Danna Lou Compton Taylor

 Danna Lou Compton Taylor was born May 10 1939 in Santa Barbara CA to Hugh and Kate Compton. She was born the second of four daughters. Danna grew up on the family farm & attended Greenfield Schools where she loved playing basketball & had many friends. She talked often of how she enjoyed working at the Rook Theatre & Watonga Drive Inn during these years. She graduated from WHS in 1957 where she spent her Sr year after her family moved to town.

A lifelong friend, Carol Randolph McKeown, asked Danna to double date one evening. That date resulted in the marriage to the love of her life Basil Taylor on 7/27/57. They moved to Wichita, KS where Basil worked for Beech Aircraft. Missing her family, they lived for a short time at Roman Nose State Park & Canton. After the birth of daughters Melanie, Lori & Tacy they moved home to Watonga where she lived for 62 years.

Danna was an amazing homemaker, a meticulous housekeeper & wonderful cook. She loved whistling & singing while she worked. Her pride & joy was their beautiful yard where you could always find her bent over pulling weeds. She had a keen eye for landscaping and home design and was a talented oil painter. Many of her pictures hang in their home.

She loved to golf, played on a ladies bowling league, enjoyed playing bridge with girlfriends and their couples Saturday Night Dinner Club.

Faith and service was an important part of Danna’s life. She was a member of First Baptist Church for 62 years and worked in the nursery, taught Sunday School, organized & prepared food for families after funeral services and helped with Vacation Bible School.

For many years Danna dedicated her volunteer time to making Watonga a better place to live. She & Barbara Smola planted the trees along the railroad tracks on Clarence Nash that flower each Spring. She was one of the first group of volunteers for the Watonga Cheese Festival & organized the tents and Art Show. She volunteered with the Main Street organization, Watonga Chamber of Commerce & served for years on the Watonga Library Board.

Danna’s most important passion was being a wife, mother, grandmother & daughter. She was devoted to Basil for 69 years of marriage. They were an unbreakable unit & loved traveling with friends & meeting new ones while on the road with their motorhome. Danna loved her girls & spent many hours at the sewing machine, attending band concerts, & supporting their activities.

She was most proud of her grandchildren and loved watching them swim in their backyard, play sports, work on computers, teaching them to bake & spend vacation time with them.

Even through the difficult years of dementia, her quick wit would surface & surprise laughs. Needing to be closer to healthcare, Danna & Basil moved to OKC in 2024 where she passed at Integris Hospice House on Tuesday, March 24, 2026.

Preceding Danna in death are her parents, Sisters Doris Milliron and husband Darrel, Phyllis Boston and husband Darrel, Treasa Waggoner and Son-In-Law Victor Christain.

She is survived by her husband, Basil Taylor, Daughters Melanie McCrary and husband Wes, Lori Parsons & husband Larry, & Tacy Nitzel, Grandchildren Chad Parsons & wife Allison, Nathan Nitzel and wife Margaret, Brittany Myers & husband Roney. Great Grandchildren Abby, Audrey, Gabby, Harper, Owen and coming soon Rowan. Great-great grandchildren Holly & Graham. Public viewing and visitation: Saturday and Sunday, March 28-29, 1-6 P.M. at Wilkinson Mortuary, Watonga, OK

www.wilkinsonmortuary.com for on line condolences.

A funeral for Danna will be announced at a later date.

Memorial donations can be made to Watonga Senior Citizens Center.

Wilkinson Mortuary in charge of arrangements.