KATHLEEN GARNER

SHILOH, IL-Services for Kathleen Moore Garner, 81, of Shiloh, IL, formerly of Ada, are 2:00 p.m. Friday at the Criswell Funeral Home Chapel, Rev. John Norvell will officiate. Burial will follow at Swan Hill Cemetery in Ada.

Mrs. Garner died Friday, March 28, 2014 in Belleville, IL. She was born December 27, 1932 in Wichita, Kansas to Raymond and Irene Slaybaugh Moore. She grew up in Stillwater, Oklahoma, Santa Barbara and Hollywood, California and graduated from Hollywood High School in 1951. She attended college at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater.

She married Robert V. (Bob) Garner on December 19, 1953 in Stillwater. He preceded her in death in 1994. She and her husband moved to Ada in 1961. She attended East Central State College and received a Bachelor's Degree in English in 1962. In 1963, she became a correspondent for the "Ada Weekly News" reporting on social events in the small rural communities surrounding Ada. During the early seventies, the Oklahoma Times published many of her news reports and photos. She was News Director for KADA Radio in Ada during the late 1960's.

In the 1980's, she returned to school where she earned a Master's degree in Human Resources with a concentration in counseling in 1985. She was then employed by the Ada Area Youth Shelter as the Community Services Coordinator. She traveled around Pontotoc County, lecturing on child abuse prevention. She later was a genealogical researcher from the 1960's until her death. She documented extensive ancestral lineages dating back to the 800's.

Survivors include a daughter, Jennifer Smith and husband Ronald of Shiloh, IL; son, Steven Garner and his wife Beverly of Columbus, MS; four granddaughters, Amy Smith, Sarah Smith, Sie An Bradley and Amanda Chaltry; her niece, Kathleen Horton; 7 great grandchildren; and other relatives and friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; a sister, Marjorie; and a companion, William Buckner.

The family says those who wish may make memorials to the Pontotoc Animal Welfare Shelter (PAWS), 1200 Sandy Creek Drive, Ada, OK 74820.

Obituaries may be viewed and online condolences sent to criswellfh.com.

Criswell Funeral Home, Ada