Washita County, Oklahoma

Lillian Irene Dacus Roper

Graveside services for Lillian Irene Dacus were held in the Burns Flat Cemetery under the direction of Powell Funeral Home, Bald Knob-Judsonia, Arkansas.

Lillian was born July 7, 1914, the ninth-and last child of Byron Decalb and Mary Gertrude (Whitmire) Dacus. She was born on a farm south of Foss, Oklahoma. She departed this life early Wednesday morning, June 25, 2003, to be with her Lord. She lacked just two weeks being 89 years old.

She grew up near Dill City, Oklahoma. She attended college at Weatherford, Oklahoma, receiving her lifetime elementary teaching certificate July 1932.

She married Dave H. Roper in Anadarko, Oklahoma on December 28, 1933. Two sons were born to this union. This December, Lillian and Dave H. would have celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary.

Lillian taught almost thirty years in Oklahoma schools-mainly in the elementary grades.

She was also a teacher of children and ladies in Sunday school. In 1968, she and her husband moved to Australia as missionaries. After returning to the U.S. in 1979, they worked a year in Montana as missionaries.

Lillian was a member of the Church of Christ. She had three primary loves: She loved the Lord and his church; she loved her family; and she loved to teach.

In 1995, because of health problems, Lillian and Dave H. moved from their farm near Pernell, Oklahoma, to be near their oldest son, David, in Judsonia, Arkansas. Lillian's health continued to decline, especially in the last two years.

She is mourned by her husband Dave H. of Judsonia; her sons and daughters-in-law, David and Jo Roper of Judsonia, Coy and Sharlotte Roper of Tuscumbia, Alabama; her granddaughters, Cindy Honaker of Romania, Debbie Roper of Oklahoma City, Dce Ann Shepherd of Abilene, Texas, Angi Lovejoy of Edmond, Oklahoma, Shannon Boren of Detroit, Michigan; her grandson Alec Roper of Detroit, Michigan, 11 great-grandchildren; and a host of neighbors, friends, and relatives.

Source: Cordell Beacon

Contributed by Marti Graham, August 2003. Information posted as courtesy to researchers. The contributor is not related to nor researching any of the families mentioned.