Our mother, Nellye Anne Cross Meintsma, grew up in Cheyenne, Oklahoma. She was born on March 11, 1924.
She was extremely loyal to the town of Cheyenne and the State of Oklahoma until she died on August 12, 2017,
in Salt Lake City, Utah. After graduating from high school in Cheyenne, Nellye Anne moved to Burbank, California,
to go to secretarial school, attended Oklahoma University in Norman, Oklahoma, and joined the Navy serving as
Pharmacist Mate during WWII. After the war, she served as a government service employee for the Army in Heidelberg,
Germany, where she met our father, Seward M. Meintsma, who was an Air Force Pilot flying the Berlin Airlift. Our mother
was independent and courageous. She was strong and had endurance. She raised 5 children practically on her own. In
addition, she worked part time when we were in junior high and full time in our high school years. She was resourceful and
determined. She was resilient and adaptable. She took charge of moving the family back to Oklahoma and having their
retirement home built in Edmond, Oklahoma, when our father was in Vietnam. We know she must have missed him terribly
and worried about him but we never heard a word of complaint from her. She was truly and officer’s wife. Our mother was
patient. She would sit for hours looking at her birds and picking every off currants just to have a few jars of jelly. Our mother
found beauty in the smallest of things. Everywhere we went she’d be on the lookout for a little piece of plant to take home to see
if she could make it grow. Both of our parents always took such good care of us and they will be missed.
Cheyenne Star, November 30, 2017