Edna Mae Wilcox was born on December 26, 1921, in Duke, Oklahoma, the oldest child of William Eli Wilcox and Stella Mae Wilcox (nee Spruiell). She died in Oklahoma City, OK, on March 31, 2024. From an early age, she was prodigiously intelligent, fiercely independent, and destined to forge her own path in life. After graduating high school in Prairie Hill, Texas, she joined the U.S. Navy, enlisting as a WAV in World War II, and became an airplane mechanic, working on B-52s. After her discharge, she became one of the first women in Oklahoma to use the G.I. Bill to further her education, attending Oklahoma College for Women. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in 1949 and became a science teacher.
A career change led her to work for Macmillan Publishing, where she was one of the first women to travel the country setting up reading programs for the company. She also authored an award-winning learning series, “Learning with Mr. Bunny Big Ears,” for Macmillan.
Edna obtained her master’s degree in speech and language pathology from the University of Pittsburgh. She moved back to Oklahoma to teach at the Oklahoma College of Liberal Arts (now the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma) in Chickasha. She was a beloved professor who always had time for her students. She retired from USAO in 1984 after being inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Edna was devoted to her extended family of siblings, nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews (all of whom called her “Auntie”), and she was also a devoted friend who enjoyed lifelong friendships. Edna is survived by her adopted daughter, Terrie, her nephews Billy and Wayne Crull, their spouses, children and grandchildren, great-niece Heather Franks, and dear family friends, the Witcheys. She is preceded in death by her parents, her siblings Wanda, Merle, Tommie, and Bobby Joe, and her niece and nephew Shirley and Alan Franks. Edna’s wise counsel was sought by all who knew her. Her intelligence was only matched by her warmth and capacity to love. Edna lived her 102 years to the fullest, and she will be missed by all who knew her.
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