Mary Sloan doesn’t rush through life. She never really has.

“I just do things when I feel like it,” she said with a soft laugh. “Some people get up and go, but I’ve always just had to do things my way.”

That steady way of living has carried her through decades of change. From wagon rides and tenant farming to raising a family, building a house on a hill, and standing beside her husband through the uncertainties of farm life. Through it all, one thing has remained constant: a life rooted in faith, family and farming.

Sloan was born April 15, 1940, and her earliest memories begin on a farm at Badger Lee, where her family lived as tenant farmers.

“My first memories were living out there with my mother, dad and my grandparents,” she said. “That’s just what life was.”

In those early years, life moved at a slower pace.

“I remember riding in a wagon to Sallisaw with my grandfather, mother and sister.” she says. “During the war years, we eventually traveled by train to California, where my dad had gone looking for work. We stayed in San Jose for several months, but my grandparents didn’t like it there, so we came back to Oklahoma.”

They settled in a small shotgun house near the fairgrounds in Sallisaw, which still stands today.

Sloan didn’t start school until she was seven years old.

“We walked everywhere,” she said. “Walked to school, walked back, because we didn’t have a car.”

Her childhood wasn’t without hardship. She remembers being seriously ill with measles and pneumonia at a time when medicine was limited.

“You just had to get through it,” she said.

After the sudden loss of her grandfather, Sloan’s life shifted again. She and her family moved to Vian to live with her great-aunt, a retired schoolteacher who helped raise her.

“She believed in rules and manners,” Sloan said. “I had a good upbringing. We had a lot of love.”

That foundation of love and resilience would follow her into adulthood.

Sloan met her husband, Charles, at the lake on the Fourth of July when she was just 15-years-old.

“He asked me to the movies and, my aunt said, ‘He is absolutely too old for you,’” she recalled, smiling. “But I dated him anyway.”

The two married in 1957 and began their life together in Tulsa, where they spent the next 20 years together raising their two sons, Chuck and Jody. It was a good life, but farming was never far from Charles’ heart.

“Even when we lived in Tulsa, we came back on weekends to help his family farm,” Sloan said. “That was always a priority.”

Eventually, that pull brought them home for good. When they returned to Sequoyah County in the late 1970s, they built a life together that reflected both of their dreams. “He wanted a farm,” Sloan said. “And I wanted a house on a hill… and that’s what we did.”

Life on the farm, however, was not always easy.

“It was morning until night work,” she said. “And farming had changed. You didn’t have hands to work anymore, you had to learn about chemicals, equipment… it was complicated.”

With rising costs and unpredictable outcomes, the financial side of farming brought its own challenges. “It was stressful. Very stressful,” Sloan said. “You only get paid once a year at harvest, so you have to budget everything.”

She remembers carefully managing their household, cooking meals, and waiting until harvest season to know what they could afford.

“Some years you made money, and some years you didn’t,” she said. “You just had to let things play out.”

Still, through every uncertain season, faith carried them forward.

“You’ve got to work from morning till night, and you’ve got to pray a lot,” she said.

Charles not only farmed. He became a voice for farmers. Through his involvement with the Soybean Association and Farm Bureau, he dedicated years to learning, leadership and advocacy.

“He believed in speaking up for farmers,” Sloan said. “He loved to learn, and he loved what he did.”

His work opened doors for both of them, allowing them to travel, meet people and experience opportunities far beyond what they had known growing up. Sloan embraced those opportunities while continuing to build a life centered on home and community.

Today, she remains active in her own way. Still guided by the same values that shaped her life.

“I just love to go and do and learn,” she said. “I love being around people.”

Her husband’s involvement in Farm Bureau led her to start and become a Chairman for Farm Bureau’s Women’s Association. This, along with church and community activities has kept her connected through the years. She still attends meetings, supports programs and finds joy in staying engaged.

“I’m going to keep going as long as I can,” she said.

Her faith remains a cornerstone of her life, a promise she made a long time ago.

“I joined the church when I was young, and I made a commitment,” she said. “That’s something I’ve always tried to keep.”

Looking back, Sloan doesn’t measure her life in accomplishments or titles. Instead, she reflects on the simple things: family, hard work, and the moments in between.

“Life,” she says, “isn’t always easy, but it is always worth living.”

If she could leave the people of Sequoyah County with one piece of advice, it would be simple: “Just enjoy every day.”