Funeral service for Armilda Kay Strickland will be at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, October 28, 2025 at First Baptist Church with Dr. John Paul Holsey, pastor from Limerick, Pennsylvania officiating. Pastor Holsey is also Mrs. Strickland's brother.

Burial will follow in Sunset Memorial Gardens under the direction of Becker-Rabon Funeral Home.

Armilda Kay Strickland, age 84, passed away peacefully in her Norman, Oklahoma home on October 21, 2025, with her family by her side. Kay was born on April 23, 1941 in Lawton, Oklahoma to Elmer and Armilda Holsey. Kay attended Lawton Public Schools. She was eager to tell her children and grandchildren about winning the best smile contest in eighth grade. She loved school and was very socially involved. She graduated high school with the Lawton High School Class of 1959. Kay maintained and treasured life-long friendships with many people, some friendships spanning over 80 years.

Kay was a fun-loving, sweet, adventurous young adult. She loved fashion and was always impeccably dressed. She always had a big smile and was quick to laugh. She attended and graduated from college at Oklahoma Baptist University in Elementary Education. This is also where she met David Pittman.

Kay and David married in 1961. They made their homes in Shawnee, Weatherford, Oklahoma City, Duncan and Sulphur as David finished pharmacy school and started his business in 1967. Kay taught school in Putnam City Schools while in Oklahoma City and she was proud to have finished the semester without being caught in her "top secret" pregnancy, as even when married, teachers were not allowed to teach while pregnant.

Kay had three children, Scott, Lisa and Lori in which she instilled the importance of education. They all went on to obtain college degrees. She passed along love and guidance to her children which laid the foundation for them to raise happy families of their own.

Family members called Kay "Freida Freeway." She was always on the go, snow skiing, painting, and driving around in a yellow Volkswagen bug with children hanging out of every window and air mattresses on top of the car while heading to the lake. She taught Vacation Bible School, was involved in beautification projects, and was named as an Outstanding Young Woman of America for 1976.

Kay moved back to the Lawton area in 1980 and married Jerry Strickland in 1981. Kay and Strick were in the farming industry. Kay would go to the fields and work; she could drive a John Deere tractor, pull cotton trailers and outwork a cowhand and then go home and make a beautiful meal. Family was priority. Kay spent her free time driving from one end of a dirt road to the other caring for all of her elderly family members on a daily basis while raising teenage children.

Kay and Strick traveled throughout Europe extensively and they also loved to go fly fishing in the mountains of Colorado. They enjoyed winter months at their home in South Padre Island, Texas. They would take their monster-sized RV and travel across the country. They enjoyed drag racing and won top awards at several car shows in the US.

Kay and Strick loved to entertain friends and family at their beautiful home in Indiahoma. The natural setting of her home allowed her to view the abundance of wildlife and feed her "pet" hummingbirds. She loved nurturing her plants in the atrium and caring for her tree frog, Millhouse.

Strick passed away in August 2016, and then Kay moved to Norman to be close to her children. The home that Kay built in Norman has been a haven for the whole family.

Kay was full of joy and had a very positive attitude about life existentially and how she lived from day to day. Kay had a great sense of humor, passed down from her father Elmer Holsey. She loved to curl up with hot coffee and a good book.

When the time came and Kay needed 24-hour care, her children moved into her home to care for her personally. Kay was visited by two cardinals and a rare yellow cardinal the day before she passed. The day of her passing was a beautiful sunny day, windows were open and a dragonfly flew into the room and stayed with her all day, comforting family members as peaceful signs of life's transition. Kay was a devoted Christian and believed that God sends signs and works through nature. Kay had Hospice in the home until the end. Her family wishes to thank Hospice for all their caring and professional services.

Kay is preceded in death by her husband, Jerry Strickland; parents, Elmer and Armilda Holsey; and sister Carol Holsey.

Kay is survived by her brother, John Paul Holsey and wife Donna of Limerick, Pennsylvania; son David Scott Pittman and his wife Lisa of Norman; daughter Lisa McClung and daughter Lori Treisa, both of Norman; stepdaughter Jackie Strickland of Frederick, Oklahoma; grandchildren Amanda Scott, Jamie McClung, Ashley Tate, Sunnie McClung, Ethan Treisa, Ellie Treisa, Tyler McCoy, Micah Paradise, Jeremy Herring; and great grandchildren Knixon, Isla and Theo Scott, Paisley and Paxton Morris, Austin and Mac Tate, Nolan McClung, Charlie Treisa, Parker Herring, nieces Julie Whitworth, Janna Tyler, Ginny Kingcaid and Jaclyn Goudie. Kay had close and meaningful relationships with all her dear cousins.

If you would like to donate funds in Kay's memory, her charity of choice is the Alzheimer's Association, Post Office Box 96011, Washington, D.C. 20090-6011, or online at alz.org .

An online guest book and sympathy cards are available at www.beckerfuneral.com