101 - Billie Oshel Shelby - Fairlawn Cemetery - Stillwater, OK
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Max and 99
N 36° 06.778 W 097° 02.606
14S E 676099 N 3998250
Billie Oshel Shelby was musically gifted, and used that talent throughout her life. According to her obituary, she convinced the school board to allow her to introduce stringed instruments education into the Stillwater elementary schools.
Waymark Code: WM16PHJ
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 09/10/2022
Views: 0
The final resting place of centenarian Billie Oshel Shelby is at the southwest side of Fairlawn Cemetery, in Section 6A. Her horizontal headstone has the following inscription:
Billie Oshel Shelby
Oct. 31, 1914
Mar. 6, 2016
Billie's obituary from Strode Funeral Home: (
visit link)
Billie Oshel Shelby died on Sunday March 6, 2016 at her home in Stillwater. Funeral services will be held on Monday, March 14, at 2:00 PM at the First Christian Church with Rev. John Bain officiating. Interment will be at Fairlawn Cemetery following the service.
Billie was born in Alva, Okla, October 31, 1914, one of four children of Joseph Herbert Oshel and Reba Rebecca McMurtrey. The Oshel family took part in the Cherokee Strip Land Run of 1893 and staked a homestead claim a few miles east of Alva. She grew up on the farm, but lived with her grandmother in town during the school year to attend Alva’s elementary school, located at that time in the “Castle On The Hill” at Northwestern Oklahoma Teachers College.
She was a musically talented child. She played piano, but truly excelled at the violin. Billie attended Oklahoma City University, where she was encouraged by her professor to transfer to Julliard Music School in New York City. She returned from New York to Oklahoma City to marry Truett Shelby, the love of her life, in 1936.
The couple settled in Norman, and Billie earned a masters in music from the University of Oklahoma. After WWII, they moved to Stillwater where Billie began teaching private music lessons. She convinced the school board to allow her to introduce stringed instrument education into Stillwater’s elementary schools, starting with the fourth grade. She also assisted teaching strings in junior and senior high school orchestras. Later in her career, she returned to school to earn a teaching certificate from Oklahoma State University in order to shift into traditional elementary education. She taught second grade at Westwood School, retiring in 1978.
Billie was a member of Sigma Alpha Iota International Fraternity Alumnae Association, Payne County Retired Teachers Association, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, National Society Daughters of the Union, and American Legion Auxiliary.
She is predeceased by her parents, an infant sister Maxine, brothers Warren Oshel and Wayne Oshel, and her husband of sixty years Truett Shelby. She is survived by her daughter Leanita Shelby of Stillwater.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Judith Karman Hospice, 915 S. Main Street, Stillwater, 74074 or to a charity of choice.