Ardith Hackman Weibel

Ardith Hackman Weibel, 89, of Stillwater, Okla., died on Wednesday, May 13, 2009, in Stillwater. Her four daughters were at her bedside.

Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. on Monday, May 18, 2009, at First United Methodist Church with Pastor Daniel Heath, of Enid Okla., officiating. Interment will be in Sunset Memorial Gardens. Strode Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

She was born in 1920 in Lincoln, Neb., to Otto Hackman and Viola (Ganzel) Hackman. Though her parents struggled during the Great Depression, she mostly remembered her childhood as filled with music and laughter.

She was an accomplished ensemble singer and violinist. And throughout her life, until months before she died, she kept her family (and caregivers) entertained with wry observations she claimed she didn't realize were funny.

In 1942, she graduated with a degree in home economics from the University of Nebraska. That year, she married Dale Weibel, a handsome guy who, perhaps as important to her, was a great dancer.

The couple spent the war years stationed in Florida. Afterwards, as she gave birth to one after another of their baby boomer daughters, Dale's career led him, in 1958, to Oklahoma State University.

At OSU, Dale was a professor of agronomy who specialized in grain research. Over the years, he mentored many international students, and it was this aspect of his career in which she especially shared.

She enjoyed their company, welcomed them into her home, and to this day, her daughters can count to 10 in many languages, including Hindi.

Without question, her pride and joy were her four daughters – Kay, Claudia, Louise and Joyce. They all feel unbelievably blessed to have had the luxury of being raised by a stay-at-home mom who was interested and involved in all they did.

She also made a lot of their clothes, including gorgeous formals and prom dresses. She once made 50 capes for OSU's Angel Flight, the year that the Flight marched in President Nixon's second inaugural parade (daughter Joyce was the in-coming captain of the Flight).

After she and Dale became empty nesters, she was free to travel with Dale.

The couple spent a month each winter in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, where Dale crossed grain species and she crossed cultures to make friends with her neighbors.

She also accompanied him to India and the couple took several cruises.

She loved cruising, especially the dancing and the shows, and she continued to treat family members to cruises after Dale's death.

Dale preceded her in death in 1992. To honor his memory, she established a scholarship at OSU for international students.

She was a member of the First United Methodist Church, where she sang in the choir and served a term as President of the Jim Richardson Sunday school class. She also volunteered at the Stillwater Medical Center.

She is survived by her four daughters, Kay Weibel and her husband, Steve Freeman, of Chicago, Ill., Claudia Ospovat and her husband, Bob Leopold, of Portland, Ore., Louise Barton and her husband, Page, of Lansing, Kan., and Joyce Bonnett and her husband, Mike, of Milwaukee, Wis.; seven grandchildren, Conoley Ospovat, Sam Ospovat, Sam Barton, Ann Barton Gonzalez, Rachel Bonnett Stallings, Andrea Bonnett, Aaron Bonnett; and one great grandchild, Will Barton; her sister, Miriam Heusel of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa; and her brother, Jim Hackman, of Mariposa, Calif.

Memorial contributions may be made in her name to the Mayo Clinic Alzheimer's Research Program, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, Minn. 55905.