I am the widow of Navy Commander Lanny J. Puckett, retired, who served on a destroyer, the USS Higbee during the Vietnam War. He received orders to the United States Naval Academy where he taught Electrical Engineering.  The remainder of his service was as a reservist, retiring after 20 years. As a civilian, he designed electronic systems for several new classes of Navy ships.

Born and raised in Oklahoma, I am a graduate of the University of Oklahoma, with a B.A in government, history and education. Next, I attended graduate school, earning a MSW degree from the University of Tennessee.  I met my future husband, Lanny, a student at Vanderbilt University. and married in 1965.

After retiring to Oklahoma, I attended the University of Oklahoma College of Law, earning a law degree in 2004 at age 62. While in law school I had an internship at the U.S. Department of State for the final semester of my third year of school.  After graduating, my boss at the State Department arranged for me to have an internship at the Hague Conference of Private International Law, in the Hague, Netherlands. I passed the Oklahoma Bar Exam and am licensed to practice law in the State of Oklahoma.