Birth date: Oct 20, 1920 Death date: Mar 7, 2012
Mary Lou Bertha Grice died in Tulsa on Wednesday, March 07, 2012 at 91 years of age. Bertha was born on October 20, 1920 in Texarkana, Texas to Pleas and Minnie (Mosley) Shipp. While an infant, her family moved to the Hickory Comm Read Obituary
My heartfelt sympathy to your family, Mrs. Grice was a very favorite teacher of mine! She had a very wry sense of humor and made the classroom fun but at the same time we still learned! A lot of very good memories at Hammon High School! I'm sure she enjoyed her grandchildren and great-grandchildren!
Sincerely,
Renee' (Chapman) Beaty
What a wonderful Home Ec teacher Mrs. Grice was. She was also one of our class sponsors and she was willing to have a great time with her students. We went to the same church in Hammon and she always did the best home made rolls for Sunday lunch. I remember David playing at the church every now and them and Eddie's family attending every once in awhile. Grice, you are a legend at Hammon High, you will be missed!!!
Recently, I received word that a legend has passed from our midst. Mary Lou Bertha Grice or “Grice” as we all knew and loved her has passed on to Glory. Grice was definitely one of a kind. She was a great teacher, a great person, and a lady who always was eager to help you no matter what! She taught anyone who was willing to learn to sew, cook, do leather work, nurses aide training, upholstering, and just about any skill she could think up. She always told us that if we ever got ourselves in a “pickle”—her words--- that we could fend for ourselves and our family. She preached being a homemaker, having a family, but she knew that not everyone would live happily ever after. She also knew that if we ever needed to get out and get a job, we would have some skills that we could use to provide for our families. I will never forget her making caramel apples, making us set the “perfect” table—which I still can’t believe most women don’t know how to do---, or her always saying “as you sew, so shall you rip” when we put a row of stitching in wrong or had to redo the dreaded zipper! She was a tiny lady, but she was mighty. She could single handedly take a group of 50 girls to the FHA rally or wrestle down a couple of rowdy boys on senior trip. I remember her holding a flashlight on the steps of the old yellow cheese bus when the headlights had gone out coming home from the rally. Yes, I have some wonderful memories. Later when I came back to teach, I was blessed to have her here beside me as a constant mentor. She always encouraged me to do my best, love all my students, and understand that no matter how rowdy or ornery, all kids had potential. Grice nominated me for DKG (Delta Kappa Gamma), a women’s teacher organization, and even after her retirement, we spent many years of traveling on Saturdays to meetings every month. One of the saddestdays of my life was when she left Hammon to be near her kids. We still called one another, sent letters and Christmas cards, and talked by phone. The last few years have been hard, because the Grice I knew and loved was ravished by old age, disease, and a fading memory. Farewell old friend! Did I ever tell you, you were my hero???????
