Barbara Lee Makovsky

Barbara Lee Makovsky, 87, of Tulsa, OK died Wednesday April 9, 2014.

She was born on January 26, 1927 in Centralia, Illinois. She was the oldest daughter of Thelma and Jenks Crawford. Her siblings were Margaret Hays, Lawrence Dale Crawford, and James Michael Crawford. She graduated from Centralia High School, and even attended her fiftieth high school reunion.

Barbara married Robert Carpenter on Valentine’s Day, 1946 and they were married for twenty-five years. They had a son, R. Steven Carpenter. Later, she was married to Ed Makovsky for six years.

Then she moved to Boynton Beach, Florida to live near her parents. It was in Florida that Barbara got saved at a Baptist church where her son and his family attended and served in an outreach ministry. Barbara’s life would never be the same. She ministered an an outreach ministry to the homeless and hopeless, including participating in a rally with Authur Blessitt in Fort Lauderdale. Ministering on the streets of Florida sparked a lifetime passion for outreach ministry.

She came to Tulsa in the ’80’s to attend Rhema Bible School in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, a leap of faith for this 60 year old. After she graduated from Rhema, she found a job as a Consumer Price Index Data Collector with the US Department of Labor. She volunteered at Victory Christian Center with their ministry at Apache Manor and led a bible study in her home. She was well-known for deliverance ministry.

Eventually, she met Dave Roberson, the pastor of The Family Prayer Center in Tulsa, OK, and she started their outreach ministry in 1995. She was ordained through the church and served as their outreach pastor up to the present time.

As the outreach pastor, she led a small team who ministered to the homeless at the Tulsa Day Center. She started out serving lunch to the residents on Saturdays, but eventually bused them and those living in low-income housing to the Family Prayer Center for Saturday services for several years.

While serving the homeless, she started the House of Hope in 1999, reaching out to the hopeless and hurting on South Peoria Avenue. She provided prayer, food, and clothing, and she was a beacon of hope to the neighborhood. She started an annual Christmas gift program providing Christmas gifts to various children living in low-income housing in the neighborhood.

Then she led a team who ministered to male inmates from Riverside Correctional Facility and Avalon Correctional Services also in Tulsa. She poured the love of God into these men whom she called “God’s treasures,” for she didn’t see their chains, but their hearts. After the prison ministry stopped in 2011, she still received many visits from ex-inmates who wanted to visit their spiritual mother.

Barbara also ministered in Sweden in 1995 with her son Steve and her lifelong friend, Dr. Boerje Axelsson and his family. And she took a small team on three trips to Southern California, ministering with Upper Room Outreach out of Banning, California.

She is survived by her sister Margaret Hays of Centralia, Il, her only son, R. Steven Carpenter and his wife Brenda Carpenter of Tulsa; her four grandchildren: Charlie Carpenter and his wife Jamie Carpenter, Stephanie Sprankle, Christina Stehr, and John Stehr, along with four great-grandchildren: Amorous Gardner, Jolie Sprankle, Cayden Carpenter, and Connor Carpenter.

Her memorial service will be held at the Family Prayer Center in Tulsa on April 19th at 10:00 a.m.