Emma Lucille Rollins was born on January 26, 1926, in Cushing, Oklahoma to Lillie Rachel Galusha Rollins and George Washington Rollins. The Rollins home in Perkins, Oklahoma was filled with Emma’s many brothers and sisters, including Ernest, Kenneth, Howard, Cecil, Raymond, Bill, Georgia, Geneva, Betty Jean, and also Helen and Earl who died in infancy. She had many childhood stories about sleeping outside in the summertime under the old Blackjack Tree, being friends with gun-toting Mr. Frank Eaton aka “Pistol Pete” who was also cross-eyed and usually barefoot, sneaking a potato to snack on while working out in the family garden under her mother’s watchful eye, and taking the family cow “Bessie” to eat in a nearby field. Because her mother worked full time, her education was cut short in 9th grade as she was needed to help take care of her siblings.
At 17, Emma married Gene Joseph Huff and had three beautiful daughters, Jean Loutrissia, Janet Lucille, and Marcine Ann. They lived in Benicia, California where Gene was stationed at Oakland Army Base during World War 2. Not long after returning from the war, Gene passed away, so Emma and her daughters moved back to Oklahoma. Then Emma met Douglas Lee Smith, they married and had another beautiful daughter, Linda Darlene and son, Douglas Lee Smith Jr. or as we all knew him, “Sonny Boy”. After living in several different towns in Oklahoma and Texas, the family finally settled in Buffalo, Oklahoma in 1958.
Emma was a caregiver, she was known to check in on several elderly residents while taking care of Sonny Boy most of her life until his death at 50-years-old. She was a hard worker, at different times in her life she was a waitress and cleaned a movie theatre in Perkins, she took in ironing, and she worked for many years cleaning the Buffalo Post Office. She sewed and loved to crochet, there aren’t many friends and family that don’t have something she crocheted, like house shoes, scarves, potholders and afghans. Emma was a writer, she didn’t let her limited education stop her from taking a writing course and filling the Harper County Journal with her fictional stories about the Old West. Most of all, she loved her family, each and every one of them! She was a strong and funny lady who loved to tell stories, if she thought it, she said it. There was never a dull moment around Emma, she laughed hard and loved harder, and she will be missed by everyone who knew her!
Emma was preceded in death by her parents, Lillie and George Rollins; siblings: Ernest, Kenneth, Howard, Cecil, Raymond, Bill, Georgia, Geneva, Betty Jean, Helen, and Earl; husbands; Gene Huff and Doug Smith; son, Sonny Boy Smith; daughter, Janet Dingemanse; and grandson, DeWayne Miller.
She is survived by her daughter, Jean Kuhn and husband, Jeff of Glencoe, OK; son-in-law, Piet Dingemanse of Springtown, TX; daughter, Marcine Peralta and husband, Ted of Manteca, CA; daughter, Linda Smith and husband, Dan of Buffalo, OK; 11 grandchildren: Tammy Souders, Teresa Click, Julie Slavens, Jim Dingemanse, Bart Snell, Debbie Jumelet, Velon Alvarez, Grady Snell, Darci Immell, Phillip Crouch, and Jennifer Widman; 24 great-grandchildren: Max Miller, Shelby Miller, Ky Todish, Scotland Souders, Jon Hiner, Zach Lawhorn, Jess Click, Derrick Slavens, Dalton Slavens, Jeremy Dingemanse, Jesse Dingemanse, Caden Snell, Cavan Snell, McKenna Snell, Josh Jumelet, Bradley Jumelet, Austin Jumelet, Gracie Alvarez, Alex Frost, Avery Crouch, Liam Crouch, Amelie Crouch, Jake Widman, and Carter Widman; and 9 great-great-grandchildren; Jake Miller, Tatum Todish, Peyton Todish, Hailen Hiner, Huxley Hiner, Evert Slavens, Shire Slavens, Hudson Slavens, and Brighton Slavens.
Saturday, July 6, 2019
11:00am - 7:00 pm
Wilkinson Funeral Service Buffalo
Sunday, July 7, 2019
1:00 - 6:00 pm
Wilkinson Funeral Service Buffalo
Monday, July 8, 2019
Starts at 10:00 am
First United Methodist Church, Buffalo
Visits: 65
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