Wilma Elizabeth Carter

Wilma Elizabeth Stockton Carter was born July 23, 1919 and was adopted at birth by Minerva and William Stockton. She would be a young adult before she found out she was adopted. She passed from this life on Wednesday, May 23, 2012 at her home, after a battle with Alzheimerís, at the age of ninety-two. She grew up on Neal, Kansas and attended school in Eureka where she graduated in 1938. She would often tell stories about living by the railroad tracks and hoboes would get off the trains and ask if they could do some work in exchange for food. The hoboes then would mark a tree so that otherís that came behind them would know it was a good place to stop. After graduation Wilma would start working in a Doctorís office which would continue as her main occupation in life, primarily doing accounting and filing medical insurance. This would be the Doctorís office where she would find out that she was adopted. A patient walked in one day and asked her what her name was and the patient said, ìOh yes, you are the girl the Stocktonís adopted. Wilma next went to work on the Manhattan Project in Oakridge, Tennessee. Her job was hiring and firing all personnel in Oakridge. No one knew what they were building or working on until the first bomb, called Little Boy, was dropped on Japan on August 6, 2945. She was having supper with some of her co-workers and her boss, when it was announced on the radio that the first atom bomb had been dropped. That was when her boss told those present, ìNow you know what you have been working on.î A friend of her boss, who worked in Washington D.C., needed to hire someone who he could trust and he didnít know of anyone to hire, so he called his friend at Oakridge and he told him, ìI have someone.î Wilma went by train to Washington D. C. and was hired by Naval Intelligence. She never spoke of what her job was to anybody at any time. It was highly classified and she kept her promise not to discuss it with anyone. Here she met a handsome sailor. Wilma was with a girlfriend and both of them went to visit her friendís boyfriend. He had a friend with him and his name was Wayne. They were later married on October 14, 1946 in Wichita, Kansas. They couldnít find a minister to marry them so they asked a Justice of the Peace to perform the ceremony. Wilma asked someone at a hotel, where they were staying, if they could get married in the hotel lobby. They were so excited they let them have the honeymoon suite for free. The couple were blessed with two daughters, Kim and Kathy. After they were married Wilma went to work for several different doctors. She would often comment on how even the office help, along with the nurses, would wear white uniforms. She did not like the look of todays ìScrubs.î Wilma would work for these doctors until she retired in 1968 and the family moved to Murray, Iowa. After years of searching for her birth Mother, Wilma was able to discover she had a sister, Lavene Smith, living in Kansas City, Missouri. They both attended a family reunion and discovered a cousin who knew Wilmaís birth mother, Clara Bosler. She lived in Oakland, California along with Wilmaís brother, Virgil Bosler. Wilma and her family enjoyed several trips to visit her new found family. They all preceded her in death. In Murray, Wilma was involved with The American Legion Auxiliary and the Rebeccaís since Wayne was a Mason. She did refunding and was able to make enough money to purchase playground equipment for the cityís park. In May of 1979, Wilma and Wayne moved to Cleveland, Oklahoma. Wayne had multiple sclerosis and the winters in Iowa were taking their toll on him so they moved to a warmer climate as well as to be close to Wayneís cousin, Eddie Barrett and his wife, Shirley. Here Wilma would join several organizations, do volunteer work, take people to the doctor and airport in Tulsa and coordinate bus tours. Wilma was a former member of the Health and Happiness Extension Homemakers (now called Oklahoma Home and Community Education.) This group met in Hallett and when the ladies there wanted to go to a night time meeting the Cleveland ladies formed their own group. The Happy Homemakers was formed on January 23, 1986 and Wilma was voted in as secretary. Over the next twenty-five years, she would hold offices for the local and county level. She would be instrumental in several projects and was the co-chairman for the County Fair Kitchen for several years. She would also receive the Pawnee County Home Extension Homemaker of the Year award. She really enjoyed the trips she was able to take on the national level. She also loved to travel with family and friends. The last project Wilma was head of was to raise money to buy new Christmas lights for Cleveland. Wilma was honored on her 90th birthday by Cleveland Mayor Ron Shipman, proclaiming July 23rd, 2009 as ìWilma E. Carter Dayî, acknowledging her community involvement and volunteer spirit. Wilma attended Wayside Chapel in Terlton, Oklahoma. She served on the board for the Pawnee County Workshop, now called CSC, Tall Grass Prairie Reserve, she was a life member of the DAV Auxiliary in Tulsa, the VFW Auxiliary, the American Legion Auxiliary in Cleveland, the 1919íers birthday club and was a former member of the Angel Collector Club. She collected postmarks and attended several postmark collectors conventions. She also collected cancelled stamps and would send them to veterans in the VA or to students who wanted to learn about stamp collecting. She loved her flower beds, her favorites being cactus and iris. She also enjoyed writing and receiving letters and had several pen pals from all over, with the farthest begin in England. Wilma was preceded in death by her husband, Wayne on December 1, 1985, her adopted parents, Minerva and William Stockton and her cats Tommy, Tigger and Bubbles. She is survived by her daughters, Kim Carter and Kathy Chamberlain and her husband, Bob, of Cleveland; two grandsons, James Way and his wife, LeeAnn of Cleveland and W. David Way of Holdenville, Oklahoma; six great-grandchildren Sara, Cody, Jammie, David, Hayley and Kimberly Way; her cats JoJo and Patches; her granddog, OOBOO and a host of friends.