05/16/2026
Where does the money for Academic All-Star scholarships come from? Read on about a generous donation in 2024.
Written by John Redwine
and pictures acquired by John Redwine
FRANCES COX CONKLING
1937-2023
A former Spiro student, Frances Cox Conkling, passed away, leaving a $300,000 bequest to the Spiro School Foundation for Excellence in Education. This is the largest amount contributed to the foundation since its inception in 1991, bringing its total assets to $1,586,343 in 2024. As a youngster, Frances Cox grew up in Spiro and Stoney Point, attending school at Spiro until her junior year. From the age of 1½ to 7 she lived in Spiro, before residing in nearby Stoney Point with her grandparents, Harvey and Katie Cox. Her father, Thomas Leonard Cox, was a Spiro High School graduate. Both her father and Grandfather Cox were farmers in the Cache Bottoms. Her mother was the former Lois Grace Roberts.
Early in her junior year at Spiro she moved to live with her mother in Tulsa where Francis graduated from high school in 1955. In 1959 Frances graduated from the University of Tulsa with a degree in Business Management. She moved to New York City in 1960, securing a position with Sinclair Oil Company. She completed a course in 1967 at New York School of Interior Design. After completing educational courses at Hunter College in 1973, Frances taught high school business subjects in Spanish Harlem.
While at Hunter College, she completed 12 credits in music. She studied piano and voice privately. Frances spent most of her career in high-end contract carpet sales to architects and designers in New York City.
While employed with Sinclair Oil, in 1963 Frances met Bill Conkling, an Account Manager with Sinclair. The couple married in September 1964. Bill was a Yale graduate with a BS and MS in chemical engineering. He was a Naval aviator, having been trained and later teaching at Pensacola, Florida. He worked 10 years for IBM in New York City. A major part of his career was at Securities Industry Automation Corporation, a subsidiary of the New York and American Stock Exchanges, as Vice President of Data Communications and Facilities Engineering. The couple had no children. Francis had a younger brother, Thomas Donald Cox, a 1959 Spiro graduate who died in January 1994.
In a 2008 interview for the Foundation’s newsletter, Frances was quoted as saying, “A few of my Spiro classmates have become life-long friends that I stay in touch with. We had wonderful times during my school years at Spiro. It is reunions that I feel the memories of my youth. I thank all those in Spiro for making our class reunions possible. I especially enjoyed the 40th reunion of Spiro class of 1955.”
After retirement, they left NYC in 1997 and moved to their weekend farmhouse in Green Valley, New Jersey. The couple started adventure traveling, having been on all the continents except Antarctica. Frances and Bill were both in their seventies, enjoying the slower pace of retirement, when Bill was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in June of 2007.
The couple began to discuss estate planning and updating their wills. After conferring with their attorney, the pair began to piece together final plans for their assets. Frances was on the mailing list for Foundation Notes, a biannual newsletter published by the Spiro School Foundation for Excellence in Education. The pair, strongly believing a good education is essential for future generations, chose to include the Spiro School Foundation in their estate planning.
The Conklings were married 44 years. Bill passed away on March 27, 2009. After his death, Francis relocated to Tulsa. She died on April 7, 2023. They are buried at New Hope Cemetery near Spiro.
The Spiro School Foundation for Excellence in Education was founded in 1991 after receiving $238,000 from the estate of Marcella P. Moore. She was a 1929 Spiro graduate. In 2009 the estate of Wrenetta Housden presented the Foundation $288,715. Numerous contributions have been made over the past 30 years by individuals and families.
The Foundation is a 501c3 corporation and gifts are tax deductible. Checks may be mailed to 101 N. Main Street, Spiro, OK 74959, or you may reach out at 918-962-2436 [email protected].
Current officers of the Spiro School Foundation for Excellence in Education are: Garon McClure, President; Bradley Dedmon, Vice President; and Nick Grant, Secretary with Brian Brooks, Keifer Fisher, Samantha Gillespie, Ashley Hill, Karen Lawson, Melanie Lawson, LeAnn Lea, and Trudy McKinney serving on the board.
Posted by Kasandra Lovell, Spiro High School teacher
