Jeraldine Joyce Arambula

Jerry Arambula’s Sweet and Sassy Life

In Loving Memory

It is with heavy hearts and cherished memories that we announce the passing of our beloved Mother, Grandmother, and Great Grandmother, whose unwavering love and fierce spirit touched all who knew her. Her life was a testament to strength, resilience, and complete devotion to her family and everyone fortunate enough to be in her sphere.

Jeraldine Joyce (Jerry) Braudrick Arambula passed away at age 93, on September 7, 2025, at home surrounded by her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, and is now sitting on a cloud watching over us.

Mom/Grandma/GiGi/Jerry was the cornerstone of our family, her love reflected in cooking, gardening, and children. She loved to feed us, but also the deer, fox, coyotes, and the occasional roadrunner that shared her acreage.

Before the sale of her house, she proudly reported she had gathered her most precious possessions: all her recipes, her refrigerator door magnets, and the rose rocks from the garden. These are the things that truly reflect who she was and the life she lived.

Her kitchen was a gathering space where stories were shared along with the meal. She was the family historian, telling tales from childhood, keeping track of the family tree in a bible that held a prominent place at the front door. She knew everyone's birthday and sent the great-grandkids a card filled with one-dollar bills to match their age. She was proud of her Choctaw heritage and took us to see the relatives’ names on the Dawes Commission Rolls and pointed out, "This is your family."

She was also close to the Arambula side of the family, always looking out for Aunt Trini, and loved spending summer vacations in California with Aunt Alice, Uncle Frank, and her nieces and nephews. She loved to travel and have adventures; New York City with her brothers and sisters, Mexico, Las Vegas, or camping with Aunt Alice and Uncle Frank, going to Teshia’s national conferences with her sister, Joan. In her 80s, following a heart attack, she conned Joan into driving her and their sister, June, from Oklahoma City to Tucson. Joan balked, asking what if something happened to Mom's heart, to which June replied, "Well, she’s gotta’ die sometime”, Jerry agreed, and off they went.

At age 70-something, she moved to Texas to care for Bruce’s four kids. Zane was still in diapers. There was no hesitation, she did what needed to be done and became a fixture in the Mabank/Eustace community, the neighborhood kids and their parents calling her Grandma.

She loved the babies. She collected unique refrigerator door magnets that enticed small children and put them at eye level, creating a toddler playground. She encouraged water balloon fights and let the kiddos drive her scooter and the golf cart. She loved all the holidays and bought Christmas decorations to amuse the kids and filled a hundred Easter eggs with money and candy for the annual hunt. One Halloween, she competed with two teen neighborhood boys to see who could create the scariest house, and built a graveyard in our front yard with a silly headstone representing each neighborhood kid. She spoiled the children, all of them, any of them. To quote Vivian, “Gigi lets me do anything I want.”

Gardening was her vocation, growing flowers, vegetables, and trees indoors and out. At age 90, she was found sitting outside the garage floor late one night, banging at the door. She had gone out in her pajamas, no shoes, no coat, and had fallen and injured her ankle while trying to cover the clematis because she didn't want it to freeze.

She was proud of her strength and resilience, telling us how she once roofed the house. Her neighbor found her driving back and forth in the driveway one day. She'd filled the holes with macadam and was using the weight of the van to press it in. She was legally blind from macular degeneration, but secretly drove to Van's to get beans when no one was home to stop her. When she had her knees replaced, she used only Tylenol for pain medicine and endured shingles without any treatment. Two weeks before her 93rd birthday, she received a pacemaker and atrial ablation to offset problems from atrial fibrillation. She went out fighting until the very end, savoring every moment with her family.

She was the daughter of Buel Otis and Vera Manning Braudrick, born on April 27, 1932, in Oklahoma City. She married Louis Arambula (dec.) and is survived by their three children, Bruce Arambula, Teshia Solomon, and Stefanie Brooks, her son-in-law, Greg Brooks, her baby sister, Joan Ellis, sister-in-law, Wendy Braudrick, and two cats, Chewy and Scratch.

She was exceptionally proud of her seven grandchildren and their spouses, Jeremy Duran, Cody and Alison Brooks, Jessica and Coleman Scott, Zachary and Sayida Arambula, Amalie and Guy Hargrove, Evan and Olivia Arambula, and Zane Arambula. Her truest joy was in her 13 great-grandchildren, Leighton, Stetson, and Cash Scott; Dean, Sterling, and Laura Arambula; Vivian and Kellan Brooks; Ava and Gia Hargrove; and Jada, Jeremy, and Janae Duran. She was Auntie to more than 50 nieces, nephews, and their spouses and children, all of whom she embraced and called family.

She will be profoundly missed, and we are grateful for the years we were blessed to share with her. She lived a sweet and sassy life, which will be celebrated on October 25th, when we will gather to honor her memory, share stories, and find solace in one another. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that acts of kindness be paid forward in her honor with a donation to one of the following agencies, or just plant a tree in your yard, bake a pie to share, or spoil your kids and give them a big hug and kiss.

Mercy Health Foundation: Hospice. Be sure to note it is for Hospice.

1. Mercy Hospice
2. 4401 W. Memorial Rd., Ste.116
3. Oklahoma City, OK 73134
4. 
   
5. Running Strong for Indian Youth
6. To donate securely by phone, call the Development team at 703-317-9881.
7. Running Strong for American Indian Youth
8. 8301 Richmond Highway, Suite 200, Alexandria, VA 22309
9. www.IndianYouth.org
10. 
    
11. Celebration of a Sweet and Sassy Life
12. Saturday, October 25, 2025
13. 2:00-4:00 pm
14. Daffodil Hill
15. 3801 North College Avenue
16. Bethany, OK. 73008
17. www.daffodilhillevents.com
18. 
    
19. Jerry’s Sweets
20. Spreading of the ashes
21. 4:00 pm
22. Bethany Cemetery
23. 6700 NW 36th
24. Bethany, OK 73008