Nerva Lorene Buckingham

Nerva Lorene Buckingham, 91, of Glencoe, OK passed peacefully from this life on July 16, 2014 with her family by her side. Services have been entrusted to the care of Palmer Marler Funeral Home and a service celebrating her life will be held on Monday, July 21, 2014 at 2:00pm at Palmer Marler Funeral Home Chapel in Stillwater with burial at Lakewood Memorial Park Cemetery in Hughson, CA. Public visitation will be held on Saturday and Sunday from 1:00pm to 6:00pm at the funeral home.
Nerva Lorene Pruitt was born on April 7, 1923 in Belmont, MS to George Franklin and Mattie Mae (Huskins) Pruett. She was raised in Fort Towson, OK where she began working as a child. She spent hours each day working the local fields with her grandpa. Lorene also developed a passion for singing at a young age and began singing on a local radio show. During her teenage years she had the honor of practicing with the Stamps Quartet which led to an opportunity to begin a career as a professional singer. Lorene declined the opportunity and stayed home to work and in 1940, at the age of 17, she married, LeeRoy Cunningham whom she spent more than 15 years with prior to his death.
Over the next two decades, Lorene worked in the fields and followed the harvest from state to state with her children. She also worked various other jobs, but spent the majority of her time raising her 9 children: Gayle, Jeanne, Linda, Edward, Rebecca, Sharon, Pamela, William and Cheryl. In 1968, she married Richard Buckingham, whom she had met upon relocating to Modesto, CA. Lorene spent the next 20+ years working as a cannery worker for Tri-Valley Growers. Following Richards death, Lorene relocate to Glencoe, OK in the early 1990s to be near her other children. In 1997 she married a local military veteran, Zealis Mitchell. Lorene and Zealis shared several wonderful years together before his passing in 2006.
Lorene was a strong-willed woman who was always straight to the point, but she valued honesty and fairness. She was independent and lived alone and drove herself around town until a couple of weeks before she passed away at age 91. She never lost her passion for music, singing in her church choir, solos, and attending gospel singing nights at churches all over central OK. She was a longtime member of The House of Prayer in Enid, but most recently became a member of Cherry Street Lighthouse in Cushing. She was also active in the VFW Womens Auxiliary in California. Lorene enjoyed sewing, quilting, doing yard work, gardening, and cooking for her family. She was a kind and compassionate woman who will be missed by all who knew her.
Lorene was preceded in death by her parents, two siblings: Tula Marie Mize and Earbie Hubert Pruett, and her first grandchild, Brenda Gayle Hicks.
She is survived by her children. Three siblings: Harold Benton Sharp, Ruth A. Stewart, and James Junior Sharp. She is also survived by her 24 grandchildren, and numerous great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren. She is also survived by many nieces, nephews, cousins, and other family members.
In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations be made in Lorenes name to the Cherry Street Lighthouse in care of Palmer Marler Funeral Home 5106 N. Washington, Stillwater, OK 74075