Louise Chilton

Edith Louise Chilton, age 91, died May 5, 2014, at the Forest Hills Care Center in Broken Arrow, OK, following a brief final illness.

She was born Jan. 24, 1923, in Smackover, AR, the daughter of John Franklin and Ava (Hughes) Houser. She grew up in the Texas Panhandle during the Dust Bowl days of the Great Depression, an experience that greatly shaped her values, drive, and ambitions. She married Porter G.W. "Mickey" Chilton on Aug. 1, 1940, in Sayre, OK. During their married life they lived in Texas, Kansas, and Nebraska before settling in Altamont, KS, in 1967. In Altamont, she served as a Girl Scout and 4H leader who taught sewing and cooking skills. She was employed at the Altamont Nursing Home from 1978 to 1988.

Throughout their marriage, the Chiltons travelled extensively from one coast to the other visiting family and sites. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1990 with a trip to San Antonio, Texas. A favorite local destination was Branson, MO, where they enjoyed many of the shows. Following Mr. Chilton's retirement from the Kansas Army Ammunition Plant in 1978, they spent several summers in Alaska.

Mr. Chilton died in 1993, and Mrs. Chilton moved to the senior apartments in Altamont where she resided until 2002. She was active in the Altamont Lions Club, the General Federation of Women's Clubs, the local chapter of AARP, and the Altamont Senior Center where she supported the community's Tele-Line initiative. She attended the First Baptist Church in Altamont where she was involved in the American Baptist Women's group and the White Cross. She continued to travel, visiting family in Massachusetts, Alabama, Texas, California, Oregon, and Alaska. She also traveled extensively with the senior bus tours including a trip to Washington, D.C., and many trips to Branson.

In 2002 she moved to the Vandever House Senior Apartments in Broken Arrow, OK, to be near her youngest daughter. She was a member of the Arrow Heights Baptist Church and in 2012 became a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She had resided at Forest Hills since November 2012.

Mrs. Chilton is survived by her four daughters, Ava Wilson and husband Dan of Crooked River Ranch, OR, Lana Givens and husband Ted of Bella Vista, AR, Penny Chilton and husband Jess Brown of Huntsville, AL, and Paige Elkins and husband Bill of Broken Arrow, OK; nine grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; one great-great-granddaughter; and three sisters, Peggy Stanford of Victoria, TX, Loretta Johnston of Davis, OK, and Colleen Briley of Springfield, MO. In addition to her husband and parents, she was preceded in death by two brothers and a sister.

Her family remembers her as a talented seamstress who made her daughters' clothes. She is also remembered by her family for her pies, her cakes, and especially her banana bread.

In accordance with her wishes, no memorial service will be held. Her ashes will be interred next to her husband at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery in Altamont under the direction of the Bath-Forbes-Hoffman Funeral Home in Altamont.

Online condolences may be left at www.forbeshoffman.com.