Marie Elaine Guillory, the oldest daughter of Paul and Odette Landreneau Guillory, was born on May 29,1925 in Mamou, Louisiana. Elaine graduated 14th in her class from Plaquemine High School, Plaquemine, Louisiana in 1941. After high school, Elaine moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to attend Spencer Business College where she mastered shorthand and typing skills. She prided herself in being able to type 80 words a minute without a mistake on the upright “John Boy Walton” typewriter style. Elaine graduated from Spencer Business College on March 9, 1943.

Upon graduation, Elaine returned to Plaquemine. One Sunday her parents invited Bill to their home for dinner after church. Bill asked Betty, Elaine’s sister, if anyone could sew his coast guard patch on his uniform. Betty referred Bill to Elaine. Elaine always said, “I sewed on the patch and I got the sailor.”

Elaine married Forrest C. “Bill” Lowe on October 12, 1945 in Gretna, Louisiana. Then brave Elaine, a young woman of 20 years, waved goodbye to her family and little brother, Paul, as she and Bill boarded a train to Tulsa. Her husband, Bill, was from Oklahoma and needed to report back to the coast guard office for official discharge from his military tour. Elaine was received warmly by the extended Lowe family although she was teased about her “Cajun accent”.

Elaine and Bill began their married life in a small apartment in West Tulsa where Bill worked for Frisco Railroad. During that time Elaine worked for American Airlines as a bookkeeper in downtown Tulsa. After about a year, they purchased their first home in the neighborhood near Phoenix Avenue Baptist church. During their newlywed years, they enjoyed spending time with Bill’s family and church friends.

In 1948, Elaine and Bill traveled to Wilson Creek, Colorado to visit Elaine’s parents. Standard Oil of California had transferred her father, Paul Guillory, Sr., from Louisiana to Colorado. Paul told Bill that the oil company was hiring at the new gas plant in Rangely, Colorado. Thus began their 24 years of living in the Chevron oil field. Prior to the birth of their daughters, Elaine worked for Bestway Grocery Store as a bookkeeper. Elaine and Bill were charter members of the First Southern Baptist Church. Their three daughters, Angela, Pamela, and Lydia were born in Rangely in 1955, 1957, and 1964 respectively.

Elaine was a busy, happy homemaker caring for her husband, daughters, and home. Elaine was a gifted seamstress. She sewed school dresses for her daughters throughout their school years. Elaine canned countless jars of fruit from the orchards in Grand Junction, Colorado and vegetables from the garden in Redwash, Utah. She was a wonderful cook and made homemade meals and desserts from “scratch” for family gatherings and church potluck dinners. Elaine was an avid player of the domino game, “Shoot the Moon,” and enjoyed playing croquet. She knitted hundreds of baby booties plus three couch size afghans for her daughters in later years.

In 1972, Bill was transferred by Chevron Oil Company to Marietta, Oklahoma. Again, Elaine was active in her daughter’s lives, church activities, and a caring friend to her neighbors. In 1978, Bill and Elaine moved to Evanston, Wyoming, where Bill became the Construction Foreman for a new gas plant. Elaine was the church secretary and custodian at Hillcrest Southern Baptist Church. She made jigsaw puzzles and counted cross-stitch projects with her neighbors, and enjoyed picnic outings in the Uinta Mountains.

In 1983, Elaine and Bill moved to Sapulpa, Oklahoma and enjoyed their retirement home for 25 years. Elaine enjoyed being back in the Tulsa area where she and Bill had first begun their married life. She enjoyed spending time with all of the Lowe relatives again. Their grandchildren, Kimberly, Christopher, and Michael, have happy summer memories of spending time at their “Papa’s farm”. Elaine was active in her church, canned vegetables from their garden, made cross stitch gifts for her friends, and grew various flowers and plants.

In 2009, Elaine and Bill moved to Rosewood, an assisted living facility in Killeen, Texas, where Lydia could visit and care for them daily. Elaine continued to enjoy her jigsaw puzzles, marble games, and dominoes. She was good natured and kind to her caregivers even in her last days. Elaine has been reunited her husband, Bill, her parents, brother Paul, family members, and lifelong friends.

We offer gratitude for a wonderful Christian sister, mother, and grandmother who loved her sisters, daughters, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews. We will cherish her always as she lives on in our hearts and lives.
* Daughters: Angela, Pamela and Stephen, Lydia; Grandchildren: Kimberly, Christopher, and Michael
* Sisters: Betty Webb, Florence, Mississippi; Ouita and Bob Ott, Veneta, Oregon
* Sister-in-law: Helen Guillory, Grand Junction, Colorado