Obits - August 6, 2007

August 06, 2007 03:24 pm

— Mary A. Wilson

Funeral service for Mary A. Wilson age 89 of Chickasha will be held 2 p.m. Monday, Aug. 6, 2007 at Sharon Baptist Church.
Mary A. Wilson was born May 16, 1918 at Maxwell Iowa. She was the daughter of Lawrence and Etta (Stemler) Moorehead. She died Friday, Aug. 3, 2007 in Chickasha.
She married Thomas Shockley. She later married Joseph Shockley, Albert Saffle and Leaford Wilson who all preceded her in death.
She had lived in the Chickasha area since 1968. She was a member of Sharon Baptist Church.
Her daughter Mary Jo McGee and sister Pauline Saffle also preceded her in death.
Survivors include: two sons: Don Shockley and wife Linda of Alvarado, Texas; David Shockley and wife Louise of Deland, Florida two daughters: Julia Smith and husband Rick of Chickasha, Okla.; Beverly Green and husband Rick of Poteau, Okla. 32 grandchildren, 56 great grandchildren and 7 great great grandchildren.
Interment will be in Fairlawn Cemetery, Chickasha, Oklahoma under the direction of Sevier Funeral Home.

Mary Lou Marshall
Funeral service for Mary Lou Marshall will be held at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, August 7, 2007, at the Southern Oaks Church of Christ. Jim Sheerer and Paul Richardson will officiate.
On August 4, 2007 Mary Lou Marshall of Chickasha, OK passed away some 10 months after being diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Lou Gehrig’s Disease. She died at the age of 69 at the residence of her daughter, Daphne Massa of Nixa, MO who had been her caregiver since just before her final diagnosis. From the beginning of illness until her final hours, Mary Lou endured her illness with a grace clearly born of her faith.
Mary Lou grew up in Chickasha, the daughter of Jerry and Lillie Marshall. She graduated from Chickasha High School and Oklahoma College for Women. While living in Chickasha, she taught elementary school in the surrounding communities.
Mary Lou spent most of the last four decades of her life continuing to study and produce works of art, notably landscape and still life oil paintings. Her studies took her to Northern Virginia Community College, the Art League of Alexandria (VA), the Parsons School of Design, and the Art Student League, both in New York City. Mary Lou was also an apprentice to Portraitist Nelson Shanks of Pennsylvania.
Mary Lou had solo exhibitions of her work in numerous locations around the Washington, DC region to include A.J.W. Fine Art in Bethesda, MD; Arnold & Porter in Washington, DC; Town Hall in Vienna, VA; and the Atrium Gallery at Lombardi, in Washington, DC. Her work has been seen in galleries to include the Ambassador Gallery, INC of New York, NY; the Broadway Gallery of Fairfax, VA; the Byrne Gallery of Middleburg, VA; and the Gallerie La Vie, of Santa Fe, NM.
Throughout her life, Mary Lou was a faithful Christian and member of the Church of Christ. She lived a life deep in faith, with a clear commitment to Jesus Christ as her personal savior. Her family knows she rests now with her Lord and Savior.
She was preceded in death by her father, Jerry Marshall and her brothers, Jerry Franklin Marshall and John Marshall.
Mary Lou is survived by her mother Lillie, also of Chickasha; her brother and his wife James and Mary Ruth Marshall of Oklahoma City; her son and his family, Tod Massa, his wife Melinda, and their sons James and Zachary of Richmond, VA; her daughter, Daphne Massa, and her daughter, Alyson Baker, both of Nixa, MO; and her daughter Sara Boyle, her husband Don, and their children: Katie, Brendan, Peter, Tom, Philip, and Meg of Alpharetta, Ga.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the We Care Campaign, c/o Southern Oaks Church of Christ, 3320 S. 16th Street, Chickasha, OK 73018 or to the ALS Association-Keith Worthington Chapter, 1721 W. Elfindale, Suite 101, Springfield, MO 65807.
Interment will be in the Rose Hill Cemetery. Services are under the direction of McRay Funeral Home.

Bunah M. Heston
Funeral services for Bunah M. Heston, 92, Sterling, will be 10:00 a.m. Wednesday in the First Baptist Church, Sterling, with Chaplain (CPT) Kraig Smith and Rev. Jack Pilgrim, officiating.
Mrs. Heston died Friday in Sterling .
Burial will be in the Sterling Cemetery under the direction of Becker Funeral Home of Fletcher (Formerly Robbins Funeral Home).
She was born January 6, 1915 in Binger, Oklahoma, to Irl V. and Bertha F. Webb Klingman. She grew up in Sterling and was a graduate of Sterling High School. She married Earl L. Heston on April 21, 1934 in Cheyenne, Oklahoma. He preceded her in death on June 20, 2006. She had been a member of the First Baptist Church, Sterling, for over 60 years and was a member of the Town and Country Club in Sterling .
She is survived by a son and daughter in law, Norvel and Janet Heston, Rush Springs, Oklahoma; two daughters and son in law, Frieda Armstrong, Sterling, and Gwynna and Harold Clay, Catoosa, Oklahoma; 12 grandchildren, 24 great grandchildren and one great great granddaughter.
A son, Myron, a grandson, Myron Earl Heston, Jr., a brother, Vernice Klingman, and two sons in law, James Smith and Ray Armstrong, preceded her in death.
Memorial contributions may be made to the First Baptist Church, P.O. Box 6, Sterling OK 73567 .
Sympathy cards may be sent to the family online at www.robbinsfuneral.com

