Mrs. Rilla Howard
Mrs. Rilla Jane Wideman Howard, age 92, resident of Watson, Oklahoma, passed from this life on Saturday, January 15, 2022, in Smithville, Oklahoma.

Rilla was born one of seven children to the union of Elbert "Eb" and Sallie Speers Wideman on July 27, 1929, in Hot Springs, Arkansas. She attended and graduated school in Plunketville, Oklahoma. She was a homemaker and former member of Octavia Baptist Church in Octavia, Oklahoma. She enjoyed quilting, fishing, farming, playing dominos, and her chickens. More than anything, she cherished the time spent with her loving family and friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Ed and Sallie Wideman; two sons, Jerry Dean Tipton and William D. Tyler; two grandchildren, Dustin James Blake and Virgil Butler; one great-grandchild, Danny Lee Butler, Jr.; two brothers, Dewey Wideman and Wilburn Wideman; and three sisters, Ina Mae Coffman, Earline Thompson, and Julie LeVeque.

Rilla leaves to cherish her loving memory, two sons and one daughter-in-law, Donald and LaDonna Blake of Smithville, Oklahoma, and Kenneth Tipton, Jr. of Watson, Oklahoma; one daughter, Linda Buffington of Watson; sixteen grandchildren, Kenneth Butler of Mena, Tammy Payne and husband Howard of Ozark, Danny Butler and wife Teri of Watson, Andy Butler of Hatton, William Butler of Hatfield, Kevin Newsom of Oklahoma City, David Tipton and wife Robyn of Oklahoma City, Larry Holmes of Okolona, Levi Holmes of Fort Smith, Luke Holmes of Fayetteville, North Carolina, Fredrick "Lane" Holmes of Slidell, Louisiana, Jeremy Tipton of De Queen, Charlene McLamb of New Jersey, Mark Littell of Wickes, Matthew Littell of Wickes, and Joey Tipton of California; numerous great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren; one sister and brother-in-law, Josie and Truman Brackett of Porterville, California; as well as nieces, nephews, other relatives, and a host of friends.

Services for Mrs. Rilla Howard will be held at 2:00 P.M., Tuesday, January 18, 2022, at the Smithville Cemetery Pavilion, Smithville, Oklahoma, with Pastor Randy Keiss officiating. Interment will follow. General viewing will be held from 10:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M., Monday, at the funeral home. Funeral arrangements are entrusted to Chandler Funeral Home of De Queen. You may send an online condolence at www.chandlerfuneral.com.