Nina Lorene Stilwell's Obituary
Nina Lorene Stilwell was born April 13, 1920 at her grandmother’s home in Pensacola, Oklahoma to Beulah and Arnold Williamson. She lived on a farm in Pensacola with her grandmother, Ida Hill, her step-grandfather, George Hill and her uncles during most of her years growing up. She loved to play basketball as a young lady. She married Jimmie Doile Stilwell, Sr. on January 12, 1940 in Claremore. On April 6, 1941 their oldest son Jim was born. Jimmie entered the Army and fought in World War II and again Nina stayed with her grandparents and worked at the powder plant in Pryor, Oklahoma in the war effort. When Jimmie was discharged from the Army they moved to Seattle, Washington where their youngest son, Greg, was born on July 9, 1949. They remained there until 1950 when they returned to Oklahoma. In November, 1969 her husband Jimmie died and her final resting place will be beside him. They were married 29 years. After Jimmie’s death, Nina went to work at Zebco and retired from there. In 2008 her health began to fail as she lost her ability to walk, her vision began to fade badly and she began having difficulty with tremors. She continued to attempt to stay in her home, but was moved to a nursing home for a few months that year. In April 2009 she was stable enough, although she still was unable to walk, to move into Prairie Village, a senior retirement facility in Collinsville. She was proud of her new place of residence and did well there. However, during the last months of her life it began to be apparent that she was beginning to fail and she was having more and more difficulty with her independent living skills. She had a real fear of having to return to a nursing home and her family was beginning to be aware that she would not be able to live on her own in her apartment much longer. In the days before her death it became apparent that she was indeed failing and was getting tired and more frail. Birthday cards had been read to her before it was decided that she would need to go to the hospital. While being prepared to go there, she quietly slipped away. She died on Saturday, April 12, 2014 a day before her 94th birthday with her son Greg and her daughter-in-law Donna at her side. Her son Jim, daughter-in-law Edna, granddaughters, and great-granddaughters, were planning to come see her the next day to celebrate her birthday. She loved blackberry pie and one had been baked by Edna for her to enjoy for her birthday. Nina was a good cook and homemaker. She loved family which included her sons, daughters-in-laws, her granddaughters Brenda Stilwell Medford and Candace Stilwell and great granddaughters, Alison and Hailey Medford. Her extended family included step-grandchildren Vicki, Becky, and Brenda, step-great grandchildren Aaron, Mackenzie and Madison.
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