William Maher

William “Bill” Maher, 79, of Sunnyland died at 8:05 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 2, 2007, at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria after asking, “Please accept this final decision that I am making I pray that you will understand.”
Born Oct. 29, 1927, in Chicago, Ill., to Clarence L. and Mabel Look Maher, he married the love of his life, Shirley Ann Collins, on Sept. 18, 1948, at Sacred Heart Church in Peoria and, on March 23, 2007, his heart broke when she died.
He is survived by his six children, Cindy (Bill) Schmidt of Kansas City, Mo., Susan (Paul) Antinozzi of Woodbridge, Conn., Mary Ann (Jack) VonAchen of Lansing, Mich., Tim (Sara) Maher of Springfield, Ill., Christopher Maher of Chicago, Ill., and Maureen (Jay) Keigher of Melvin, Ill.; 19 grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and one brother, Clarence L. Lefty (Jane) Maher of Chickasha, Okla.
He was preceded in death by one brother and one sister who died in childhood.
Bill served in the Merchant Marines.
Bill was a 1945 graduate of Woodruff High School in Peoria. He attended Bradley University and graduated from Butler University College of Pharmacy in August 1952.
He worked as a pharmacist for two different independents and in 1960 purchased a small store in Sunnyland which became known as Bill Maher Drugs, which he sold in 1992. As the owner/operator of a community pharmacy, Bill was asked to and was glad to participate in any endeavor that would benefit the community.
He was a past president and also secretary of the Central Illinois Pharmacists Association, a recipient of the Bowl of Hygeia Award for Illinois in 1995, awarded the Pharmacist of the Year in 1972 and was a recipient of the Hall of Fame award in 1993.
In his community, Bill served in many capacities. He was an incorporating member of the Board of Directors of Sunnyland Bank and incorporating member and past president of the Sunnyland Business Association. He served as a board member and officer of the East Peoria Chamber of Commerce, was an incorporating member of the Board of Directors of Pine Lakes Golf Club and incorporating member and past president of the Sunnyland Lions Club. He was a member of the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission, served on the Board of Director of the Northern Tazewell Public Water District, formed a steering committee to annex part of Sunnyland into the city of East Peoria and served as an auditor of Washington Township.
He was also active in area schools and churches. He was a member of the Father Sweeney School Board in Peoria. He was a member of the building committee for St. Patrick Catholic Church in Washington, where he also served as a volunteer school bus driver from 1962 to 1972. He was a member of the St. Monica Catholic Church in East Peoria for many years, serving on their Parish Advisory Council and also as an Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist and a Sacristan. He also served on several committees to pass referendums for local grade and high schools. He was a member of the St. Brendan's Society and was currently a member of Sacred Heart Church in Peoria, where he was an active volunteer in their food pantry.
Throughout the years, Bill also was proud to sponsor teams in baseball, little league football, golf and bowling. He worked on and participated in fundraisers for the Northern Tazewell Recreation Association. Bill was awarded the Volunteer of the Year by Heartland Community Clinic in 1996, along with various other awards such as the City Award for Landscaping and Beautification.
Over the years, he was recognized by organizations such as Kiwanis, the Northern Tazewell Rescue Squad, the Phoenix Action Group (AA), the Washington Helps Its People (WHIP) food pantry, the East Peoria Festival of Lights Commission and the American Legion.
In the words of Bill's wise father, “Bill, if you want to be a big frog, find a small enough pond.” Sunnyland was Bill's pond. Bill's comment was, “The little pond in which we've spent the last 42 years has been very good to us and we, in our turn, have attempted to reciprocate.”
A funeral Mass will be celebrated at Sacred Heart Church in Peoria, Ill., at 10 a.m. Monday, Aug. 6, 2007. Father Bert Heise, OFM, will celebrate the Mass. Visitation will be 2 to 6 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 5, 2007, at Deiters Funeral Home in Washington, with recitation of the Rosary at 5:45 p.m. Additional visitation will be from 9 to 10 a.m. Monday at the church. Bill will be laid to rest at Springdale Cemetery in Peoria next to his beloved, Shirley.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the William Maher Memorial Fund at the Washington Area Community Center.
To send condolences online, please visit www.deitersfuneralhome.com. Bill's video tribute will be posted on the Web site after the service Monday.