Imogene Hiser

Imogene Merle Brazeal Kelley Hiser was born Jan. 24, 1924, to Otis Guy and Hattie Roberta (Pugh) Brazeal. She passed away Sunday, June 11, 2017, at her home in Stigler, at the age of 93 years.
She was the oldest of three children. Imogene was born in the Layfette community and attended grade school there. In later years, she went to Kinta school. She married Hercel Kelley, July 12, 1941. They moved to California for a short while and that’s where Barbara was born. They returned to Stigler and made their home in the Rose Hill Community, where they had two more girls, Linda and Ellen.
Imogene was a prominent member of the community and was a Sunday school teacher. She was a member of clubs including Home Demonstration. Making quilts was one of the ways the women raised money to help build Rose Hill Free Will Baptist Church. Quilt making remained a big part of her life from then on. It became a tradition that she gifted her grandchildren and great-grandchildren a quilt on their wedding day. So dedicated to this tradition, she even made quilts for the ones that were not yet married. The last quilt she made her girls she designed herself and named it “The Long Road Home.”
Imogene was so much fun that her girls couldn’t wait to get home from school to watch “American Bandstand.” She could do the “Mashed Potato” and “The Twist” as good as they could and had so much fun doing it.
Once, when Imogene and her girls went shopping, she walked up to a mannequin and felt the material of his vest and said, “He looks so real.” The guy looked at her and turned and walked away. It didn’t take much to make them all laugh.
Another passion Imogene had was gardening. She loved raising vegetables and canned like she was expecting a famine.  She also loved flowers, any kind and any color.
Everyone in Haskell County knows of Imogene’s dumplings. To her they were a cure all for anything that ailed you. She said they are a comfort food and it’s really not about what she puts in them, but the prayer she prays for the people she’s making them for. Any special dinners, funerals, birthdays or illness she served up a pot of dumplings. One friend even called her “Sister Dumplings.”  
One year, Imogene decided to be a clown in the Stigler Christmas parade. She didn’t sign up to be a part of it. She just made herself a clown suit, put on a wig, and just stepped right in the parade. She soon realized she didn’t have enough candy to even make the first block. When asked why she did it, her answer was “I always wanted to do that.”
Imogene has been a strong woman her whole life. Her faith never wavered. Upon being told she had stage four cancer, she sat there for a minute and said, “I’ve had a good long life and I have been blessed.” Her family and friends are the ones that have been blessed.
Imogene is survived by three daughters, Barbara Underwood and husband, Keith of Beaver Mountain, Linda Wilkett of Stigler, and Ellen Patton of Midwest City; special niece, Ruth Pixler and husband, Steve of Kinta; children at heart, Wayne and Sandy King, Sandy Poteet, Pat Percifield, Kay Shelton, Janice Hiser; grandchildren, Richard Patton Jr. and wife, Tracy of Edmond, Robert Patton and wife, Ramona of Edmond, Brian Underwood and wife, Tammy of Beaver Mountain, Kelley Bowien and husband, Donald, of Cane Hill, Ark., Sherry Inge and husband, Ken of Ft. Smith, Ark., Scott Underwood and Terri of Sallisaw, Lena Maxwell and husband, Clayton of Edmond, Jake Bruley and wife, Judy of Edmond, and Kailee Manwell of Choctaw; grandson at heart, Rick McElyea.
Also, great-grandchildren, Colton Paul and wife, Hanna of McCurtain, Kyle Underwood and wife, Tara, of Sallisaw, Abby Frye of Stigler, Dillon Underwood of Beaver Mountain, Danielle Cox of Mountainburg, Ark., Ashlyn Harvey of Fayetteville, Ark., Riley Patton of Edmond, and Hailee Underwood of Beaver Mountain; great-great-grandchildren, Cooper and Kylee Manwell, Jewel and Jet Johnson, Zane and Nash Maxwell, Charli Paige Coleman, Vann Frye, Scarlett Underwood, and Oliver Paul.
And brothers, Chick Kelley and wife, Freda of Stigler, and L.C. Kelley and wife, Helen of Moreno Valley, Calif.; and sister, Yvonne Starnes and husband, Joe, of Clifton, Colo.
She was preceded in death by her husband and father of her girls, Hercel Kelley; three sons-in-law, John T. Wade, Richard Patton, and James Wilkett; three sisters, Rubelene Ary, Ila Latta, Loeta Raby and Faye Markham; and one brother, Junior Loyd Brazeal.
On June 27, 1987, Imogene married Asa Hiser and became part of the Hiser family. She loved her new family very much. They enjoyed 13 wonderful years together.
They camped and traveled and led the life we all wish we could. They became known as the “Snow Birds,” going to Colorado in the summer and the desert of Arizona in the winter. Imogene loved doing this, but she told Asa they always had to be home for Christmas. She would not spend Christmas without her girls.
Asa was a wonderful “Papa Ace” for all the grandchildren. He loved playing with them, and riding them on the four-wheeler, even when he didn’t feel like it.
Imogene’s Hiser family included Norma Hale, Stanley and wife Janice, Harmon and wife, Sharon, and Steve and wife, Sharron; grandchildren, Keith Hale, Jackie and Jack Bates, Ronnie Hiser, Rhonda Smith, LeAnne Coleman, Steve Boehm, Kim Taylor and Rob, Lori and Eric, and Dusty; and numerous great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Asa Hiser and one daughter, Carolyn Hiser.
Services will be held 2 p.m., Thursday, June 15 at Shiloh Assembly of God Church with the Rev. Rick McElyea officiating.
Burial will follow at Sans Bois Cemetery under the direction of Mallory-Martin Funeral Home & Crematory of Stigler.
Viewing will be 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday, with family visitation from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday.
Pallbearers will be grandsons, Richard Patton Jr., Robert Patton, Brian Underwood, Scott Underwood, Dillon Underwood and Donald Bowien. Honorary pallbearers will be Wayne King, David Buckner, Bill Adcock, Joe Shank, Hughie Gragg, Tony Johnson and Kenneth Inge.