Carol Lavon Rethford was born September 18, 1`930 in Perry, Missouri, a small suburb of Hannibal, to Morris M. Jackson and Gladys Johnson Jackson. She left this life on April 1, 2016, at the age of 85 ½ years.

She was a long-time resident of Wagoner, Oklahoma. She and her late husband, Lawrence Rethford, owned and operated "The Sandwich Shack" in downtown Wagoner. It was a favorite spot to the teens of Wagoner. They were long-time members of the Church of Christ.

She was preceded in death by her husband and love of her life, Lawrence Rethford. Also, both parents; her brother, Bill Jackson, and a sister, Beverley Walker, as well as her baby daughter, Joyce Carol; daughter Barbara Ann Summers; and two sons-in-law, Dr. Robert Hughes and Michael Mauldin.

She is survived by a son, Darren Rethford and wife, Melissa, of Tulsa, with their children, Jeffrey and wife, Kelly, and their children Curtis, Aurora, Ellianna, and Ophira; Nicholas and Mandy; her daughter, Karen Hughes-Mauldin of Wagoner and children, Missy Lasater and husband, Mike, their children, Hunter, Boone and Meridy, Joshua Hughes and wife, Candice, their children, Bear and Remmi, Jacob Hughes and wife, Suzanne and son, Brock. One son-in-law, Jay Summers of Claremore, his four sons, Tony and Janeen and children, Hayley and Blake, Shawn and his wife, Angie and their children, Hannah, Courtney and Colt, Travis and his wife, Twilla and children, Chelsea, Kelsey and Keldon, Jayson and wife, Jennifer and children, Olivia and Jack. Carol is also survived by twenty great-grandchildren; eight great-great-grandchildren; one niece and one nephew.

The funeral service celebrating the life of Carol Rethford will be at 2:00 P.M. Wednesday, April 6, 2016 at the Mallett Funeral Home Chapel in Wagoner. Mr. Dan Fredman will officiate.   Interment will be private in Pioneer Cemetery in Wagoner.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to C.A.S.A. (Court Appointed Special Advocates), a cause close to their hearts and which is under the Directorship of Carol's granddaughter-in-law, Suzanne Hughes. www.casaok.org , or CASA, P.O. Box 1274, Muskogee, OK 74402.