Zona Elizabeth Tillman

Zona Elizabeth Tillman (June 30, 1931 – November 28, 2021)

Our mother. grandmother, great grandmother, great great grandmother, aunt, sister, and friend, died peacefully in the presence of family at her home in Shoreham Village, Michigan, on November 28, 2021, followed by cremation on December 6th. A celebration-of-life service will take place at Portland Avenue Baptist Church, in Oklahoma City, on December 11th at 1:00 p.m.

Zona was born in Oklahoma City in 1931 and lived there for her first 85 years. In 2016, she relocated to Wagoner, Oklahoma, and in 2019 she moved to Shoreham, to live with her daughter and son-in-law Debra and Bruno Trapikas, as well as her oldest granddaughter, Kara Sober.

She grew up during the challenging years of the Great Depression and World War II, and following graduation from high school, became one of the first four female workers at the Oklahoma City Post Office, from which she retired after 30 years of service.

Zona was preceded in death by her husband, Donald Eldridge Tillman, whom she referred to as the great love of her life, by her father and mother, Harold William (“Bill”) and Mildred Ruth Taylor, and by her brother Michael Eugene Taylor. She is survived by four children, Donna RIley, Karen Lowder, Debra and her husband Bruno Trapikas, and David Jordan; grandchildren Kara Sober, Ryan Tillman, Jillian Riley, Elizabeth Riley, Katie Lowder, Kimberly Sober, Jeffrey Sober and his wife Grace, Andy Lowder and his wife Sarai, Taylor Jordan and his wife Laura, and Riley Sober; her sisters Esther Sanderson, Bonnie Myers and her husband Alan, as well as many nieces, nephews and friends who will miss her dearly. In the twilight years of her life – – one of her greatest joys the last few years was nurturing and playing with her great great granddaughter, Aryn Sage Elizabeth Sober.

Faith in God was a very important part of Zona’s life. She was a wonderfully creative and artistic woman who could make anything out of nothing. She once built an ark for her Bible School class out of chicken wire and newspaper. Zona was a very active member and volunteer at Portland Avenue Baptist Church for many decades, and at Immanuel Southern Baptist Church in Wagoner while there. The Women’s Missionary Union in Oklahoma once honored her as their “Woman of the Year.”

The family extends many thanks to the staff of Caring Circle Hospice for all the caring & love given to Zona in the last season of her life. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Caring Circle of Lakeland, 4025 Health Park Lane, St Joseph, MI 49085; to Make-A-Wish foundation, who successfully navigated her young grandson Taylor through his teens, and to Portland Avenue Baptist Church, 1301 N Portland Av., Oklahoma City, OK 73107, who saw not only Zona through her latter years, but her husband Donald through his as well.

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