Bernice Neola Brown

Bernice Neola Brown, 88, a resident of Bartlesville, Oklahoma, died Friday, June 23, 2006 at Midland Hospice House in Topeka, Kansas. She was born July 23, 1917 in Bolivar, Missouri, the daughter of Huey and Ruth (Warren) Wilson. Her childhood was spent in Coyville, Kansas where she graduated from high school. Neola worked at Dillard's in Tulsa and Bartlesville. She was a member of the VFW Post #10099 Women's Auxiliary in Dewey, Oklahoma and a active member of the Rebecca Lodge. She was a lifelong member of the First Christian Church, Disciples of Christ, and most recently a member of the First Christian Church in Bartlesville. She had a lifelong interest in country and western music and spent many Saturday nights at country shows with Joe Foust. She married George Paris Steele in Lawrence, Kansas. He died in Hays, Kansas in 1955. She married Robert Sylvester Steele in Hays in 1965. He died in Tulsa in 1969. She married Fred R. Brown in Tulsa in 1972. He died in Tulsa in 2006. She met her life partner, Joe Foust in Bartlesville. He died in Tulsa in 2006. Survivors include her three children, Barbara J. Edwards; George L. Steele, and Roger L. Steele, all of Topeka; and the children of Robert Steele, Fred R. Brown and Joe Foust; five grandchildren; 6 great grandchildren; and a sister, Gay Spillman of Arkansas; numerous nieces and nephews. Funeral services will be held at 2:00 P.M. on Friday, June 30, 2006 at the Timmons Chapel. Burial will be at the Little Sandy Cemetery near Buffalo/Middletown. Friends may call at the funeral home on Thursday, 3:00 P.M.-5:00 P.M. and on Friday, 1:00 P.M.-2:00 P.M. A memorial has been established in her name with the Midland Hospice Care, Inc., 200 SW Frazier Circle, Topeka, KS 66604.