Jo Ann Polly

Jo Ann Cottrell Polly (March 31, 1937- June 8, 2023) was a beloved wife, mother, sister, grandmother, and friend. She married a cute sailor from the farm down the road and spent 66 years building a wonderful life and family with him. She was born over a gas station in Binger, graduated from Anadarko High School in 1955, sold a calf to fund secretarial school, and worked in various industries before finding her work home in the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission in Miami and managing the Anadarko and Chickasha offices. She loved fiercely and served in every way she could.  She had plenty of opinions and lots of wisdom to share, and one of her love languages was food.  She supplied her family, friends, neighbors, church, and anyone else she appreciated with all sorts of delicious meals and baked goods.  She traveled across the US and across the Atlantic to see interesting places, visit friends and family, and care for her grandchildren.

Jo was the wife and devoted partner of Jim Polly of Chickasha, the daughter of Ludwig (Punch) and Violet Cottrell of Cyril, the older sister of Deveta Miller of Chickasha, the mother of Beth (James) Jones of Houston and Jim (Teresa) Polly of Oklahoma City, the doting grandmother of Emma (Zack) Taylor of Houston, Hannah (John Nelson) Jones of Austin, and Joshua Polly of Oklahoma City.  If you've seen her in the last 2 years, you have seen pictures of her great-granddaughter, Lucy Taylor, who brought her delight.  She loved her in-laws, both those gone before and those still here, including Louann (Cricket) and Rick Watts of Oklahoma City, Virgean Polly of Anadarko, and Richard Polly of Windsor, Colorado, as well as all her nieces and nephews. She took chances on people and made a difference in many lives.  She served her community on vo-tech and library boards and the PEO, and by serving summer lunches to children.

Jo did not want a formal funeral.  She will be interred privately in Anadarko.  There will be a gathering of friends at 1 pm on Friday, June 16, at the Cowboy Church in Apache.  We will celebrate her life and share stories and "Jojo specialties" baked by her granddaughters.  If you are so moved, please contribute to breast cancer research or her church or to a cause that matters to you, or feed a friend or stranger, and remember her.