JimAnn Oliver

With gratitude for her life, we announce the passing of JimAnn Smith Oliver. Although she died in San Antonio, Texas, she lived her life primarily in Oklahoma, where it began in Ardmore, Oklahoma on February 12, 1934, when she arrived before the doctor could reach the hospital. She was then, as always, ahead of her time.

Her parents, Jim Smith and Isabel Foster Smith, taught and piloted small schools throughout Southern Oklahoma, and her mother was restless: As a result, JimAnn attended ten schools before graduating as Valedictorian from Fox High School at age sixteen. She attended Illinois State Normal University (now Illinois State University) and earned a degree in Special Education and Elementary Education in 1954. With three tiny children in tow, a husband, and a full-time job, she later attained a Master’s Degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1961 in Special Education and Psychological Testing.

As one of the region’s very first special education teachers, she initiated and designed Special Education programs for numerous schools in Texas and Oklahoma; conducted placement and teaching in Gifted Education; worked as a Child Guidance Specialist for the Oklahoma State Department of Health; and, after retiring from teaching, capped her professional career with twenty-two years as a National Supervisor of Research for the U.S. Department of Education.

She was defined by a strong sense of purpose, both toward the children whose lives she changed and to the future of her descendants, her community, and her world. She was particularly close to her sisters, Mary Scott and Priscilla, who both also entered the teaching profession.

She is predeceased by her husband, Estil Hillard Oliver. She is survived by two sisters; Mary Scott Young and Priscilla Decker, her children; Angela and husband Don Gentz, Kelton Oliver, Retha Oliver, Lisa Oliver and husband Michael Renn, and Lanette Oliver, and by ten grandchildren; Nellidy and Hillary Gentz, Paul Oliver and wife Michelle, Mark Oliver and wife Kathy, Shawn Gardner, Cole Hickey and wife Kaitlyn, Brad Hickey and wife Taylor, Clay Hickey, Patrick Miller, and Isabel Oliver Marcus, and five great-grandchildren; Kaedyn Jennings, Connor Oliver, Shayleigh Oliver, Addalyn Michelle Hickey, Ronin Malakas Hickey, and Olivia Grace Hickey.

Services will be held on Monday, November 14 at Sunset Memorial Park and Funeral Home, 1701 Austin Hwy, San Antonio, TX. The family will receive friends for brunch, viewing, and visitation from 11:00 am to noon with the service beginning at noon in the chapel. Burial will be on Tuesday, November 15 at 2:00 pm, Oliver Family Farm Cemetery, 19899 S Western Ave, Purcell, OK 73080.