In Loving Memory ofMary Lois SimpsonAugust 3, 1914 – December 11, 2011(from the funeral bulletin) Mary Lois Simpson, lifelong resident of Thomas (Oklahoma) and well-known school teacher and friend, Mother and Grandmother, died peacefully early Sunday at Weatherford's Corn Heritage Village nursing home.Lois was 97 year young at her last birthday. She was the first child born to Elsie Eithel (Smith) and Isaac Absalom (Ike) Hooper in a half-dugout two miles northeast of Thomas, Oklahoma August 3, 1914, and passed from this life into the presence of our Lord on December 11, 2011. She was one of the many grandchildren of Isaac Absalom (Ab) Hooper, who with his wife Mary (Bates) and their ten children was one of the first families to settle in Thomas in 1903.Lois and her parents moved to the present day Hooper farm just north of her birthplace, where her parents purchased the land in 1916 from an original American Indian Territory allotment. She was raised as a farmer's daughter, learning how to care for all the livestock, help with the wheat harvest and raise vegetables for the family.At age 14, in 1928 Lois recognized her sin and the need for a Savior, where at home she knelt by her bed and prayed for Jesus to be the Lord of her life and be her Savior. She said that moment she knew she found God's amazing grace, where she immediately got up and went to the piano and played the hymn; ‘He Included Me,' which later became one of her favorites. She was baptized in the original Thomas First Baptist Church.Even though her Mother and Father only had eighth grade educations, they encouraged Lois to graduate High School. Her Father, Ike, sold a load of wheat to purchase her graduation dress for the Thomas commencement in 1932. She went on to the Normal College for Teachers, which now is Southwestern State University in Weatherford, receiving her Teaching Degree in 1934. Lois' nature was one of learning and being curious of things. The summer after graduating college, she and several of her Thomas friends, she called ‘The dirty dozen,' traveled together throughout Arizona and southern California into Hollywood and Yosemite National Park and the Giant Redwoods. The very next year Lois and her friends then traveled to the east coast to Virginia, The Carolinas, Georgia and Florida from Savannah to Miami.Lois followed her calling as a teacher, in 1934 at Pleasant Valley, a one-room schoolhouse southwest of Thomas, near Custer. She lived with a local farming family, and walked to the school daily approximately 1 mile. She was required to maintain the classroom and light the wood stove prior to class. Following this location, Lois was then hired to teach elementary grades at Clinton. She taught at Clinton for several years, then was hired at Fay and then to Thomas, where she also earned her Master's Degree in Education from Southwestern State University in 1963. Lois then taught fourth and fifth grade Thomas students until she retired in 1976. Her teaching career spanned throughout 44 year, all in Custer County.She loved to help students learn how to learn and help them see and understand how the world around them worked. Her favorite subject was the sciences, where she nurtured her love of collecting special rocks and gems from every place she traveled and visited. Lois felt a conviction in her heart to help mold, build and develop good character traits in her students. She was known for her reading Bible stories each morning and her fun science demonstrations. Over 1,000 students were taught directly and hundreds more were impacted by Lois' love of teaching. Lois and Ebert traveled all over The United States after they retired and she continued to collect rocks at every place. She continued to stay actively involved with Oklahoma retired Teachers Association and being involved at First Baptist Church of Thomas.Lois was preceded in death by her younger sister Maysel, her Parents and her two brothers Wayne and Russell, and her Husband Ebert of 52 years. Lois is survived by her daughter Dr. Eithel Mae Simpson of Weatherford, her son, Maxwell David Simpson and his wife Diane of Edmond, Oklahoma and Lois' four granddaughters: Sara Williams and her husband Brendan of Lincoln, Nebraska; Emily Kimbrough and her husband Chase of Weatherford, Oklahoma, Natalie Hern and her husband Evan of Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Mary Simpson of Edmond.Memorial donations to the Thomas Memorial Lois Simpson Scholarship fund would be welcomed at the First National Bank of Thomas, or Memorial gifts to First Baptist Church of Thomas.Services From First Baptist ChurchThursday, December 15, 2011 at 2:00 PMThomas, OklahomaOfficiatingDavid BeckKen GardnerMusicHenrietta PickensThe Perkins FamilyCasketbearersKyle Hooper, John HooperTony Hooper, Doug HooperGary Hooper, Kevin HooperDavid Hooper, Jimmy HooperIntermentMound Valley CemeteryThomas, Oklahoma Services b Lockstone Funeral Home of ThomasRevelation 21: 1-41. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first haaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.2. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming dow out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.3. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among them, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them,4. And He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer by any mourning, or crying or pain; the first things have passed away.