Deborah L. ‘Debbie’ (McDaugale) Szymkowiak

Services for Deborah L. “Debbie” (McDaugale) Szymkowiak will be 2 p.m. Sunday, February 13, 2022, at Hydro Masonic Cemetery Chapel, with the Rev. Earl Stevenson officiating. Burial will follow at Hydro Masonic Cemetery, in Hydro, with services entrusted to Turner Funeral Home in Hinton.

Debbie was born November 23, 1948, to JB and Alva P. McDaugale in Hydro.

She passed away surrounded by her family Wednesday, February 9, 2022, in Weatherford, at the age of 73. Debbie attended school in Hydro and Hinton.

She married James “Jake” Byrum in 1964. Jake and Debbie raised their three children in Hydro and Weatherford.

They owned and operated a service station in Hydro before opening Jake’s Tire and Muffler in Weatherford, where Debbie managed the accounting for the business. Debbie moved to the Oklahoma City metro area and worked for Cheek Law Firm while finishing her Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting from the University of Central Oklahoma. She was a member of the Account Club, Debate Team, and the Audit Club and was 49 years old and worked diligently to obtain her college degree to fulfill a promise she made to her father.

She married Larry Szymkowiak in 1990 and the couple relocated to Arlington, Texas, as she launched her career in corporate accounting. Debbie worked at Goldman Sachs as the assistant controller overseeing four staff accountants and 56 hotels. In 2008 she went to work at Cased Hole Solutions in Weatherford as their corporate accountant and then served in the same capacity for TorcSill Foundations until her retirement near the end of 2014.

In her retirement years, Debbie loved being a foster parent and brought two children into her home and passed on her legacy of love and friendship to them through her family. Debbie was a caregiver all her life and had a servant’s heart.

Survivors include: her husband, Larry, of Weatherford, two children, Cathy Love and husband, Lyle, of Weatherford, and Billy Byrum, of Weatherford, two step-children, Charles Byrum, of Tulsa, and Karen Byrum, of Weatherford; grandchildren, Amber Burgess and husband, Jon, of Deer Park, Texas, Ashly Evans and husband, Chris, of Weatherford, Jet Adair and wife, Karina, of Weatherford, Cassidy Adair, of Weatherford, Mercedes Stockbridge and husband, Nicklas, of Purcell, and Cord Byrum, of Purcell; great grandchildren, Karsyn Allen and husband, Colton, of Junction City, Kansas, Ireland, Barrett and Jack Burgess, of Deer Park, Texas, Cooper and JC Evans, of Weatherford, Blayne, Paisley, Deacon, Rhyatt, and Braxtynn Stockbridge, all of Purcell, Deandre and Jax Adair, of Weatherford, and bonus grandchild, Mercedes Gayle; and one brother, Joe McDaugale, of Weatherford; as well as numerous nieces, nephews, other relatives and a host of friends.

Debbie was preceded in death by her parents, JB McDaugale and Alva Sutton; son, Jake Byrum; and three sisters, Coleen Warren, Patricia “Trish” Sutton and Diana McDaugale.

Please make memorial donations in Debbie’s memory to “Kids in Care Resources” to help children in foster care in Custer County. Checks can be mailed to 709 Frisco Ave., Clinton, OK 73601 and tangible donations can be set up by calling or emailing at (580) 309-7040 and okkidsincare@outlook.com.