Ida Mae Drywater

Ida Mae Johnson-Drywater was born on Friday, August 11th, 1944 in Tahlequah, OK, the daughter of Bill and Beatrice (Hughes) Johnson. She grew up with two brothers and two sisters, Felix, Lily, Billy and Irene. She went to school in Liberty, and in Oaks. She never tired of playing softball and baseball with her siblings. She met a handsome young man, Esiah Drywater, and on April 1962, they were married in Tahlequah, OK. Together they shared thirty one years of love and laughter and raised a family of five children, Sue, Patricia, Diana, Vince, and Laura. They were a happy family that loved spending time together, supporting each other in sports and watching the girls play softball. Ida loved life and really liked people. She enjoyed an occasional trip to a garage sale or flea market, or maybe a trip to the lake where a campout and cookout were soon to appear. She had a great sense of humor and could make you laugh with no effort at all. She raised a vegetable garden and this in turn became some of her famous baked pies, biscuits, and beans and fry bread. She adored her family and loved spending time with them, even though it meant driving to the house and visiting for 20 minutes and returning the whole way back home. She was headstrong and stubborn which was part of her charm. Her family and her great grandchildren were always of interest to her. Life wasn’t always easy for her, she had suffered the loss of her daughters, her husband, her two great granddaughters, Baby Houston, and her parents and grandparents. The ability to remain strong came from her faith in Jesus Christ her Lord and Savior. She was a member of Johnson Prairie Church in Moody all of her adult life, and the other members were like a second family to her. The Lord called this wonderful woman home from her many labors on September 10th, 2023, following a brief illness. She was 79 years old and will be greatly missed by the family she loved and the friends she treasured.

She is preceded in death by her grandparents, Dave and Nancy Johnson and James and Ida Hughes, her mother and father, Bill and Beatrice Johnson, two daughters, Patricia and Diana Drywater, two sisters, Lily Jumper and Irene Garner, and two great grand daughters, Kynzee, Kylee and baby Houston.

Those left to cherish her time on earth include her children, Sue Houston of Ft. Gibson, OK, Vince Drywater and wife Jaime of Clouds Creek, OK and Laura Davis and husband Sonny of Chewey, OK. She leaves her brothers, Felix Johnson and wife Faye of Peggs, OK, and Billy Johnson of Moodys, OK. She will live on in her 13 grandchildren, Jacklyn, Chris, Lucy, Heather, Lindsay, Amber, Sheldon, Ty, Trae, Baylee, Raven, Skyla and Haydon. She also leaves her 24 great grandchildren and one on the way, 5 great great grandchildren, as well as many nieces, nephews, cousins and a host of friends and loved ones too numerous to mention.

Funeral services for Ida Mae Johnson-Drywater will be held on Friday, September 15th, 2023 at 2:00pm at Johnson Prairie Baptist Church with Pastor Gerald Fixin officiating. She will be laid to rest next to her daughter at Johnson Prairie Cemetery in Moody.

Pallbearers for Ida Mae include Derek Keys, Richard Johnson, Mike Johnson, Bud Vance, Barney Vance and Champ Johnson. Honorary pallbearers are her grandsons and great-grandsons.

Her family will have a visitation on Thursday, September 14th, 2023 from noon until 5:00pm at Reed-Culver Funeral Home. Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.reedculver.com for the Drywater family.