Moran Cemetery

Historic Moran Cemetery, nestled on a rolling hillside in a rural area on the South edge of the Kiamichi Mountains in McCurtain County, Ok was founded in 1908. The first land donation was on August 19, 1920 when 2 & ½ acres of land, more or less at Slim, Ok was donated by Emma and John W. Moran. J. C. Collins was the Trustee of Moran Cemetery listed on that original deed.

The address of Moran Cemetery is 510 Rufe Road, Valliant, Ok but it is actually located about 6 miles North of Valliant between the small rural communities of Mound Grove and Slim, Ok. J.C.’s Store and Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church are the primary landmarks for Mound Grove and Slim Church of Christ is the landmark for Slim, Ok.

A second donation of land on November 14, 1966 was 2 acres, more or less by Ira and Helen Allcock. M.E. Staggs, Loyce Woolsey and W.D. Fleming were Trustees at that time.

A third donation of land on December, 28, 1987 was 1.86 acres by Pauline Lavender. This donation was to the un-named Trustees of Moran Cemetery or their successors.
The last land donation brought the total land in Moran Cemetery to 7.36 acres, more or less.

Meetings are held semi-annually, on the last Saturday in March and the first Saturday in October unless there are conflicts and then it will be as close as possible to those dates. Location will typically be at the Moran Cemetery Pavilion, weather permitting and if not, it will be at The Pine Creek Fire Department if available. Meeting dates and locations will be posted on the Moran Cemetery Valliant Facebook page and an ad will be placed in the Valliant Leader Newspaper. One trustee is elected each year and that election will occur at the Spring meeting.

Moran Cemetery is supported entirely by donations and community fund raising efforts. There is typically one fund raising benefit each year consisting of a meal, auction and cake walk. The fund raising benefits will be held at the Pine Creek Fire Department. It is always gratifying to see the community turn out and support Moran Cemetery. The primary expenses requiring financial support are mowing and grounds keeping and those expenses are substantial with this amount of land.

Many people who live elsewhere and cannot attend meetings and fund raisers, still mail their donations to help support the cemetery for their loved ones. Donations can be made at the meetings or fund raisers and can also be mailed or made directly to Suzie Howard, 1232 Horned Owl Road, Valliant, Ok 74764 . All donations are appreciated.

Records for Moran Cemetery are sketchy until 2014 when it was determined that rules should be developed to preserve and maintain the remaining Majestic Heritage trees in Moran Cemetery. Tree cutting rules were developed and approved in late 2014. There was also community interest in formal bylaws and the original bylaws for Moran Cemetery were approved on March 28, 2015 along with a 5 member Board of Trustees. The current Trustees are Suzie Howard, Bonnie Bates, J.E. Talley, Kenneth Shipp and Gary Bolton. Present officers are Gary Bolton Chair, Suzie Howard Secretary Treasurer and Bonnie Bates Assistant Secretary Treasurer.

As of November 1, 2017, Find A Grave lists 766 interments in Moran Cemetery with 87 % photographed.

The Moran Cemetery website address is https://moran-cemetery.site123.me . The website includes a history of Moran Cemetery, by laws, tree rules, trustee election schedule, etc.

The Moran Cemetery Facebook page address is https://www.facebook.com/Moran-Cemetery-Valliant-Ok-344274805730265/ . The Facebook page is primarily utilized to raise awareness of upcoming cemetery events such as meetings, fund raisers, etc.