boeck March 18, 1944 – May 19, 2026

Lavon Boeck was born on March 18, 1944, in Cushing, Oklahoma, to Ledford and Lillian Wells. She passed away peacefully on May 19, 2026, in Jenks, Oklahoma, leaving behind a legacy as vast and vivid as the life she so passionately lived.

Lavon was a woman who took her own motto to heart: "Life is a one-trip salad bar." She filled her plate.

For decades, Lavon dedicated herself to special education in disadvantaged communities, such as Watts, California, showing up every day for children who needed a champion. When that chapter closed, she turned her gifts toward drug and alcohol counseling, putting her own recovery journey and expertise to good use as a counselor at Valley Hope in Cushing; offering steady hands and genuine hope to those navigating some of life's hardest roads. Later, she answered the call of FEMA, deploying for months at a time to communities shattered by natural disaster, helping survivors find solid ground when everything around them had fallen apart.

Lavon earned her bachelor's degree at 45 years old from Northeastern State University and earned her master's degree from California Lutheran University at 52, proof that she never stopped growing, never stopped learning, and never once considered herself finished. She was a lifelong student of the world in every sense, an avid traveler who explored nearly every continent, immersed herself in cultures far from her own, and even spent months living with a rural family in Guatemala, learning Spanish and their way of life from the inside out.

She was fearless. She was passionate. She was endlessly curious about people. She loved to laugh, and often couldn't finish a story because she couldn’t stop laughing, usually at herself and some silly shenanigan, of which there were many. Lavon attracted her kind: the friends who walked beside her through the decades were cut from the same cloth, fearless, funny, and beautifully independent. Lavon was also an active, beloved member of Hope Unitarian Church and the local Indivisible movement; standing up for her beliefs, in support of her country and speaking out for those who need a voice is a proud part of Lavon’s legacy that her friends and family will work to continue.

Lavon is survived by her brother, Ron Wells; her daughters, Erin Culbertson and Shannon Grimes; and her three beloved granddaughters, Morgan and McKenzie Culbertson, Sage Love, who knew firsthand what it meant to be loved by someone who gave everything she had.

She was preceded in death by the love of her life, husband Robert Boeck, parents, Lillian and Ledford Wells, and her sister, Pam Wells.

Lavon Boeck lived with her whole heart, wide open. The world is quieter without her, and immeasurably richer for having had her in it. We will miss her everyday.