Barbara Ann (Berry) Chase

Avid horse lover, Barbara Ann Chase, age 78 and a life-long resident of Konawa, Oklahoma, passed away on Wednesday, November 16, 2011, at her home. Funeral services are scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Saturday, November 19th at Swearingen Funeral Home Chapel in Konawa.  Burial will follow at Konawa City Cemetery.  Richard Chase, her husband who passed away on March 19, 2009 will also be memorialized at this time as well.  Rev. Pam Shirk, Pastor of First United Methodist Church of Konawa will officiate.  Pallbearers are Randy Hill, Shane Impson, Brad Fletcher, Bronk Berry, Cody Berry, Bernard Rameriz, Eric Scott, and Patrick Scott.  Honorary pallbearers are Bill Saunders, Chris Impson, and Braiden Fletcher. Barbara was born on March 28, 1933 in Konawa to Luther Berry and Allie Lee (Minton) Berry.  She graduated from Konawa High School and married Richard Tolbert Chase on November 9, 1951 at the First United Methodist Church in Seminole, Oklahoma.  She worked for Civil Service in Ft. Leavenworth for twenty-five years until her retirement in 1975.  She was a lifetime member of the American Quarter Horse Association and the Oklahoma Quarter Horse Association.  Barbara was a leading breeder of Racing Quarter Horses and was involved in a very successful breeding program.  She loved horses and became a horse jockey at the age of eleven.  She was one of the first female jockeys, and she became one of the leading female jockeys in the nation. Barbara is survived by four nephews, Bob Berry and wife, Jodie of Saint Louis, Oklahoma, Jerald Berry and wife, Trudee of Shawnee, Oklahoma, Randy Nunley and wife, Judith of Enid, Oklahoma, W.E. Berry and wife, Tonya of Seminole, Oklahoma, and Ricky Scott’s wife, Mary Scott of San Antonio, Texas; three nieces, Janet Jackson and husband, Kenneth of Seminole, Jackie Sesso of Corpus Christi, Texas, and Linda Sexton and husband, Steve of Muskogee, Oklahoma; one brother-in-law, Lloyd Fisher of Konawa; very special friends, Sharon Gladden and Bill Saunders, and numerous other relatives and friends. She was preceded in death by her husband, Richard Chase on March 19, 2009; her parents, Luther and Allie Berry, two brothers, Roscoe Lee Berry and Warren Gene Berry; three sisters, Geneva Christine Fisher, Bonnie Mae Scott, and Peggy Ledford, and four nephews, Darren Berry, Danny Berry, Ricky Scott, and Curtis Ledford. Funeral Information: November 19, 2011, 2:00 PM Swearingen Funeral Home Chapel located at 217 N. Broadway, Konawa, OK 74849