Obituary for Mildred “Colleen” Brinson

Colleen Brinson

December 20, 1926 – December 24, 2018

Mildred Colleen (Good) Brinson, age 92, and a long time Ponca City resident passed away December 24th, 2018 at her home.

Colleen was born to Floyd James and Florence Ruth (Watson) Good on December 20th, 1926 in Pawnee, Oklahoma. She grew up in Pawnee, Drumright, and Stillwater, and graduated from Stillwater High School in 1944. She continued her education, and graduated from Oklahoma A&M in 1947 with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and a minor in chemistry.

Colleen worked for a short time for the United States Bureau of Mines in Bartlesville. She then took a job at Conoco in Ponca City in 1949. There, Colleen met her future husband, Glen Brinson, whom she married on Christmas Day in 1950. She left Conoco to raise her family.

In Colleen’s kitchen, numbers were found everywhere, from counting the servings to adjusting the recipes to make double or triple batches. With every kitchen task effectively being a math “story problem,” the children grew up with a knack for and comfort with mathematics including the widely dreaded story problems. Each of the children went on to receive one of their degrees in mathematics.

Colleen and Glen were charter members of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church. While her children were in elementary school she was an active member of the Woodlands School PTA. She then taught math for a short time at East Junior High in Ponca City and worked at Ponca City Public Library before returning to work at Conoco as a data processing technician in 1977. Colleen retired in 1985. She enjoyed traveling with her husband and friends, sewing, knitting, crocheting, and doing crafts with her grandchildren.

Survivors include her children: Don (Ann) Brinson of Oklahoma City, Dick (Beverly) Brinson of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, Laura (Mark) Southard of Ponca City; her seven grandchildren: Christina (Mike) Higgins of Washington, Oklahoma, Brandon (Jess) Brinson of Germantown, Maryland, Katie (Ryan) Paul of Lexington Park, Maryland, Bill Southard of Denver, Colorado, Austin Brinson of Boston, Massachusetts, Carol Bryant of Fairborn, Ohio, Benjamin Southard of Oklahoma City; her three great-grandchildren: Gianna Rivera, Alanni Rivera, and Ethan Paul. She will be missed by her friends in her Sunday School class, the Alliance Health chair exercise class, and the McCord Senior Center. Colleen was preceded in death by her husband in 2012, her parents, and two brothers – William Duane Good and Ralph Lloyd Good.

Colleen had occasionally observed that, for her, every date on which a person is remembered (birthday, wedding anniversary, and Christmas) fell in the same week, between December 20 and December 25. And so it was that she died in that same week, on December 24.

A memorial ceremony to celebrate her life will be held at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church on Friday, December 28th, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. Colleen will be laid to rest privately at Resthaven Memorial Park.

Memorial donations may be sent to St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, 1904 North Pecan Road, Ponca City, Oklahoma, 74604.

Source: Trout Funeral Home