RETHA MAY WALKER (WILLIAMS)
Retha May Walker (Williams), known by her family as “Nanny,” passed away on Thursday, November 15th, 2018, at the age of 104. Retha was born on September 28th, 1914, to her parents, John Frank Williams and Amanda Ellen Williams (Woirhaye). She was one of six children, having three brothers, Willard, Pertle and Werby, and two sisters, Letha and Leda Pearl, who all preceded her in death.
Retha was united in marriage on August 7th, 1933, to Hershell Vayne Walker at the Hermitage Courthouse. Vayne and Retha happily lived their lives on a farm in Urbana, Mo., then Fristoe, Mo., where they raised Hereford cattle. They had two beautiful daughters, Ramadean Grisham and Frankie May Sutton. Her husband, Vayne, and daughter Frankie May both preceded her in death. Retha had one granddaughter, Shirley Ann Evans (Grisham), a great-granddaughter, Lisa Marie, a great-grandson, Christopher, and a great-great-grandson, Douglas, who also preceded her in death. She is survived by her daughter Ramadean Grisham and husband, James Lee “Jim” Grisham, her grandsons James Michael “Mike” Grisham, David Sutton, Daniel Sutton, Johnny Sutton and Howard Sutton, her granddaughters Carolyn Mullen (Sutton), Glenda Morgan (Sutton) and Sheila Robertson (Sutton), her twenty-six great-grandchildren, her seventeen great-great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.
Vayne and Retha were fun-loving, hardworking, family-oriented farming enthusiasts who loved the outdoors and took great pride in their farm and home. They always had a big garden, bringing out lots of strawberries and huge tomatoes, along with beautiful roses throughout the yard. Vayne and Retha were the definition of hardworking, building many barns by hand, and even harvesting over 7,000 square bales every season while in their 70s and throughout their 80s. Up into her nineties, Retha could be found mowing the yard or bush-hogging the pastures. The times spent in the house were of Retha quilting and Vayne reading or playing Rook with family. In her later years, she would spend many hours sitting by the window watching her cows in the fields and always knew when there were new baby calves. She was also a wonderful cook, with fried chicken, mashed potatoes, homemade noodles and cherry pie being the favorites of family and friends.
Vayne and Retha lived a picture-perfect romance filled with many years of love. They were very proud of the fact that they never spent a night apart their entire 66 years of marriage before Vayne passed away in 1999. Retha is now reunited with her beloved husband, daughter and dog Snowball. As found in many cards from Vayne to Retha: “To my darling wife and sweetheart, from a true loving husband.”
Graveside services were conducted at 2 p.m. on Sunday, November 18, 2018, at the Fristoe 1st Baptist Cemetery with Pastor Mike Henderson officiating. Escorts were Dale Pitts, Sim Smitherman, Billy Evans, Austin Kinslow, Dalton Grisham and Kyle Arthur. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Fristoe 1st Baptist Church. Visitation was from 6-8 p.m. Saturday at the Cantlon Otterness & Viets Funeral Home in Urbana. Condolences and online register book entries may be left at www.cantlonotterness.com.
Paid memorial provided by family.
