Della Mae (Peace) Milner

Della Mae Elizabeth (Peace) Milner, 87, cherished sister, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, great-great-grandmother, neighbor and friend, passed away at home surrounded by family on Sunday, August 8th, 2021. 

Della was born at home on the family farm in Wellston, Oklahoma, on June 27th, 1934 to Helmuth and Ethel (Arrant) Peace. She attended White Rock School and then graduated from Chandler High School in Chandler, OK. 

She married the great love of her life, Robert (Bob) E. Milner of Harrah OK, on January 14th, 1952. Together, they had 8 children, traveled all over the United States, lived in Chicago, Illinois, Wichita, Kansas and in 1980 settled in Bristow, Oklahoma where they built a family homestead that the family still lives and gathers on today. 

A lifelong lover of sewing, quilting, and embroidering, Della was a professional seamstress, sewing upholstery and doing sheet metal work at Beech Aircraft in Wichita, KS. She later sewed garments for Miss Elaine’s in Bristow, OK, and eventually retired at 62-years-old from a garment factory, in Tulsa, OK where she sewed the 1996 United States Olympic Team uniforms. After retiring, she and Bob spent many joyful hours working and attending events at the Bristow Senior Citizen Center. 

When not in the kitchen cooking her infamous biscuits and gravy or pecan pie, Della could be found in her garden, in her sewing room, out at the coop taking care of her beloved chickens and horses, reading, watching westerns or game shows, doing various puzzles, or at the table playing dominoes with her favorite domino partner, daughter-in-law, Elsie. Her favorite saying was “If I didn’t have all this stuff to do, then what the heck would I do?” Della was never one to sit down and do nothing. She always found things to keep herself and anyone else around her busy. 

The only thing Della loved more than her hobbies was her family. She was a fierce matriarch who until her dying breath put her family before herself. In addition to her 8 children, she had 23 grandchildren, 51 great-grandchildren, and 6 great-great-grandchildren. While her kids were growing up the family was very active in scouting, camping, sports, raising animals and gardening on the family farm. She was a faithful participant in all her grandchildren’s lives, teaching them also how to work on the farm and in the kitchen, attending their school programs, sporting events, weddings, and eventually doing all these same things with their children. Through it all, Della made sure of one thing - all her children and grandchildren knew exactly who was in charge and how to behave.

Della is preceded in death by her husband of 55 years, both parents, brother Helmuth Peace Jr., brother Floyd Peace, sister-in-law Minnie Peace, brother-in-law Jim Pattison, daughter-in-law Elsie Milner and two granddaughters, Katrina (Milner) Moler and Ashliegh Dawn Milner.

Survived by her siblings, Laura (Bennie) Pattison of Wellston, OK, Corene Johnson (John) of Oklahoma City, OK, and Melvin Peace of Morristown, AZ; children Robert (Bobby) E. Jr. Milner of Wichita, KS, Billy Lynn Milner of Arkansas City, KS, Gary Wayne Milner (Rosemary) of Leon, KS, Elizabeth Ann Patnaude (Red) of Bristow, OK, Melinda Jo Venn (Larry) of Derby, KS, Steven Ray Milner of Andover, KS, Rodney Dee Milner (Samantha) of Tulsa, OK and Alan Dale (Michelle) of Bristow, OK; twenty-one grandchildren, fifty-one great-grandchildren and six great-great-grandchildren. 

Services will be held at 2:00pm on Saturday, August 14th, 2021 at Lehman Funeral Home with interment following at Rossville Cemetery. 

Flowers may be sent to Lehman Funeral home. Memorial donations in honor of Della can be sent to Rivercross Hospice, 9820 E 41st Street, Unit 400, Tulsa, OK, 74146.

Our family would like to thank all those with Rivercross Hospice, especially Tara, Julie, Caroline, Elizabeth and the volunteer aids, for their wonderful dedication, compassion, and assistance in the care of our mother and grandmother. We could not have done it without you!

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