Celebration of life service for Stella Jean Loose will be 10:00 a.m. Monday, April 10, 2017 in the Worship Center East at Lawton First Assembly with Rev. Don Barnes, pastor and Rev. Gary Pratt, associate pastor officiating.

Arrangements are under the direction of Becker-Rabon Funeral Home.

The family will greet friends from 3-6 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home.

Stella Jean Loose, age 69, of Lawton, was born in Yelm, Washington on May 19, 1947 to Adolph and Irene (Archibeque) Tafoya. She was the 5th of 6 children, with 4 older brothers and later a younger sister. She grew up in Yelm, Washington. Stella received her promotion to heaven peacefully on April 3, 2017 at 4:50 pm in the ICU at OU Medical Center where she had been a patient since February 8 after an extended illness from surgery in December 2016 with multiple complications, one after the other. She had been in the hospital for a total of 106 days at the time of her death. She was surrounded by her husband, her 3 children, 4 of her pastors and a very dear friend. She took her last breath as she would have wanted, with praise music being sung and while Psalm 91 was just beginning to be read: "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty."

Stella met her husband, John C. Loose in Tulsa, OK and they were married in the chapel on Oral Roberts University on March 21, 1981. They celebrated their 36th anniversary in the hospital. John married her after she had been alone for more than 10 years with 3 children: ages 16, 13 and 11 from 2 failed marriages. She liked what John would say, "He skipped diapers and went straight to drivers ed".  They were not blessed with any natural children of their own.

The first 16 years of their marriage they lived in Tulsa and Broken Arrow, OK, and she faithfully supported her husband, John, as he had a mid-life career change and went to medical school at age 38 in Tulsa. After he completed his residency in 1997, they moved to Perry, OK where they lived until early 1999. They then moved to Ada, OK for 2 years and finally to Lawton, OK where they have lived until this time. Stella for a short period of time while they were living in Tulsa, had her own business where she did custom sewing and home décor. She even did some displays for the bedding department at Dillard's in Tulsa. Later she worked for Our Lady of Sorrows Convent in Broken Arrow, where she learned floral design. With both her sewing and floral design expertise, she was able to turn their house in Lawton into a home. Every room has more than one touch of Stella in the décor and she also helped design and oversee all the landscaping at their home.

In 2014, Stella and John began volunteering at Adult & Teen Challenge of Oklahoma, Sonrise Ranch in Cache. They also taught the Sunday School Class at Lawton First Assembly of God Church for the Teen Challenge students. Stella was asked to assist with the decorating of the Everitt Center at the ranch which opened in 2014. Again in most rooms, hallways and common areas there is a touch of Stella.  Since starting at Teen Challenge it is estimated that Stella has had some interaction and influence with over 200 individual students. Some called her "Miss Stella", but many called her "Mom" either because she was just there for them, or in some cases, she was the mom they never had. Her legacy will continue on at the ranch through John's involvement there.

Stella is survived by her husband, Dr. John Loose, of the home, her 3 children: Angelina Patrick, Tulsa, Robert (Pam) Scott, Skiatook, and Michael Raines, Tulsa, 4 grandchildren: Chelsea, Daniel, Christopher and Talon and 1 great grandchild: Ariana. She is also survived by her mother, one brother and one sister: David (Faris) Tafoya, Olympia, WA and Kathy (Don) Stonecypher, Woodbridge, VA, her mother-in-law, Dorothy Loose of the home, many nieces and nephews and a host of friends too numerous to count.

She was preceded in death by her father and 3 brothers.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Adult & Teen Challenge of Oklahoma, Sonrise Ranch, 19792 N.W. Cache Road, Cache, OK  73527.