Lucille (Maher) Hinds

Lucille (Maher) Hinds was born on October 19th, 1932 in Muskogee, OK, the daughter of Clyde Albert and Mattie Etta (DuVall) Maher. Primary in the life of Lucille Maher Hinds was keeping her priorities in order. For her it was God, Family, Church, Community, Business, and the Arts. Often those priorities would be manipulated to enhance each other. Her focus was on Jesus Christ and letting him live visibly to others through her. Loving God and helping others beginning with family, were her main goals in life. Perhaps the light of Jesus Christ was shining most brightly through her during the times she went through adversity.

For Lucille, her relationship with her Creator was first and foremost, all other things including family were managed in accordance with her perception of God’s will for her life. She depended upon the Bible for her Divine instruction and inspiration, reading it frequently throughout the day. She read the Bible in its entirety almost every year for many, many years. Her depth of understanding and personal application of God’s holy Word were remarkable. Her favorite verses were all the "love one another" texts of the New Testament. She especially liked the Psalms and other texts that declare our hope now and eternally in God. The Great Commandment and the Great Commission were tops on her list as well.

She loved her family. She was a mother not only to one son, one daughter-in-law, three granddaughters, and five great grandchildren, but during the 1990s and 2000s, she was also a foster mother to 166 children who needed a mother for a while. Twice, she was named the Cherokee County, Oklahoma Mother of the Year. Before that, back in the late 1950s - early 1960s, she also took in three community children whose parents were in trouble and cared for them until their home life could be stabilized. To Lucille, nephews and nieces ranked high among her priority family members. In her 88 years of life, there were very few years when she did not have someone in her home for whom she was caring because of some need in their life. She made sure one homeless man of Tahlequah had a roof over his head for over 10 years, even though she was only able to provide him a little mobile home. She loved her extended family and enjoyed doing things for them. Sometimes it was making clothes for nephews or nieces for 4-H or FFA shows. Other times it was making a needlepoint picture, crocheting an afghan, sweater, or doily, embroidering a western shirt, or some other work of art. Her goal was to live as part of an organism for the greater good of the whole family.

Lucille loved the Church of Jesus Christ and was a member of the Church of God (Seventh Day) for more than 70 years. However, her love for Church did not stop with the Church of God. She loved all disciples of Jesus Christ regardless of affiliation and counted them as family and fellow citizens of the Kingdom of heaven. In the Church, Lucille played the piano, sponsored the youth ministry, served as the treasurer for many years, taught children’s classes, and cleaned the church often. Her goal was to support the Pastor, whether it was her father, her brother, or one of her nephews and to complete ministry goals to achieve the Great Commission of making disciples and fulfill the Great Commandment of loving God and one another.

She loved her community. Lucille was always active in school and community projects. She valued highly her Native American Cherokee heritage and loved the Cherokee Nation. She was one of the founders of the Tahlequah Bread of Life Food Pantry. The Tahlequah Bread of Life consumed much of her energy and resources for almost 30 years, serving more than 3,000 households with more than 2 million pounds of food through one of her former rental properties. She continually gave God thanks for the countless volunteers joining her in the ministry.

Lucille was an industrious woman. Cutting wood with her identical twin sister Louise, hauling hay with her brother Sonny, and cutting wood with her son to help pay for his college tuition, were a few of her sideline activities. She also operated a cow/calf beef operation, a grade A dairy, and was a landlord for up to 17 rental units for 35 years. Besides that, she worked for one employer, Griffin Foods, for 41 years. During those years, she made several television commercials for Griffins Syrup, Jams, and Jellies. However, at Griffins, most of the time she operated a label machine on a high-speed production line for Griffins syrup.

In all of that, Lucille still found time to enjoy the finer things in life and be adventurous. The last ten or so years of her life, she traveled an average of 50,000 miles a year attending different churches almost every weekend, conventions, conferences, and scenic vistas, mostly expanding her relationships in the adopted family in Christ. This year of course was an exception. So, she attended no less than fifteen special event functions online in the last six months.

Lucille was a founding member of a 4-part-harmony family group called the Lowerlights. She loved quartet music. The original members besides herself (soprano), were her youngest brother, Clyde “Sonny” Maher (bass), youngest sister, Ruby Guinn (soprano), oldest sister, Margaret Guinn (alto), and brother-in-law, J. L. “Junior” Guinn (tenor) on guitar. They sang in Churches, at special events, and on the radio, producing music for decades. Music was a key part of her life and she influenced other young people to engage music.

Whether attending a school play, special event, church service, community project, or making something for someone else, it was a rare experience to find Lucille not engaged in some project. Almost always, it was to provide a resource for others or to help them achieve their goals and ambitions or meet a special need. Through her former employees, tenants, volunteers, family, and children, Lucille has provided a legacy and succession of people committed to God and one another. She has lived her life well and entered a much-deserved rest in Christ Jesus.

On Wednesday, December 23rd, 2020, due to complications of Covid-19, Lucille (Maher) Hinds finished her work here on earth at the age of 88 years, to await her Lord and Savior’s return from Heaven. A life well lived and a rest much deserved, her legacy of love and faith will forever be remembered.

Lucille is preceded in death by her parents, one brother, Clyde W “Sonny” Maher and three sisters, Margaret Guinn, Louise Taylor, and Ruby Guinn.

Her memory lives on through her son, Clyde “Chip” Hinds and wife Mary of Tahlequah, OK, three granddaughters, Mary Ann Hinds of Stilwell, OK, Stephanie Lucille Hinds of Tahlequah, OK and Sarah Michelle Bowman and husband Kyle of Siloam Springs, AR, five cherished great grandchildren among many nieces, nephews and countless brothers and sisters in Christ, friends and loved ones.

Funeral services for Lucille (Maher) Hinds will be held on Tuesday, January 5th, 2021 at Reed-Culver Chapel at 2:00pm with Pastor Calvin “Bud” Ullrich officiating. The family will have a visitation for Lucille on Sunday, January 3rd, 2021, beginning at 1:00pm until 5:00pm at Reed-Culver Funeral home. Lucille will be laid to rest at Hendricks Cemetery in Tahlequah. Servicing as pallbearer will be David Taylor, Christian Hack, Nathan Valle, Kyle Bowman, John Jumper, and Nathan Watson. Honorary pallbearers are Albert Guinn, Anthony Maher, Walter Maher, Axel Valle, Jason Overman, Lamar Ford, Ivan Villeda, Clarence Ullrich, Neftali Hernandez, Gilbert Walker, Manuel Salazar, Frank Arroyo, Misael Ibarra, Daniel Flores of the Southwest District Board, Ismari Garcia, Jason and Rose Rodriguez, Oziel and Ana Bolanos, Rosie Davila, Sergio Alfaro, Benjamin and Priscila Sanchez, Thomas and Jaxel Childers, Jamin Teran, David Burrell, Martin Ramirez of the Southwest District Ministry Directors. Online condolences for the family may be left at www.reedculver.com.