Georgene Stidham Oakley

Georgene Stidham Zieber was born on February 22, 1924, to Wilson and Eula Mae Zieber. She was proudly born on George Washington's birthday, thus the name "Georgene". Two years later her family welcomed her little sister Pauline. The two grew up in Taloga, Oklahoma with Georgene spending most of her time on the "farm" with her grandparents who she referred fondly as "Ma" and "Foxy". She went to a one room schoolhouse through the eighth grade then went to school in town and graduated from high school in 1942.

One night while at the Taloga café, which had a dance hall in the back, she and her friend Clara met two brothers who worked on a crew building a bridge north of town in Dewey County. Georgene married one of those brothers, Milo Marion Oakley.

Milo and Georgene settled on the farm outside of Taloga. One of the first meals Georgene cooked for Milo was a pot of brown beans because Milo loved brown beans. Apparently, Milo was not impressed with the beans because Georgene did not use any seasonings--just boiled the beans in water. Milo suggested she learn to cook from his mother. Wanting to make Milo happy, she learned quickly and became a good cook and would spend many endless hours cooking for the men that came into town to cut the wheat fields.

In 1945, Milo and Georgene welcomed their first child, Phoebe Gay. Georgene loved being a wife and mother. Once while living on the farm, she heard a terrible noise which sounded like a train coming. She realized a tornado was coming, so she grabbed Phoebe off the front porch and ran down the hall, throwing Phoebe to the floor and dove on top of Phoebe to save her. Georgene willingly sacrificed anything for her children and family.

Five years later Michael Thomas "Mick" was born. They now had the perfect family, but Milo did not like farming and wanted to return to construction. In 1958, Georgene left the only place she had ever known and moved to Blackwell, then Gage and Hinton. In 1960 they moved to Northeast Tulsa where a year later they welcomed their surprise baby, Kimberly Ann. Milo started his own business, Oakley Crane Rental. Money was very tight, but they worked hard and the business thrived. Georgene stayed very busy during the days with the three children and work late into the nights paying the bills and keeping the books for the business. She was a band mom for Mick which consisted of running the concession stand during the home football and basketball games. She was a bluebird leader and wonderful homeroom mother to Mick and Kim for several years. They spent a lot of weekends at Canton Lake and later at Eufaula Lake with their friends Joe and Wynn Wright.

Phoebe moved away and graduated from Oklahoma State University which made her parents so proud. Phoebe married David Baker, and they later had two beautiful daughters, Carrie and Allyson, which made Georgene, "Grans".

Mick went away to OSU, and then later to OU to law school. They were so proud to have a son that was smart and became an attorney. Mick married Joye Corley, and they later gave Grans her first grandson, Michael, Jr.

Sometime after Mick left for OSU, they bought a travel trailer and started traveling with most of their vacations beginning or ending in Gunnison, Colorado. They loved Colorado! They were still running the business, and Kim kept them busy with all her activities.

After Kim graduated from high school in 1979, Milo sold the business and retired, and they started traveling more. They spent their winters in South Texas. Milo always wanted to go to South Texas the first day it got cold, but Georgene would not leave until after Christmas. She insisted on spending Christmas with the family.

Kim married Jim Chandler a couple of years after graduating and added to the grandchildren with James and Mallory.

Milo and Georgene enjoyed traveling with Milos brother Jack and wife Rose. Now Georgene was a conservative woman when it came to her dress. Unless you knew her in her really young years, you probably never saw her knees. But after the age of 50, Rose convinced her to buy her first bathing suit for a trip to Florida. They also enjoyed traveling with Milo's sister Patty and husband Al.

Grans loved to spend time with her grandchildren. Carrie, Allyson and Michael would spend a week with her every summer, and she would dedicate the entire week to entertaining them. When Gran's would keep James at Kim's house, they would remove all the cushions from the house and play Fox and Hound. Mallory loved playing house and having teas with "Mrs. Oakley."

Georgene became a wonderful cook and baker. Her grandchildren all have fond memories of going to her house and smelling fresh baked bread when the door opened and immediately eating bread and butter. Her cinnamon rolls and sticky buns were enjoyed by the entire family!

Georgene is preceded in death by her parents, husband, sister, all her brothers-in-law, all but one sisters-in-law, and grandchild William Oakley. She is survived by children: Phoebe and David of Glenpool, Mick and Joye of Norman, and Kim and Jim of Oklahoma City; grandchildren: Carrie and Donald of Tulsa, Allyson of Kiefer, Michael and Susan of Oklahoma City, James of Tulsa, and Mallory and Will of Dallas; great grand-children Henry Cauthon and Bon and Liv Oakley; and sister-in-law Joy.

Georgene and her family have been blessed by loving, caring people that assisted Georgene in her final years. Georgene's journey would not have been complete without these lovely souls, including Pauline, Ursula, Robin and Sue.

For many years, Georgene was a devoted member of Gleaner Tabernacle in West Tulsa until its closing, then Berryhill Assembly of God and New Home Freewill Baptist. Georgene was a Christian, seamstress, clog dancer, gardener, ceramic painter, bird watcher, and many other things, but mostly she was a loving wife, mother and Grans which we were blessed to have had in our lives.