Oliver, Lucille Stickney

On Friday morning, February 10, 2012, our beloved mother, Elizabeth Lucille Stickney Oliver, of Blacksburg, passed away at the age of 92. She was predeceased by her husband, Phillip Ray Oliver Jr. and our two brothers, John William and Timothy Joseph. She leaves behind joyful memories of a life devoted to her family and her faith. She instilled into her children the power of education and hard work. Lucille Oliver was born November 3, 1919 in Hoisington, Kansas. She was born to homesteaders on the Kansas plains, Halsey and Julia Sullivan Stickney, and was christened Alice Elizabeth Lucille Stickney. She never used the name Alice. At a very young age she made a trip by wagon train from central to western Kansas and then back again at age three, after her father Halsey died. She was the youngest surviving child out of nine children. She met her husband, Phillip Ray Oliver Jr. when she was working as a “soda jerk” in a drug store in Hoisington, Kansas and my dad walked in. He asked her for a “Tin Roof” and before he left he asked her for a date. Dad had been a music major at the University of Kansas but at the time was working as a brake man on the Missouri -Pacific Railroad. Mom was immediately attracted to his beautiful singing voice. Her mother strongly objected to the relationship. Nevertheless, when Dad was drafted for World War II, mother hitched a ride to California with one of her brothers and got married. After the war, Dad made the Army a career and mom became an Army wife. She was married to Phillip R. Oliver Sr. for 51 years before his death in 1993 and lived in California, Kansas and Kentucky before moving to Blacksburg. Seven children were born of this loving union. She was proud that all were educated and four had masters degrees or higher. She was also proud that two of her sons played on two different State Basketball championship teams for Blacksburg. An accomplished musician, she spent many years as choir director of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Blacksburg. She entertained her friends and family, and most recently, her fellow residents at Kroontje Health Center, Warm Hearth Village, with her piano playing and singing. Lucille was an excellent piano player, made more so by the fact she was self-taught. She could perk up any gathering with her hot rendition of “St. Louis Woman”. Her life was one long song, as she sang her way into the hearts of all she met. Like a musical, she broke into song at any moment. It was great hilarity to her children and her grandchildren. Lucille won awards for her poetry and used her pen to write letters to the editor, congressmen, and local columnists, often receiving return letters from Ben Beagle of the Roanoke Times. She believed in the power of volunteering and spent years with various organizations. Through her actions, she taught her family that there was always someone who needed more. Her humor was infectious, and her laughter, contagious. Lucille’s mind was kept sharp with her avid reading, poetry writing and New York Times crossword puzzles. She enjoyed the great debates of politics, often talking to the television pundits and then following up with letters to the editor. Her beauty from within radiated outward and was accentuated with her style and her grace. At 5’10”, she stopped a room when she walked in. She was ahead of her time, as she exercised with Artie Levin and practiced Hatha yoga. The joyful noise and celebration of Lucille’s life is left with her sons, Phillip Oliver Jr. and his wife, Pat, of Billings, Mont., Vincent Oliver and Phyllis Grant, of Roanoke; and her daughters, Julia Oliver and her husband, Harry Misuriello, of Arlington, Janis Oliver, of Wilmington, N.C. and Mary Oliver Mackey and her husband, Bob Hammer, of St. Petersburg, Fla. She also leaves nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. A funeral mass will be held at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Blacksburg on Monday, February 13, 2012 at 11 a.m. We appreciate all of the love that we received from friends and coworkers, so please donate in her memory to the charity of your choice , because that’s what our mother would have wanted. We will miss you Mom, your silly songs and jokes, the crossword puzzle words, and how you made us better people by how you lived your life. We are sure you went to Heaven with your lipstick on. Arrangements by McCoy Funeral Home, Blacksburg.