Vera E. Sisco Whistle

Vera was born April 8, 1929 to Troy L. and Jessie Rogers Detamore in the coal mining town of Tahona, OK. She was the oldest of five children. This included four younger brothers Troy, Joe, Thomas, and Johnny. She is survived by Thomas of Moore, OK. She is also survived by son Robert Sisco and daughter Sharon Richard. She is also survived by many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

In 1947, Vera married Robert Eugene Sisco or “Bob” in Las Vegas, and lived briefly in Southern CA and then journeyed back to Panama, OK, where Bob attended college on the GI bill in Poteau, OK. In 1949, son Robert Earl Sisco was born in Panama, OK. The family then lived briefly in Shady Point, OK, when Bob got the itch to go to Oregon and work. Bob worked in agriculture and Vera worked on leaving Oregon – it was cloudy and rained too much. So Bob and Vera and son packed up their belongings in a ’41 Ford and in 1951 moved to Compton, CA, where Bob worked in the Ford auto assembly plant in Long Beach. In 1954, daughter Sharon was born in CA. Vera loved Southern CA because she could have roses in December. In 1956, Bob again got the itch and moved the family back to OK, in a ’51 Mercury towing a U Haul. Mom very reluctantly followed.

In 1986, Bob passed suddenly from a heart attack and Vera was a widow for 10 years. She met Roy Whistle, a widower, at Rose State Senior Aerobics swim class. They married in 1996 and enjoyed traveling until Roy passed in 2006 from liver cancer.

Vera was a child of the Great Depression, Money and jobs were scarce. She told how she remembered as a girl lying on the floor and crying from hunger. She and younger brother Thomas also survived typhoid fever. The family situation improved somewhat when father Troy Detamore got a job in the Buck Creek coal mine for $5 a day. The Great Depression was a harsh teacher and Vera learned how to cook nourishing, inexpensive meals, and always saved leftovers. She would also sew and patch clothes.

Mom had many life experiences and stories to tell. One of which is as a girl in Tahona she had a playmate, M. L. Floyd whose family was related to ”Pretty Boy” Floyd, the notorious bank robber. Saturday night was dance night at a coal miner’s house and Vera remembers Pretty Boy on occasion showing up at the dance and to visit his relatives. He was a folk hero to the community because so many lost money and property when the banks collapsed or foreclosed.

As Mom grew old, frail, with health difficulties, she outlived three brothers and many nieces and nephews. She would often ask why the Lord kept her here and why He didn’t go ahead and take her. But she was aware that the Lord has his own timetable. He sent the angels for her on December 21st, and she is finally at rest.