Lillie Belle Ahern-Papazian

Lillie Belle Ahern-Papazian, 94, was born on August 28, 1931, in Beachton, Oklahoma, and passed away peacefully on June 22, 2026 in Victorville, California. Lillie will be remembered as gracious and friendly by all who knew her. Those closest to Lillie will remember her as a kind, funny, loving and devoted mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.

Lillie grew up on a farm in Oklahoma with her mother and father, Lizzie B. and James O. Smith, and nine brothers and sisters.

While attending Southeastern State College in Durant, OK, she met George Ahern. She and George were married on March 9, 1951. George was in the Air Force so they moved often, residing at various times in Alabama, Texas, South Dakota, Greece, Illinois, and Colorado, before finally settling in Sierra Vista, AZ in 1963, with their four children, Randy, Carolyn, Janet and Howard.

Lillie loved spending time with her family. She also enjoyed music and was an avid reader who always had a love for learning. While still raising her children, she attended the University of Arizona and earned her Masters degree in Education. She taught science and math at Bisbee Middle School in Bisbee, AZ for 6 years and also in Dallas Texas for 6 years.

When George passed away in 1993, she moved to Helendale, California with one of her daughters and family. She moved to Victorville in 2016.

Lillie is survived by her children William R. Ahern and wife Barbara, Carolyn K. Contreras, Janet S. Duran and partner Jerry Shannon, and Howard Ahern and wife Anne Marie; her eight grandchildren, thirteen great-grandchildren, and her sister Martha Appleby.