Stella Rose Oxford Bingaman died at age 101. She will be greatly missed by her family. She was the 3rd child in a big farm family in northern Missouri.
A memorial service will be held at 11:00 on Saturday, December 28th in the Chapel of Westminster Presbyterian at 42nd and Franklin in Des Moines. A time to visit with the family will follow the service. She will be interred at Chapel Hill Gardens in Urbandale.
Mom graduated 2nd in her high school class and earned a full scholarship to Maryville State Teacher’s College in Missouri. But homesickness caused her to drop out after 1 year. She then moved to Des Moines to live with her older sister, Vera. During WWII she worked in a factory in Des Moines. When asked only a few weeks ago what she did there, she said “we inspected bullets.” She met and married our dad, Dean Bingaman and lived in Newton Iowa for several years before moving to Des Moines. In her late 50’s Stella decided to finish her college degree. At age 57 she graduated with a degree in Special Education from Drake University. She then taught school as a substitute for a number of years.
Though money was tight for Stella and Dean, she always made sure her daughters had everything they needed. She was a hardworking, dedicated wife, mother, grandmother and homemaker. She helped neighbors and family often and did so quietly.
Stella came to faith at age 11 when she walked alone to a church in the country and prayed to become a follower of Jesus. After marrying the love of her life, Dean, Sundays were always spent in church. Often going to both morning and evening services. Even at age 100 she still could remember and sing many hymns. She will still tell you her favorite is “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” and that her mother Opal’s favorite was “When the Roll is Called Up Yonder.” She read her Bible daily for most of her life.
Stella was wonderfully creative. She excelled at every craft or art project she attempted. She made metal sculptures from tin-cans that she cut and flattened. She made needlepoint stockings, needlepoint pictures and pillows in abundance. She produced ceramics for holidays. She knitted and sewed hats and sweaters. But the quilts she made with all hand stitching are heirlooms that are treasured by both her children and grandchildren and their families.
She was a gifted gardener too. She worked fast and it was scary to watch her at times. She would brutally rip the bottom roots off nursery plants, stick them into a pot or the soil and they would thrive and draw comments from visitors. Her flowerpots were gorgeous, her roses stunning and her Hosta Garden was outstanding. They raised vegetables in abundance too. Before our dad died, they raised enough tomatoes and zucchini to share with friends and neighbors.
When our dad got cancer, Mom decided he needed to travel to keep up his spirits. So they travelled every winter to somewhere warm for a month. Later when that became too much, Mom made sure to get dad out of the house almost every day on a long drive. They would look for deer or wild turkeys in the beautiful Iowa countryside they both loved. His doctors were surprised that dad lived 11 years with a diagnosis of lung cancer. But mom refused to let him sit at home and surrender to depression.
Mom had Alzheimer’s but the staff at Calvin were very loving to her, and she loved them in response. She would laugh often and throw kisses and sometimes hold one of their hands against her cheek to show how dear they were to her.
In the last week or two she didn’t open her eyes or speak but she responded by turning her head slightly and even moving her lips when I held her hand and talked to or prayed with her. She seemed to have relief from her pain, and I like to think in that last week or, so she was having conversations with God.
Mom was preceded in death by her husband Dean, her daughter Mary, her parents and most of her siblings. She is survived by her daughter Sheila (Charles Perkins), her daughter Connie (Warren) and grandsons Michael (Shawna), and Matthew (Brandi) and seven great grandchildren.
Mom loved us all so much. We will miss her.