Services will be held Saturday for Bell Bivens, the state's oldest known person, who died Monday. She was 118.
Evelyn Williams said her aunt died at St. Anthony Hospital.
The brief hospital stay before her death was Mrs. Bivens' first trip to the hospital in 12 years and just her third since she reached 100, Ms. Williams said.
In a newspaper interview last May, Mrs. Bivens said she had grown tired of explaining her age, and how she had reached it. Her secrets, she said reluctantly, were honest living and love of God. "You can't get too much prayer," she said at the time. "You got wording to keep it going." Equally important, Ms. Bivens told the newspaper, was her zest for life. "Sometimes I would be so happy, I'd go shoutin' and dancin' all by myself," she said.
Mrs. Bivens was born near Van Buren, Ark., during President Ulysses S. Grant's administration. She was made honorary mayor of Oklahoma City last May 7, the day she turned 118. She outlived one of her two husbands by more than 60 years, and after his death did domestic work in McLoud and played fiddle and guitar for children at birthday parties. Ms. Williams said the aches and pains of old age had taken their toll on her aunt, particularly during the last few months. Since she was placed in a nursing home a few years ago, Mrs. Bivens had been unable to enjoy her favorite pastimes, needlepoint and cooking, Ms. Williams said.
Services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at the First Baptist Church of McLoud with burial in Fairview Cemetery in Shawnee.
Tulsa World
Jan. 1990
Evelyn Williams said her aunt died at St. Anthony Hospital.
The brief hospital stay before her death was Mrs. Bivens' first trip to the hospital in 12 years and just her third since she reached 100, Ms. Williams said.
In a newspaper interview last May, Mrs. Bivens said she had grown tired of explaining her age, and how she had reached it. Her secrets, she said reluctantly, were honest living and love of God. "You can't get too much prayer," she said at the time. "You got wording to keep it going." Equally important, Ms. Bivens told the newspaper, was her zest for life. "Sometimes I would be so happy, I'd go shoutin' and dancin' all by myself," she said.
Mrs. Bivens was born near Van Buren, Ark., during President Ulysses S. Grant's administration. She was made honorary mayor of Oklahoma City last May 7, the day she turned 118. She outlived one of her two husbands by more than 60 years, and after his death did domestic work in McLoud and played fiddle and guitar for children at birthday parties. Ms. Williams said the aches and pains of old age had taken their toll on her aunt, particularly during the last few months. Since she was placed in a nursing home a few years ago, Mrs. Bivens had been unable to enjoy her favorite pastimes, needlepoint and cooking, Ms. Williams said.
Services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at the First Baptist Church of McLoud with burial in Fairview Cemetery in Shawnee.
Tulsa World
Jan. 1990
Services will be held Saturday for Bell Bivens, the state's oldest known person, who died Monday. She was 118.
Evelyn Williams said her aunt died at St. Anthony Hospital.
The brief hospital stay before her death was Mrs. Bivens' first trip to the hospital in 12 years and just her third since she reached 100, Ms. Williams said.
In a newspaper interview last May, Mrs. Bivens said she had grown tired of explaining her age, and how she had reached it. Her secrets, she said reluctantly, were honest living and love of God. "You can't get too much prayer," she said at the time. "You got wording to keep it going." Equally important, Ms. Bivens told the newspaper, was her zest for life. "Sometimes I would be so happy, I'd go shoutin' and dancin' all by myself," she said.
Mrs. Bivens was born near Van Buren, Ark., during President Ulysses S. Grant's administration. She was made honorary mayor of Oklahoma City last May 7, the day she turned 118. She outlived one of her two husbands by more than 60 years, and after his death did domestic work in McLoud and played fiddle and guitar for children at birthday parties. Ms. Williams said the aches and pains of old age had taken their toll on her aunt, particularly during the last few months. Since she was placed in a nursing home a few years ago, Mrs. Bivens had been unable to enjoy her favorite pastimes, needlepoint and cooking, Ms. Williams said.
Services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at the First Baptist Church of McLoud with burial in Fairview Cemetery in Shawnee.
Tulsa World
Jan. 1990
Evelyn Williams said her aunt died at St. Anthony Hospital.
The brief hospital stay before her death was Mrs. Bivens' first trip to the hospital in 12 years and just her third since she reached 100, Ms. Williams said.
In a newspaper interview last May, Mrs. Bivens said she had grown tired of explaining her age, and how she had reached it. Her secrets, she said reluctantly, were honest living and love of God. "You can't get too much prayer," she said at the time. "You got wording to keep it going." Equally important, Ms. Bivens told the newspaper, was her zest for life. "Sometimes I would be so happy, I'd go shoutin' and dancin' all by myself," she said.
Mrs. Bivens was born near Van Buren, Ark., during President Ulysses S. Grant's administration. She was made honorary mayor of Oklahoma City last May 7, the day she turned 118. She outlived one of her two husbands by more than 60 years, and after his death did domestic work in McLoud and played fiddle and guitar for children at birthday parties. Ms. Williams said the aches and pains of old age had taken their toll on her aunt, particularly during the last few months. Since she was placed in a nursing home a few years ago, Mrs. Bivens had been unable to enjoy her favorite pastimes, needlepoint and cooking, Ms. Williams said.
Services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at the First Baptist Church of McLoud with burial in Fairview Cemetery in Shawnee.
Tulsa World
Jan. 1990
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