Ardell Marie Dobbs' Obituary
Ardell Marie Dobbs passed away on Wednesday, July 20, 2016 in Tulsa, Oklahoma just three days short of her 92nd birthday. She was born in Big Timber, Montana, the first daughter of Ivar and Anna Hoiland. Ardell spent her childhood raised on Otter Creek Ranch that her father, a Norwegian immigrant, owned. Her mother used to put her in the family’s butter churn to keep her from roaming too far on the ranch when there was work to be done. Growing up, she loved her Appaloosa horse and riding, her high school friends and being outdoors. She lost her father on the day she graduated from high school and soon thereafter, she and her family moved into town. Ardell met Harold John Dobbs when he was in Big Timber on a seismic shoot for Cities Service Oil Company. The pair married in 1950, and as “doodlebuggers,” moved to numerous seismic shoots in Oklahoma, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Kansas. In 1971 they transferred from Bartlesville to Tulsa in 1971 where they resided until their deaths. Ardell raised her three children with kindness, a soft-spoken reprimand when needed, and the assurance that they were all loved and safe. With as many moves as she made while raising her family, and as diverse as the cultures in each new town were, her great accomplishment was that wherever her children were they always felt that they were home. She loved gardening, square dancing, the Lawrence Welk Show, classic county western music, going for walks and sitting out on nice evenings with all the neighbors and her grandchildren and grand dogs. She valued her special relationships with neighbors Bob and Helen Huntington, Larry Williams, Mary Deverick, Ralph Smith, Tom and Judy McHenry, Wilma King and the late Vera Poulsen. Ardell was predeceased by Harold, her husband of 50 years, her parents Ivar and Anna, her sisters Arlene Barkley, Inez Cook and her brothers Joseph Hoiland and Arthur Hoiland. She is survived by her children Dixie Miller (Jim), Diana Manning (Mike) of Tulsa and Dennis Dobbs (Shirley) of Wichita, Kansas, her sisters Kathryn Ellison and Jean Duffey of Big Timber, Montana and Margaret Downing (Dick) of Spokane, Washington and special sister-in-law Dee Bogle, Paige, Texas. She is also survived by her 11 grandchildren, Aderley Dobbs, Jesse Dobbs, Wesley Dobbs, Ryan Dobbs, Katie Dobbs, Trevor Dobbs, Sapphire Bey, Michael Manning, Matthew Manning, Nathan Miller and Anna Hope Miller.
What’s your fondest memory of Ardell?
What’s a lesson you learned from Ardell?
Share a story where Ardell's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Ardell you’ll never forget.
How did Ardell make you smile?