Glenna Lee Wisel's Obituary
Glenna Lee Wisel, age 83, of Fayetteville, Arkansas, passed away on Monday, October 13, 2025.
Glenna was born on February 8, 1942, in Arapaho, Oklahoma, to Glenn and Anna Lee Grant. She graduated from Arapaho High School as class valedictorian in 1960. While in high school, Glenna met her future husband, Wilford Wisel. They became engaged and married in September 1960.
After their marriage, Wilford and Glenna moved to Wilburton, Oklahoma, to attend Eastern Oklahoma State College, where Glenna graduated with an associate’s degree before completing her Bachelor of Education degree from Northeastern State College in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.
Glenna began her career teaching elementary school while Wilford attended seminary and served his first pastorate in Temple, Oklahoma. After the birth of their two sons, Doug and Kevin, in Lawton, Oklahoma, Glenna chose to stay home to raise her boys. She was a devoted mother, always present at concerts, livestock shows, and sporting events, and her home was a welcoming place for her sons’ friends. Glenna’s fun-loving spirit and smile filled her home with joy.
As a pastor’s wife, Glenna was known for her warmth, kindness, and supportive nature. She was respected and loved in every church community where she and Wilford served.
After her sons finished high school, Glenna resumed teaching—starting as a substitute, then as a full-time elementary teacher in Durant, Oklahoma, where she earned her Master’s in education, and later in Ponca City until retirement. Throughout her years teaching, she was admired for her calm classroom management, effective teaching, and genuine care for her students.
In her later years, Glenna lived in assisted living and memory care, where she continued to bless caregivers and fellow residents with her warm smile and pleasant personality, despite facing significant health challenges.
Glenna was preceded in death by her husband, Wilford; her parents, Glenn and Anna Lee Grant; her sister, Barbara Thomas; and two sons, Mark and Timothy, who both died shortly after childbirth. She is survived by her two sons, Doug (wife Mechel) and Kevin (wife Monica), and her four adult grandchildren: Joshua, Jake, Matt, and Ashley.
Glenna will be remembered as a loving wife, mother, grandmother, and friend, whose legacy of kindness, faith, and joy will live on in all who knew her.
Cremation arrangements are by Nelson Berna of Fayetteville.
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