Anne Lois Southwick, 88, of Stillwater died Sunday, Nov. 2, 2008, at The Renaissance of Stillwater.

She was born May 7, 1920 in Ballinger, Texas, the daughter of Olin Reynolds Wilhelm and Sallie Belle (Bishop) Wilhelm, and grew up on the family farm west of Erick. During the depression years, the family lived in town where she assisted her father at his insurance business and during his term as Beckham County Clerk. She played base drum in the Erick High School Bearcats Marching Band and was a 1938 graduate of the school. Following high school, she attended college in Oklahoma City majoring in business.

In the summer of 1941, while visiting with her Uncle Fred, Aunt Emma and Cousin Charles Wilhelm in San Diego, she met Donald E. Southwick, who lived next door to her relatives. She returned home to Erick, but her "correspondence courtship" with Don flourished. They were married Sept. 27, 1941, at the Erick Methodist Church and for the next 12 years, made their home in La Mesa, Calif., where four of their five children were born. In 1953, they moved to Ontario, Calif., and then to Alta Loma, Calif., in 1968. In 1973, they moved back to Erick to care for Anne’s parents, O.R. and Sallie. They stayed until 1997, when they came to live at Golden Oaks in Stillwater.

She and her husband were lifelong members of the Methodist Church, attending Asbury Methodist Church in San Diego, as active members of the Questers group at First United Methodist Church of Ontario and eventually the Erick Methodist Church where they were married.

She had many hobbies and interests including playing the accordion, square dancing, camping and gardening. She loved the outdoors and never stopped learning all she could about earth sciences. She avidly supported her children’s activities, serving for many years as a Girl Scout leader, a Cub Scout Den mother and 4-H mom. She also served as PTA president of Chaffey Union High School.

In 1968, she went back to college to prepare for re-entry into the job market, which resulted in her landing a job she loved, escrow officer at Upland's First National Bank.

When the family moved to Erick in 1973, she worked for the State of Oklahoma at the I-40 Information Center for approximately 10 years and did bookkeeping and tax computation for her church and the Meals-On-Wheels Program. During this period, she was also an active member of the Beckham County Home Demonstration Club.

Her first focus in life was always her family; electing to be a stay-at-home mom while her children were growing up, caring for her mother-in-law and then her own parents in their later years.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband; older brother, Charles Wilhelm; and younger brother, Olin Reynolds Wilhelm Jr.

She is survived by three daughters, Tange Sue Cate and her husband E. Rodney of Mt. Baldy, Calif.; Nikki Cleintuar and her husband Eric of Kailua-Kona, Hawaii; and Annabelle Russell and her husband Harley Russell of Erick; two sons, Don Ray Southwick and his wife Cathy (Redeker) of Shasta Lake, Calif., and Jeffery Alan Southwick and his wife Cathy (Craddock) of Stillwater; 10 grandchildren, Wendi Cate, Shawn Cate, Sandra Novreske, Tim Elman, Adrian Cleintuar, Robin Squier, James Squier, Tara Southwick, Jessica Southwick and Jacob Southwick; and 11 great-grandchildren, Luke Cate, Dylan Cate, Reese Cate, Jay vanDriel, Samantha Novreske, Cheyenne Novreske, Eric Novreske, Brianna Elman, Indiana Elman, Carson Elman and Bryce Downing.

Condolences may be e-mailed to the family and an online obituary viewed by visiting www.strodefh.com.