Anna Louise Poling

Anna Louise James Poling passed away peacefully at the age of 101 years on March 13, 2025.

She is survived by four children: Ramonda Haycocks (late husband Chris), Gioia Jones (Lloyd), John Duff James (Pam), Pat James (Tia), and stepchildren Kathy Harris (Curt) and the late Janette Howie (survived by husband Guy). She leaves behind numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and a great-great-grandson.

Louise was born in 1923 on a farm near Mulhall, Oklahoma, to Clara and James Harper. She had four sisters and one brother, all of whom preceded her in death. At school, she was a good student. As a young high schooler, she survived a life-threatening experimental spinal surgery to remove a tumor and went on to become an award-winning high school basketball player. She enrolled in college and completed one year.

In 1942, she married a handsome young man, Dale James, who had enlisted in the Army Air Corps. Within a few months, Dale was sent overseas to join the WWII campaign in North Africa. A pregnant Louise went back to help her parents on the farm, where she stayed until Dale came home from overseas in late 1944. She gave birth to her first daughter in 1943. Her second daughter was born in 1945.

Louise helped her husband as he furthered his education and settled in Oklahoma City, where she had sons number one and two. At this point, Louise went back to college, where she earned her Bachelor's Degree over a few years while raising her family. Right behind her family, Louise's main interest was education and teaching small children. This became a lifelong passion.

In 1963, the family relocated to Yukon. In 1963, kindergarten was not available in public schools, which prompted Louise to open Kiddie College—her own private kindergarten. Many children graduated from Kiddie College, and many of these kids kept in touch with her.

When kindergarten was introduced into Yukon schools, Louise took a job as a teacher. She taught in several grade schools and loved every minute, every student. She was a teacher who could identify children who were ready, and she taught them to read in kindergarten.

Five years after the 1980 death of her husband Dale, Louise met and married Francis Poling. He was a kindred spirit who enjoyed many of the same things she did. He supported her in her work, projects, and activities. He preceded her in death by eight years.

Louise had many hobbies, interests, and activities outside her work life. She was a master seamstress and quilter. If the woman who dies with the most hoarded fabric wins, she was the Olympic Gold Medalist in this sport. She loved camping, fishing, and traveling in an RV. She traveled the world and spent time in Europe, Africa, and Mexico, in addition to border-to-border and coast-to-coast U.S. trips.

Louise's flower garden was her pride and joy; she was a good cook—with the ability to take a piece of freezer-burned venison and make it taste like chicken-fried steak; she was totally dedicated to Tai Chi well into her 90s; an avid square dancer; a supporter of Friends of the Park in Yukon; loved arts and crafts; and was active in her churches and charitable organizations.

She never missed an episode of "The Bachelor"—a fascination her family never understood.

In addition to her busy professional life and multiple activities, Louise was always there for her family—a helping hand no matter what was needed. And for this, we give her eternal love and gratitude. We will miss her. She has shown us a life well-lived.

A funeral service to honor her memory will be held at 2:00 P.M., Tuesday, March 18, 2025 at Yanda & Son Funeral Home Chapel in Yukon, Oklahoma followed by interment at Yukon Cemetery.