Obituary – Nora Jane Westover DeGraw
Nora Jane Westover DeGraw, of Ada, OK, passed from this mortal life to the next on November 23, 2015 of natural causes incident to age. She was 75 years old.
Nora was born on October 28, 1940 in Joseph City, Arizona to Lloyd Westover and Laura Hudson. She was the fifth of six children. She attended school in Santaquin and Payson, Utah, graduating from Payson High School. She married her sweetheart, Curtis Lamar DeGraw, on March 29, 1961 in the Salt Lake City LDS temple. Together, they raised eight children (losing one daughter to a stillbirth) in a home full of love and the gospel of Jesus Christ, later serving as a missionary couple in South Carolina.
Prior to their marriage, Nora worked as a secretary on the staff of David O. McKay, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After their marriage, she dedicated her life to raising their children, returning to part-time work as a secretary at the Santaquin Elementary School after their youngest child started school. Her typing and shorthand skills were legendary. She lived most of her life in Santaquin, Utah – with a few years near the beginning of her marriage in Salt Lake City and the last five years in Ada, OK, living near a son and daughter and their families.
Nora was a naturally spiritual person, whose smile lit up the world around her and whose tears were harder on her children than any punishment. She was small in stature, but she had the largest heart possible. She was known by all as one of the kindest, sweetest, most gentle people on this earth; nobody ever heard her raise her voice in anger or frustration, and she was never known to criticize others. Her optimistic, loving, accepting personality was a beacon to her family, their eventual spouses, her extended family and friends, and everyone with whom she associated. She loved her family, her religion, her friends, music (an accomplished pianist), reading (especially next to the heating vent under the kitchen desk during the winter in her Santaquin home), getting to know, appreciate and love others, and, most of all, her husband – her eternal companion. She loved him truly, deeply and exclusively. They were married for 52 years and were a testament to the power of complete love and fidelity. Her greatest wish after his passing two years ago was to be with him once more, but she was willing to wait on the Lord's timing for that glorious reunion.
At this time of thanksgiving, her family is grateful to have been a central part of her life. We miss her, but we are thankful that God saw fit to answer the prayer of one of His elect daughters and allow her to join Curtis, their daughter, Lorna Sue, and all of her departed relatives and friends. We can see our father greeting her on the other side of the veil, then waiting patiently, with a loving grin, as she greeted and hugged every person she ever knew and loved. Truly, we come from a long line of love, and we honor our parents for the incredible examples of Christ-like love they gave us.
Nora is survived by three siblings, eight children,Michelle Barlow, Ray DeGraw, Camille Hollinger. Kathryn Thayne, Cynthia Harward, Lance DeGraw, Merrill DeGraw and Misty Goza; thirty-six grandchildren and eighteen great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, two siblings, a daughter and a grandchild.
As was the case when Curtis passed away, his family asks that each person who knew and loved Nora renew an individual commitment to love and serve others – that all who wish to honor her do so by accepting and internalizing the Savior's words:
"As I have loved you, love one another."
She would prefer to be honored by what we do, how we live, and who we become more than by anything we might say. In particular, she would want everyone to fill their homes with smiles and good music – the universal, harmonic language of love.
The viewing will be at Criswell Funeral Home (815 E. Arlington Street, Ada, OK) on Monday, November 30, from 6:00 – 8:00 PM. The funeral service will be held at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints meetinghouse (2100 E. Arlington Street, Ada, OK) on Tuesday, December 1, at 11:00 AM – preceded by a viewing from 9:30 – 10:30 AM.
Burial will be at the Pontotoc cemetery in Pontotoc, Oklahoma, following the funeral service.