Services will be held Monday, April 23, 2018 at 1 p.m. at the First Assembly of God in Wagoner for Elizabeth "Liz" Ann Gilbert McMahan, 71, of Wagoner.

Rev. Terry Presley with New Beginnings Church will officiate the service.

Pallbearers will be Jimmy Hall, Mike Cagle, Rick Chitwood, Wyatt McMahan, Walker McMahan, Johnathan Moody, Darren Watkins and Kenneth Peters.

Interment will be in Pioneer Cemetery in Wagoner under the direction of Mallett Funeral Home and Crematory.

A family visitation will be held Sunday, April 22 from 2-4 p.m. at the funeral home.

Liz passed away on Wednesday, April 18, 2018 at Hillcrest Hospital in Tulsa from complications with pneumonia. She was surrounded by her family and loved ones.

Memorial contributions in her memory can be made to Frontier Ministries in Wagoner, 25842 E. 750 Rd., Wagoner, OK 74467.

Liz was born March 2, 1947 to Tom and Nell Gilbert in their rural Wagoner home. She attended Wagoner Public Schools and started writing news articles for the local newspaper as a grade school reporter for her 4-H Club.

She graduated with the Class of 1965 and went on to study child development at Oklahoma State University where she took a photography class that changed her life. After her freshman year in college, she took a summer job at the Muskogee Phoenix and Times-Democrat as a beat reporter and never turned back. She later served as the publication's city editor.

Liz met Larry McMahan at the Wagoner County Sheriff's Office. She was on assignment trying to get the scoop on a story and he was working as a deputy sheriff dispatcher. They dated for six months before they were married in Sallisaw on Dec. 6, 1972.

Liz's family has always been involved in politics, which sparked her love for writing about people. She excelled as an investigative reporter and could make or break a politician with what she uncovered.

She also had a passion for feature writing, penning stories about the people, places and events that made her hometown, county and state so special.

Liz's journalism career spanned more than 40 years and included stints with the Muskogee Phoenix, the Wagoner Tribune and Record Democrat, as a stringer for the Daily Oklahoman and Tulsa World and as a contributing writer for the Coweta American and Wagoner County American-Tribune.

She retired from journalism in 2009, but her work still appeared in various publications. Most of her submissions were historical in nature under the headline, "Wagoner County History Notebook."

People knew Liz as a talented news writer, avid researcher and meticulous historian, but she was also art collector, loved antiques, collected postcards, enjoyed reading and sewing and was a great craftsman who had a passion for helping people.

Family members say Liz will be remembered for her love of history and her grandchildren.

Her youngest grandson, Cale, said she will be remembered for "having a lot of opinions", and her niece, Shonja Evans, said she is sure to be in up in heaven saying, "Fire up the press, we've got a paper to print!"

Liz touched many lives with her stories and photos and went to great lengths to get them.

She was an award-winning journalist who earned recognition from United Press International (Phillips Award), the Associated Press, Gannett and the Oklahoma Press Association. She was inducted into OPA's Quarter Century Club in 2009.

In 1997, she was in the inaugural class of the Northeast Oklahoma Leadership Program.

She has authored or co-authored seven books and booklets and recently completed a publication on the history of Mazie, Oklahoma.

Liz served as assistant director of the Wagoner City Historical Museum, was active in the city's Christmas promotions and helped with events such as Railroad Days, Wild West Days and the Fantastic Fourth Celebration. She was also a member of the Wagoner County Historical Society and Three Forks Genealogy Society and worked in inventory control for the City of Wagoner for many years.

She served several years on the Wagoner Lake Festival and Summerfest committees, the Wagoner Junior Livestock board and was a past-president of the Wagoner Area Chamber of Commerce.

Liz is survived by her husband, Larry McMahan, of the home; one son, James McMahan and his wife, Rose, of Wagoner; one daughter, Susan McKinzie and her husband, Adam, of Depew; four grandsons, Darren Watkins and his wife, Ashley, Wyatt McMahan, Walker McMahan and Cale McKinzie; two great-grandchildren, Ethan and Jammie Watkins; two sisters, Mary Moody and her husband, Russell, of Nevada, Tex. and Susan Wassom and her husband, Randy, of Wagoner and a host of nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Tom and Nell Gilbert; one brother, Tommy Gilbert and his wife, Shirley; one sister, Sarah Gilbert Cragle.