Funeral service for Ginger Horacek will be 11:30 a.m. Thursday, June 30, 2016 in the Becker-Rabon Funeral Home Chapel.

Burial will follow in the Fort Sill National Cemetery, Elgin.

The family will greet friends from 6-8 pm Wednesday at the funeral home.

Ginger Horacek, age 80, Lawton, passed away Friday, June 24, 2016 in Lawton.  She was born July 11, 1935 in Lincoln, Nebraska, to Virgil Sprague and Ellen M. (Hagstrand) McDaniel.  Ginger moved to Sargent, Nebraska as a girl and graduated high school in Sargent.  She earned her Bachelor degree in nursing from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 1957.  She married Perry L. Horacek in September of 1957 at Stormlake, Iowa.

The couple moved to Lawton in the summer of 1958 and she took a nursing position at Comanche County Memorial Hospital.  They moved to Stillwater, Oklahoma while Perry completed his education and she worked as a nurse there until his graduation and their return to Lawton.  Ginger returned to work at Comanche County Memorial Hospital and later taught in the nursing program at Cameron University.  How do you write an obituary for a nurse?  It would be simple to say Virginia, who preferred the casualness of Ginger over her formal name, was involved in many activities and then list those.  However, we would like for you to remember Ginger in a way that we, the family remember Ginger.  Yes, she was a dedicated nurse whose compassionate heart touched many lives and cared for those she met on her path.  A woman devoted to her children, her husband, her extended family and her work.  Ginger was strong of mind, strong willed and to suggest she was strong in character bordering on stubborn would not be unfair.   She could take a challenging and complex situation in life, whether medical or not, and demonstrate how "simplicity gets it done."  She could tune into pain.  Meet deceit with honesty.  Push back sadness with delightful tears, or vivacious laughter, and keep you guessing to whether she was demonstrating friendly ways or her ornery ability to battle and test the situation.  Ginger was forever tardy to events and schedules, preferring instead to dedicate to the moment.  Focusing on what was in front of her at the time would bring orderly schedulers to their knees.  Ginger was a truly remarkable woman who shared generously with beautiful kindness.  She is the definition of feminine strength that is not easily pinned down into one description.  Ginger was an angel.  She taught us how to share emotions, make light of a tough situation, and reminded us everyday what it means to love another.  Like a delicious piece of chocolate to savor, she was everything to her husband, everything to us all.  Within her soul resides the hope and inspiration for a world of peace.

She is survived by her husband, of the home; five children and their spouses, Pamela Lynn Horacek,Dallas, Texas and partner Shawna McCune, Lawton, Jamie Horacek Rodriguez and Orlando, Lawton, Leslie Ann Horacek and Jason Kravitz, Brussels, Belgium, Dr. Jeffrey J. Horacek and partner Heather Nielsen, Portland, Oregon and John Perry Horacek and Elaine, Garden Plain, Kansas; eight grandchildren, Blakley Bassel, Solymar Rodriguez, Orlando Rodriguez Jr., Anna Gabrielle Horacek, Christina Nicole Horacek, Blake Molina, Hayden Horacek and Kennedy Horacek; a brother, John McDaniel, Sargent, Nebraska;

The family would like to give our deepest thanks to those who watched over and cared for Ginger in these last months.  Tabitha, Gladys and Little Bit, you are truly angels and carry on the beautiful tradition of what nursing can be.

Her parents, a brother, Floyd and a sister, Dorcé Lee, preceded her in death.