March 28, 1928 ~ July 23, 2011
The funeral services for Mrs. Frances “Oma” Aileen Mason Heizer Tate were held privately at 7 p.m. Sunday, July 24, 2011 in the St. Mathews Episcopal Church with Rev. Dr. Stephen R. Samples officiating under the direction of Brown-Cummings Funeral Home. She will lie in state through Wednesday, July 27, 2011, at the funeral home with cremation to follow under the direction of Brown-Cummings Funeral Home.
Frances was born March 28, 1928 on the family farm on the Florida Mesa, Le Plata County, CO, near Durango to Marie Christy Mason and Arthur William Mason and passed away July 23, 2011, at The Commons in Enid, OK, with her three children at her side.
Frances attended school in Durango, graduating in 1945. She enrolled at Western State College at Gunnison, CO.
She married Kenneth Edwin Heizer on August 12,1947 in Durango, CO.
In 1966 she graduated from Simpson College, Indianola, IA. She began her teaching career in Ames, IA, taught in Flagstaff, Arizona and retired in 1989 after teaching 20 years at La Junta, CO.
Frances married Paul Tate on March 24, 1995 in La Junta, CO.
In 2003 she moved to Enid.
Frances was a founding member of the La Junta School Foundation, a member of PEO, St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church. She greatly loved her children, her grandchildren, to travel, her gardens and watching football.
Oma is survived by half-brother, Allen Mason; her children, Donald Duane and Pat Heizer, Payson, AZ, and children Lindsey and Whitney; Nanci Kay and Rick Kalamaya, Longmont, CO and children Ryan and Carilynn; Bill and Karen Heizer, Enid, OK and children Jeremiah and Charity Heizer and daughter Saige of Rancho Cucamonga, CA; Kendra and Eric Michael and daughter Lydia and son Gunnar of Oklahoma City; step-daughters Sue Tate of Colorado Springs and Vera Tate of Pueblo.
Condolences may be made online at Brown-Cummings.com.