After devoting 17 years to being a loving wife to my father, Orben,  and a gentle, nurturing mother to my brother and me, my mother, Naomi,  (nicknamed "Sug" -short for "Sugar- by her family)   was elected President of the Oklahoma City Council of the Parent Teacher's Association (PTA).   This responsibility was soon cut short due to the birth of my younger brother. When he began kindergarten 5 years later, she, too, went back to school! 

 
     Naomi attended both Oklahoma City University and the University of Oklahoma, majoring in Creative Writing.    She then taught Creative Writing at the St. Lukes United Methodist Church School of Continuing Education for 12 years.    She also served as president of the Oklahoma City Writer's Inc. for 2 terms, from 1979-1981 and belongs to the National League of American Pen Women.    She has always loved poetry, and continued to write articles and poetry herself, and has had many of her works published.    In 1990, Naomi received the prestigious Honorary Life Membership award from the Oklahoma Writer's Federation.
    To read a poem Mother wrote about herself as a small child - describing her first visit to the library where her love affair with words began - click  here!

 

     Naomi,  our very special mother,  died on November 21, 1998, just a week before our parent's 58th wedding anniversary.   My father,  Orben died 3 1/2 years later on June 27, 2002. The love, admiration and respect they shared for each other was an inspiration to others. 

     Below is a poem that  describes only a small part of the legacy left to my brothers and myself by our elegant, loving mother