Delorus Boddell Mathews

Delorus Brodell Matthews was born in Ralston, Oklahoma to Elta Opal and Arthur Clarence Brodell on April 22, 1917. Her father was an educator and her mother a homemaker. The family soon moved to Skeedee, Oklahoma when her father was offered a new teaching position. When Delorus was three years old they moved to the Brodell homestead in a rural area outside of Keystone, Oklahoma. At age five she began school at Rigsby which was a one room school house, with her father as the teacher. By the time she was in third grade her father became the principal of the high school in Keystone. She attended high school in Keystone graduating in 1935, and then went to college at Oklahoma A & M, which is now Oklahoma State University. During spring break in 1937 she came home to marry her high school sweetheart, Wiley Lee Gladson in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She returned to OSU to finish her sophomore year. Her new husband was in the army and stationed at Fort Sill in Lawton. Two daughters, Marilyn and Sonya, were born from this union. When Sonya was a baby she got a divorce and returned to OSU with her oldest daughter, while Sonya lived with her parents in Keystone. Her father encouraged her to take the Civil Service Exam and she was offered a job in Washington D.C. in the U.S. Treasury Department cutting steel plates to print U.S. Savings Bonds. Delorus lived in Tacoma Park, Maryland with her fatherís brother Albert Brodell, and his wife, Faye and their five children. During the war her parents built a home on a school lease near the old Brodell homestead, and her two daughters continued to live with their grandparents on the farm. While in Washington D.C. World War II broke out and she was able to transfer back to Fort Sill, Oklahoma so she could see her children more often. While working at Fort Sill she met John M. Matthews a soldier who had just returned from serving in the Italian campaign that started in North Africa and ended up in Italy. They were married in Lawton, Oklahoma in October of 1944. A daughter, Carol, was born at Fort Sill in 1945. Eventually Delorus, John, and Carol moved back to his hometown of Toledo, Ohio. Delorus and John had the older girls join them in Toledo after their home was built. Delorus and John had three more children, Elizabeth, 1949, David, 1953, and Robin, 1959. The family eventually moved and settled in Bowling Green ,Ohio for twenty years. When Delorus and John retired they moved back to Oklahoma in 1981 and lived on her parents farm outside of Cleveland. They had a great time there, and enjoyed all types of senior citizen activities, Pot luck suppers, talent nights, The Sand Springs Presbyterian Church, and even a Tin Pan Alley Band. After John died in 1985, Delorus eventually sold the farm and moved into Cleveland. It was a good move, she enjoyed lots of volunteer activities. She was active at her church as well as a volunteer in the Cleveland Hospital Auxiliary, Cleveland Chamber of Commerce, and Pioneer Days. Delorus has always had a very deep religious faith that has helped balance her view of lifeís experiences. She enjoyed meeting and getting to know new people, and has always been a role model for her family by setting an example of how to be accepting of differences, and understanding the basic goodness in people. Delores moved from Cleveland to the Toledo area in 2003 to be closer to her family. She lived at Alexis Garden Independent Living Center in Toledo until January of 2009 when she moved to Bowling Green Manor. She passed away on Wednesday, April 21, 2010 a day short of her ninety-third birthday. Delorus is survived by children, Marilyn (Willie)Nieckarz, Carol (Richard)Ludwig, Elizabeth (Gene) Allison, David (Barb) Matthews, and Robin (Dean) Harshman, son-in-law Frank Shipman. She is also survived by 10 grandchildren Chris(Amy) Huff, Jamie(Eric)Pinski, Jennifer Ludwig, Daniel Ludwig, Jaron(Brandi) Allison, Jessica(Josh) Phillips, Justin(Jackie) Matthews, Shawn Matthews, John Shipman and Amanda(Jeremy) Miller She is also survived by 24 great-grandchildren and cousins Mary Lou Brooks, Carolyn Hill, June Brock Roy Brodell, Dick Brodell, Al Brodell, Steve Brodell,David Payne,and nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, John M. Matthews, daughter, Sonya Shipman, and grandson, Jed Huff.