LOIS NELL WHITFIELD

Lois Nell Whitfield, lifelong Ponca City resident, died Friday, Aug. 19, 2005, at Westminster Village following a brief illness. She went home to be with her Lord and savior at the age of 67.
The funeral will be held Tuesday, Aug. 23, at 10 a.m. at the First Free Will Baptist Church with the Rev. David Bigger, pastor, officiating. Burial will follow at Old Fellows Cemetery under the direction of Grace Memorial Chapel.
Lois was born Aug. 23, 1937, at her grandparents' home in the Ranch Drive/Bois' D'Arc community. She lived in this area all her life except for a few years as a child and the first year of her marriage. She attended Union 76 School, Jefferson, Lincoln, McKinley, Roosevelt, East Junior High, and graduated from Ponca City High in 1956. After graduating from high school, she worked for a few years for a family caring for their child.
On Dec. 31, 1959, she and James E. Whitfield were married at the Ranch Drive Baptist Church in Ponca City. In December 2004 they celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary. They continued to live in Ponca City.
Lois was dedicated to her family and served them as a homemaker. After her mother's death in 1993, she looked after her father until her recent illness.
Lois was a member of the Ranch Drive Baptist Church, which her grandparents started, and she accepted the Lord as her savior at an early age and was baptized. She also attended Free Will Baptist Church in Ponca City. Faith and family were the most important to her. She enjoyed traveling and made room for other family members to go along. It was said she never met a stranger and people always remembered her smile.
Lois liked playing the piano, listening to music especially music at church, working on genealogy, attending class of '56 gatherings, Union 76 School reunions, family reunions, and school events for her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Lois liked to collect music boxes, dolls, Hallmark collectibles and glassware. She loved her Pepsi, chocolate, cotton candy and peeps.
She is survived by her husband, Jim of the home; one son, William "Bill" Whitfield of Bartlesville; one daughter, Naomi Melichar and husband Mike of Marland; her father, Rolla Sober of Ponca City; one brother, Rusty Sober and wife Pat of Ponca City; two sisters, Janice McCabe and husband Kenny of Dodge City, Kan., and Betty Penner and husband Wilbur of Oklahoma City; two grandchildren, Jared Padgett of Marland and Andrea Burris and husband Robert of Ponca City; three great-grandchildren, Anthony, Shayla and Xavier Burris; numerous nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, and cousins; and a very special, lifelong friend, Cloma Goldman.
She was preceded in death by her mother, Naomi Sober, and her grandparents, William and Edna Ivie and Burt and Nellie Sober.
Casket bearers will be Jared Padgett, Robert Burris, Mike Melichar, Gene Ivie, Arthur King and Don Goldman. Honorary bearers will be all that loved her.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made in Lois' memory to Hospice of North Central Oklahoma, 1904 N. Union, Suite 103, Ponca City, Okla. 74601, First Free Will Baptist Church, 1900 E. Hubbard Road, Ponca City, Okla. 74604, or the Ranch Drive Baptist Church Building Fund, 2985 South Ranch Drive, Ponca City, Okla. 74601