Dorothy Jean Thomas formerly of Ponca City and Tonkawa, died early Friday morning, July 1, 2011, in the Tuttle Nursing Center in Tuttle, Oklahoma, at the age of 86 years.

Dorothy Jean Thomas was born on September 16, 1924, in Billings, Oklahoma, to Henry Eugene and Gladys Loretta (Ward) Fairless. She grew up on a farm near Tonkawa and attended Tonkawa Public Schools. Following her education she worked at a bakery in Tonkawa before working for the Hazel-Atlas Glass Plant in Blackwell. She married Henry Howeth in Sulphur, Oklahoma, and they settled in Tonkawa, where she continued decorating wedding cakes for nuptials across the state of Oklahoma. Her husband preceded her in death and she later married Anthony Thomas in Fresno, California, and they made Ponca City their home. He preceded her in death on November 24, 2002, and she later moved to Tuttle to be near her family. She was a member of the First Baptist Church in Ponca City and enjoyed quilting.

She is survived by a daughter, Karen Deen of Tonkawa, Oklahoma; two sons, Dale Ray Howeth of Okemah, Oklahoma, and Kenneth Howeth of Newcastle, Oklahoma; one sister, Thelma Smith of Huntsville, Texas; seven grandchildren; and eight great grandchildren.

She was also preceded in death by her parents; a brother, Ernest Fairless; and three sisters, Lucille Poppy, Esther Sims and Arline McBride.

Graveside services are scheduled for 11:00 a.m., Tuesday, July 5th in the I. O. O. F. Cemetery in Tonkawa with the Chaplin Bill White of Harbor Light Hospice, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, officiating. Burial will follow in the I. O. O. F. Cemetery.