Doyle Dean “Red” Raney was born January 26, 1936, to Walter Clarence Raney and Ellie Jeffcoat on a farm in the Jackson community near Bennington, Oklahoma. He was the youngest of 5 children, 3 boys and 2 girls. Being the youngest, he was close enough in age to his nieces and nephews to develop close relationships with all of them. He enjoyed pulling pranks, cracking jokes, and keeping them entertained. He also spent a lot of his time growing up at Blo White’s house with his cousins. On the family farm they raised peanuts, corn, sugar cane, cotton, and hay. The sugar cane was taken to Shorty Williams’ syrup mill, and they helped make their own sorghum syrup. The family had a large garden and orchard, and canned lots of fruits and vegetables, and had chickens for eggs and meat. Doyle received his education at the Jackson schoolhouse and later Bennington High School. He talked about going home from school in the hot summer and running barefoot from shade to shade.
After high school he worked on the farm and went to Earth, Texas for a short time and worked in a cotton gin with his family. Doyle also worked for Lee Ticknor making $4 a day, and during this time bought the 100 acres which would later become he and Jimmie’s home place. He paid $20 per acre for his 100 acres.
Doyle met Jimmie Paulette Higginbottom in Boswell, Oklahoma, in May 1966. She had just graduated from OSU and came home for the summer. She was driving around Boswell with her cousins in her ‘66 Chevrolet Malibu when Doyle recognized some of her passengers in the car when they stopped at the gas station. He asked if he could take her car for a spin, so she let him. After he took her car around the block and back, he bet Jimmie a quarter he could kiss her without touching her. She wasn’t one to bet, but she figured there wasn’t any way he could do that, so she took him up on it. Doyle grabbed her real quick, planted a big kiss on her, reached in his pocket and gave her a quarter. Later that night he asked if he could take her out on a date and their first date was to the Bokchito homecoming. They were married on December 9, 1966, at Jimmie’s family home in Boswell, OK by Charles Williams.
Jimmie taught home economics in Sand Springs, Oklahoma, from December of ‘66 to June of ‘67, so she and Doyle moved to Sand Springs for a short time between peanut crops. While there, he went out looking for a job and got hired on the spot by Commander Finishing Company, a sheet factory; making $1.49 an hour. They asked him if he could work nights and he told them, “I can’t work nights, I just got married!” They moved back home to Bennington in the summer of ‘67 to farm peanuts and raise cattle and hogs. Doyle and other men in the Jackson community would get together and butcher their hogs and sugar cure the pork for the winter.
Doyle and Jimmie lived in an old run-down house until their new home was built, and they moved in on February 3, 1968. Charles Williams, the man who married them, also built their home. Their marriage and home have stood the test of time. If you knew Doyle any at all, you knew he loved his woman, and she loved her man. Together they were an amazing couple, freely giving of themselves and helping others.
Doyle and Jimmie were blessed with three daughters Paulette, Pamela, and Kristie. He would say with a house full of women and only one bathroom he had to get up before everyone else to get the bathroom first. Then he would wake the girls up hollering, “roll ‘em 1, 2, 3! Somebody’s gonna move the pot!” When the girls got older, one of them asked how come they didn’t have a dishwasher? Doyle quickly replied, “I married one and had three more!” Doyle was a hardworking, family man and always made sure his family had what they needed. Every fall, he would buy his girls nice, quality shoes that would last them all year. He and Jimmie willingly drove an older car to be able to afford orthodontic work for two of their daughters. He always took great pride in his daughters’ straight smiles. Jimmie would cook beans for supper pretty often, sometimes the same day as the school and when the girls would complain, Doyle would say “I wish the president could eat some of these!” Their nieces and nephews all have fond memories of the times spent at Uncle Doyle and Aunt Jimmie’s. Their home was a special place for lots of people. Like a true Raney, Doyle had a nickname for everybody. He enjoyed going deer hunting in the mountains with family and friends, though we’re not sure how much deer hunting actually went on.
Doyle got out of peanut farming in the late 70s and in 1980 began work for the USDA Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service as an Animal Health Technician. The first 15 years of his job he went all over Bryan County and surrounding areas testing and vaccinating cattle for the brucellosis disease. After his stroke, he went back to work another 4 years in the Sulphur Springs, TX area with the swine feeder program, and retired from the USDA in August of 1999. During his time with the USDA, he made many life-long friends that he still treasured. He loved talking about his work and was a firm believer in vaccinating his replacement heifers with the brucellosis vaccine.
Doyle and Jimmie eagerly settled into retired life babysitting grandkids, raising a garden, and cattle. Doyle enjoyed keeping his lawn short and scraping the bowl of whatever Jimmie was baking. He loved all his grandchildren dearly and grandma and grandpa’s house was the place to be.
Doyle was a member of the New Beginning Apostolic Church of Calera, Oklahoma, and loved his church family. He and Jimmie took great joy in taking their grandchildren to church and Braum’s for lunch after.
The past few years his health began to fail him, but you could still find him with a big smile on his face. In his last days, he was cared for by those who love him and he got to be at home, which is what he wanted. The family wants to give a sincere thank you to Kalyn, Koty, Khloe, and Brooke for taking great care of our precious loved one.
On his final day, his granddaughters sang a few of his favorite gospel hymns to him and was surrounded by his family when he passed peacefully at home on September 6, 2025, in Bennington, Okla.
Preceding Doyle in death are his parents Walter Clarence and Ellie Raney; brother, C.J. Raney, and sisters, Willie Edna Burns and Dorothy Minyard.
Those left to treasure his memory are his beloved wife of 58 years, Jimmie Raney; his brother, D.E. “Newt” Raney and wife Christine of Boswell, Okla.; daughters: Paulette Singleton and husband Troy of Bennington, Okla., Pamela Harrington of Calera, Okla.; and Kristie Smith and husband Roger of Atkins, Ark.; grandchildren: Josie and Logan Singleton of Bennington, Okla, Andrew, Aaron, and Anna Harrington of Calera, Okla., and Austin Hartman of Colbert, Okla.; and one great-granddaughter, Lana Harrington of Durant, Okla.; and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.
Doyle will be greatly missed by all those who knew and loved him deeply. He had a million-dollar smile and a generous, kind spirit. He has fought the good fight, he has finished the race and kept the faith. He was greeted with open arms into his eternal home and we all should strive to see him again someday.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. on Friday, September 12, at Brown’s Funeral Home chapel in Durant with Pastor Brandon Smith officiating. Committal services will immediately follow at Jackson Cemetery, south of Bennington. Pallbearers will be Troy Singleton, Logan Singleton, Andrew Harrington, Aaron Harrington, Roger Smith, James Harrington Jr., J.D. Higginbottom, and Terry Milligan.
The Raney family will receive and greet friends on Thursday evening, September 11, 2025, from 6-8 p.m. at Brown’s Funeral Home.
Arrangements under the direction of Brown’s Funeral Service.