Oreen Sybil Johns

Oreen Sybil Johns, 95, of Blackwater, peacefully entered the great kingdom of God on July 22, 2025, in Chandler Arizona. She was born on March 3, 1930, to the late Vincent Thomas Blackwater and Josephine Evans Blackwater. Oreen was a devoted and loving mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, great-great grandmother, sister, aunt and friend. She will be forever loved and deeply missed by her children: Alan Blackwater, Rhea Eddie, Laura Eddie, Joyce Eddie, Caron Eddie, Lynelle Blackwater, and Ellen Johns, all of Blackwater, as well as her 14 grandchildren, 37 great-grandchildren, and 14 great-great grandchildren. Her siblings, Idella Poocha and Mary Blackwater, of Blackwater, will miss her company, phone calls, and sisterly love as well. Oreen was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Vernon “Mickey” Johns, her son David Vernon Johns, 4 grandsons and 5 siblings.

Oreen was born and raised in Blackwater, Arizona, with a strong Christian faith. As a teenager, she spent summers in Iron Springs, Arizona, working as a domestic helper for a Phoenix family, who knew her mother. She spent her Sunday afternoons with her sisters (also working there), enjoying the outdoors, eating ice cream and shopping at the local stores there.

Later in life, Oreen was a choir member and leader in the Blackwater Presbyterian Church for years. In the 1970s, she walked to church many times on Sundays, with her mother and daughter, often stopping to visit relatives on the way home. Later in life, she was known for sharing her religious beliefs, going to revivals, singing and enjoying other church choirs sing.

Her education included attending Coolidge Public Schools, the Tucson Indian Training School, and the Kiowa Nurse Aide School in Lawton, Oklahoma. She became a licensed practical nurse (LPN) and worked in Lawton, Oklahoma, Schurz, Nevada and Whiteriver, Arizona. In 2001, she retired from her job at the Sacaton Hospital, where she worked as a medical clerk for the National Institutes of Health for over 20 years. She enjoyed her work there, meeting many people, who later became close acquaintances. She especially loved to speak in her O’odham language, which she often did while meeting patients.

Oreen was a hidden treasure, full of extensive knowledge and wisdom that spanned over 90 years. She was a fluent speaker of the O’odham language. She was very familiar with the preparation of traditional foods, like harvesting saguaro fruit for jam, preserving & cooking cholla buds and tepary beans. She also had a lot of family lineage information and even knew her family’s historic O’odham clan.

Among Oreen’s great possessions were her vivid memories of her childhood in Blackwater and the teachings she shared of her paternal grandmother and mother. She recalled the days when the Gila River was thriving, providing high quality water for her father’s abundant crops that he shared and seeing her brothers ride huge logs down the swift, flowing river. Her favorite memory was at bedtime in the winter, when her father would build a blazing hot fire in their wood stove and she would feel the warmth with her siblings, hear the mesquite crackling and watch the shadows dancing against the dimly lit walls.

Oreen enjoyed a variety of activities, including making different kinds of jams; singing; sewing; going to yard sales, antique shops and thrift stores; listening to her record albums of Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, Elvis Presley, Ernest Tubb, and Nat King Cole among many others; watching Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, Finding Your Roots, and the Antique Roadshow; attending parades and elder events (bingo); attending church; speaking in O’odham; and visiting with friends and family.

She will be remembered for her strong faith and daily prayers, her sense of humor and silly jokes, speaking her mind when she felt it was necessary, her generosity and compassion for all people, and her beautiful smile, love and kindness toward mankind. Her work here is done. She can rest peacefully with her mom and dad on the other side of that river; it was worth it all to her.