Lucille Boyden Reis Fancey
1919 – 2020
Mrs. Lucille Boyden Reis Fancey was born in St. Louis, MO on Nov, 5, 1919. Her early interest in horses was evident when she was found petting the belly of the ice wagon horse at the age of 2. In high school in Buffalo, N.Y., she was active in swimming, gymnastics, and the horse riding club. She worked at the famous Hengerer's Dept. Store in Buffalo at 18 where she bought a beautiful horse print with her last paycheck.
During WWII, she worked for the Army Air Corps as a civilian. After marrying Roger Fancey, a pilot and aircraft accident investigator, they bought their first horse owned together named Cheyenne. On their Midland-Odessa ranch, she raised horses, cattle, chickens, chinchillas, and show dalmatians. Her girl scout troop built a full-size glider with the help of a local pilot, and her troop volunteered at a glider meet hooking gliders to the planes that carried the gliders to the sky.
Mrs. Fancey was an amazing woman of many talents; she was down to earth and hard working. She did all of her own pasture mowing, feeding horses, and all of the things pertaining to the upkeep of a large farm. In 1960, she moved to Edmond, OK, and soon began teaching English hunter jumper, complete with cross country course on her property. She also founded the "Lost Hound" Fox Hunt with sometimes 35 hounds to choose from. They hunted "no-kill" in northern Oklahoma with little harm to the smarter Foxes (coyotes). She taught three generations of people to ride teaching three classes a day three days a week. She always charged ten dollars a lesson, even when other trainers began to charge forty.
Even at the age of 97 when she had smaller classes Mrs. "F" would still correct form and make them work toward proper riding technique. One of her young riders/boarders was paralyzed in a car accident from waist down. She helped that student begin riding her own horse. At that point Mrs. Fancey became interested in therapeutic riding. In 1977, with her daughter, Joy, as director they began Coffee Creek Riding Center for the handicapped. Her generosity in the beginning of land, horses, and feed helped the program start. The program has now grown to serving 250 students a year with the help of 150 volunteers. Many miracles of provision have made it possible to keep this program FREE for the 42 years. Her dream of having a therapeutic program "Coffee Creek" has been able to bless hundreds of children and their families. She is survived by daughters Joy and Gay, grandchildren Dr. Trey Milligan, Nancy Riggs, Amy Choffin, Steve Snyder, and Elizabeth Trotter, with many great grandchildren.
Memorial services will be held at 2:00 p.m., Saturday, June 13, 2020 at Matthews Funeral Home Chapel Edmond, OK.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to: Coffee Creek Riding Center For the Handicapped, 17 E. Coffee Creek Rd. Edmond, OK 73034
We will be live streaming this service in an effort to accommodate those people that wish to attend but feel they should not due to the health environment. To watch the service CLICK HERE to go to our YouTube page. Then click on 'Videos' then 'Live Streams'.