Ollivene Grace (Cole) Heath
Oct 1, 1923 - Sep 30, 2005

A homecoming celebration service for Enid resident Ollivene Grace (Cole) Heath was held at Custer Avenue Baptist Church, Clinton, Oklahoma, Monday, October 3, 2005, at 2:00 p.m.

Mrs. Heath passed from this life the day before her 82nd birthday, which would have been October 1, 2005. Ollivene was the second born child of John and Rhoda Cole of Paragould, Arkansas. Her family lived on a farm near Paragould where they shared a close relationship with beloved cousins, aunts and uncles and grandparents who lived nearby.

Her formal education began at the early age of 5 due to her insistance that she go to school with her older brother Fernand. The teacher in the two room school agreed to this early start only because she believed she would soon tire of school. She didn't. Her school days were filled with the music of her piano playing and singing. Her brother Fernand also had a natural gift for music, so they shared their love of music playing for quartets and singing at many events.

Her 1942 high school graduation was a tearful time for her as Pearl Harbor had been bombed on December 7, 1941, and many of the boys in her class were going to war.

Although she had wanted to go to Business School in Memphis, Tennessee after graduation, she began her career as a Civil Service employee at the nearby Blytheville, Arkansas Air Force Base.

Following the war, she enrolled at Ouachita Baptist University, Arkadelphia, where she met her future husband, William H. (Bill) Heath. They were married March 1, 1947. Their children are Deborah K. Hale and her husband Steven A. Hale, Daniel Andrew Heath and his wife Donna, Rebekah Fuller and her husband Glenn.

She was always faithful to her calling as a Christian, wife and mother. Together with her husband Bill, they spent most of their lives serving their Lord Jesus Christ in Baptist churches in Memphis, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma City, Dill City, Cherokee and Clinton, Oklahoma. After his retirement, she continued to help him in the ministry to the men at the Veteran's Center where she played the piano each Sunday morning.

In addition to being someone you could lean on when you needed strength, she was a gifted and wise teacher.

Mrs. Heath was preceded in death by her husband, William H. (Bill) Heath on April 5, 1999, her parents, John and Rhoda Cole, and her oldest brother, Fernand.

She is survived by her younger brother, Jay Cole, Fayetteville, Arkansas, her three children and thier spouses, grandchildren, Candace Roberts and Larry, Carrie Perkins and her husband Ted, Matthew Hale and his wife Amy, Andrew Heath, Julia Reneau and her husband John, Kody Fuller, step-grandchildren Amanda Brown and her husband and Glenn Fuller, Jr. and his wife. Great-grandchildren are Ashley and Nate Roberts, Lyndsy, Loryn and Stevan Perkins, Christopher Hale and step-great-grandchildren, Crystal Gibbs, Layden Fuller and newborn twins Veronica and Miranda Brown.

Funeral services were held at Custer Avenue Baptist Church Monday, October 3, 2005, where they served for 14 years. Burial was in Clinton Cemetery.

A memorial fund was established at the Custer Avenue Baptist Church in Clinton. Obituary courtesy of Ladusau-Evans Funeral Home. (Paid Obit 11-6-1)