Eleanor Irene Dudley. Previously Mrs. David L. McCord. Born Eleanor Irene Crago on a farm near Creston Iowa on October 10, 1922 to Milton James Crago and Lola Crago. Brother Darryl Crago.  While she spent a good deal of her childhood on the farm, the family moved to Omaha, Nebraska in the 30's where she met her first husband, David L. McCord, while working at a warehouse. When WWII broke out, she joined the Navy. She did her basic training in New York and has a fond memory of being put in charge of marching the squad to the train station. She was stationed in Norman, Oklahoma during the war where she logged the Navy training pilots, in and out. She married Private First-Class David Lavern McCord in OKC on February 26th 1945. It snowed that day. The family lived in Omaha, Nebraska, where from 1946 to 1956 she gave birth to Barbara Kay, Kathleen Ruth, Mary Joan and Patrick David. In the fall of 1956, the family moved to Tulsa.

Eleanor was preceded in death by her husband David and her daughter Barbara Kay Austin. She is survived by her daughters Kathy Abbott (Mike) of Broken Arrow and Mary Bigler (Dan) of Owasso; son Patrick McCord of Tulsa; son-in-law, Bill Austin and stepchildren, Deanna Mendenhall and Terry Dudley.  She has 7 grandchildren: Evan Austin, Blair Austin, Koren Stika, Trevor Austin, Drew Austin, Tyran Parish and Chad Abbott. Her great grandchildren are: Kaylee and Ella Stika; Brayden and Brody Parish; Bree and Ally Austin; Charles, Carter and Taylor Abbott

She married retired asst Fire Chief Paul Dudley in July of 2008 Eleanor was a devout Catholic and spent much of her life helping others. She belonged to many community assistant groups, such as Meals on Wheels, the Knights of Columbus Ladies Auxiliary. Her son remembers a day when he was young and a homeless man came to the door asking for money, his mother said she had no money to give but if he'd go to the side porch, she'd bring him a sandwich and a glass of milk, which she did. Her son asked her, later, why she did that and she replied, "you never know when it might be Jesus, at your door." Eleanor was fond of pets and children. She loved to laugh and stayed very active. She was fond of old sayings, like 'sing before breakfast, cry before night' and 'if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.'

Mass of Christian Burial: 10:00 a.m. Tuesday at St. Clements Catholic Church-Bixby.

Fitzgerald Southwood Colonial Chapel, 918-291-3500.