"Edith" Lucile Oldham, 91, was born October 10, 1916, to Carl and Frances (McKay) Witte in Shawnee, Oklahoma and died August 26, 2008, at St. Mary's Regional Medical Center after a brief illness. A memorial service will be held at Garber Christian Church at 2 p.m. on Saturday, August 30, 2008, with J. Tom Washburn officiating. Private burial will be in Garber Cemetery with family only. Services are under the direction of Henninger-Hinson Funeral Home.
Lucile graduated from Sapulpa High School in 1935, and from Oklahoma A&M; in 1939, with a Bachelor's Degree in Office Management. She married William John "Jack" Oldham on May 9, 1941, in her parents home in Sapulpa, Oklahoma. They moved to rural Garber, near Billville, where she was a farm wife and mother of five children.
Lucile was a long-time member of Garber Christian Church. She belonged to the Ladies' Guild and the Quilters. A talented and accomplished quilter, she blessed family members with quilts for the grandchildren, baby quilts for the great-grandchildren, and quilted wall hangings for her children. Lucile later quilted at the Methodist Church in Garber and was a member and hostess of local quilters' group, "Cut Ups".
She and her husband became interested in genealogy and after his death in 1984, Lucile continued to track their families' genealogy, updating it as grandchildren and great-grandchildren were born. She was a proud member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. During World War II she helped her husband's grandmother cook for the threshing crews, and was a member and past president of the Athenian Study Club.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her younger sister, Ruth (Witte) Pollock, and her husband, W. J. Oldham.
She is survived by her children; Margaret Ruth Oldham of Oklahoma City, OK, John G. Oldham and his wife, Marsha Kay of rural Garber, David L. Oldham and his wife, Lynda of Enid; W. C. (Bill) Oldham and his wife, Susan of Enid, and Robert E. Oldham of Enid; nine grandchildren, Michael and Cindy Benson, Colby and Cindi Benson, Julie Silva, Melissa Meridith, Zane Benson, Laura Ballard, Seth and Kristin Benson, John Ryan and Sabrina Oldham, Lindsey Oldham; 20 great-grandchildren, Ryan Cobble, Brittany Benson, Kala Benson, Zack Duren, Alexis Oldham, Katie Southwick, Halie Ballard, Victoria Benson, James Benson, Patrick Benson, Annie Southwick, Allison Benson, Malli Benson, Drake Ballard, Brooke Ballard, Emily Meridith, Baron Silva, Neheava Oldham, Tatum Silva, and Baylie Benson; a nephew, John Carl Pollock of Escondido, CA; and a niece, Silvia Mapp of Athens, GA.
