Obituary for Sue Sheppard

Sue Sheppard of Blackwell, Oklahoma, was called home by her Heavenly Father early Sunday morning, December 7, 2014, in the Hillcrest Hospital in Cushing Oklahoma, at the age of 77 years.

Loretta Sue (Arnold) Sheppard was born on March 4, 1937, in Blackwell to George Walter and Velma Louise (Bradley) Arnold. She grew up in Blackwell and on December 31, 1955, she married Carl Alvis Sheppard at the Newkirk, Oklahoma, Court House. In 1965, her husband was injured while working in the furnace of his job at the Blackwell Zinc Co., affecting his cervical spine and leaving him permanently disabled. Sue went to work to make a living for her family. First, she worked at a cafe briefly, and then acquired a better paying job at a meatpacking plant that involved lifting heavy sides of meat. She worked the night shift as she knew her family would sleep during this time. This enabled her to care for her husband in the daytime while their children were in school. When her husband finally started receiving disability checks, she quit to stay at home to care for her family. Sue cared for her husband until he passed away on April 25, 1985. As a widow, she worked for a short time as a nurse’s aide at a nursing home, about one year for twin sisters (retired school teachers), and over five years as a cook at a restaurant. Out of the time working there she took only one working day off. Sue was a member of the Immanuel Baptist Church and loved her church family dearly. Several years ago, she handmade two banners for the church, as well as a few baptismal robes. Sue was proud of her Native American heritage and was known for her signature hairstyle of a long braid going down her right side.

She is survived by two daughters, Donnie Sue Sheppard of Santa Clarita, California, Verda Mae Hosseini, and husband Dr. Matt Hosseini of Millville, New Jersey, and Carl Dewayne Sheppard of Ponca City, Oklahoma; grandchildren, Fereshteh Ghomashchi, Melody Portnoy, Matthew Hosseini, Jonathan Hosseini, Joshua Sheppard, Stephanie Sheppard and Shane Sheppard; great grandchildren, Mariam, Leila, Sophie, Jaiden, Mckenzie, Lathan, Zoey, AliAja, and Makailah; sisters, Shirley Mae Mayden of Blackwell, Oklahoma, Glenda Marie Kincaid of Port Barre, Louisiana, and Annettie Louise Rigdon of Blackwell, Oklahoma.

Sue is once again joined with her parents, George and Velma Arnold; brothers, Merle Eugene Arnold, and Glen Irvine Arnold; sisters, Margaret Ann Nutter, and Betty Lee Pendergraft. And once again, one might find comfort in remembering that our earthly bodies are not having a spirit experience, but our spirit is having a body experience.

Services are scheduled for 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, December 17th in the Immanuel Baptist Church in Blackwell with Rev. Matt Smith officiating. Burial will follow in the Mt. Olive Cemetery in Nardin, Oklahoma.