Life Story
Annetta Clark Fudge McCoy died on October 15, ending a long, rich, and meaningful life at 94. She was a tall, elegant, vivacious, extroverted Texas gal, whose life was filled with family, politics, church groups, turquoise jewelry, joy, and grief.
A native of Austin, Annetta was born on December 2, 1931, to Opal Hawkins Clark and Leroy Tull Clark. Her parents were lifelong friends of future President Lyndon B. Johnson in the Hill Country of Texas. After graduating from the University of Texas, Annetta married a young Disciples of Christ minister, from Oklahoma City, Robert (Bob) Fudge. Being a minister’s wife came easy to Annetta as she came from generations of ministers. Annetta and Bob wed on July 15, 1953. Annetta was an elementary school teacher in those early years as well as an active partner in Bob’s calling to serve as a minister in congregations in Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma.
During the next 14 years, they had four children while Bob and she focused their vocations and avocations on civil rights and local political change. Both Annetta and Bob believed strongly in civil rights and were passionately engaged in efforts to desegregate lunch counters, the public schools, and neighborhoods.
Bob died in 1967 from Hodgkin’s disease leaving Annetta as a 35-year-old widow with 4 children under 11. Calling on that Texas determination, she pursued her Masters in Counseling degree and began a fulfilling career in public education. She served as
the Human Relations director of the Oklahoma City schools in a time when racial tensions and school integration were volatile community issues. She also was the “coolest” teacher of Psychology at John Marshall High School.
In 1967, it was Annetta’s great fortune to meet Gene McCoy at the Village Christian Church in Oklahoma City. In 1968 they married, blending their family of 6 children. Gene and Annetta embarked on a long and loving marriage focused on their mutual commitment to social justice, great friends, days at Lake Tenkiller, studying the indigenous history in Oklahoma, and cheering on the Oklahoma Sooners – despite her allegiance to the Texas
Longhorns. They later became active members of the Mayflower Congregational Church in Oklahoma City where they joined the many efforts to affect social change and justice. In 2016, Gene passed away at the age of 88. In 2017, Annetta also lost her only son, Clark Fudge.
Following the bombing of the Oklahoma Federal Murrah building in 1995, Annetta came out of retirement to work as a counselor for FEMA in Oklahoma City elementary schools. During the bombing trials which were moved to Denver, Colorado in 1997, Annetta provided mental health support for the victims of the bombing as they attended the murder trials of Tim McVeigh and Terry Nichols. She was the perfect person for the job, as she
understood the Oklahoma experience of the tragedy, she had the counseling skills to help navigate the long road to recovery, and she understood the nature of grief in very personal ways.
Annetta moved to Denver to be closer to family in 2018. She lived for eight years as an active resident of Brookdale Parkplace. She worked to connect with other residents, and went out of her way to make Parkplace a friendly and fun place to live.
Annetta is survived by her children – Chuck McCoy (Joan), Ruth Anne McCoy Hammond, (John), Candy Fudge Roberts (Andy), Robin Fudge Finegan (Cole), Sheri Fudge Nixon (Mark). She also is survived by 12 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. She is preceded in death by husbands Robert (Bob) Fudge and Byron Eugene (Gene) McCoy as well as her son, Robert Clark Fudge.
Many thanks to the wonderful community at Brookdale Parkplace for their professionalism, energy, and support over the last 8 years. And much gratitude to the team at CompleteCO Hospice for their care and compassion in the last month of Annetta’s life.
Donations can be made to the Oklahoma City Memorial Museum https://memorialmuseum.com/
