It was a happy day in the Bilbrey home of Electra, Texas on June 27, 1934,
for this was the birthday of their second daughter Ava Joyce. Their first daughter Allene had come just twenty-two months before and now their family was complete. Allen J. Bilbrey and his wife Clarice (Putman) Bilbrey were most pleased with their two daughters and were to live there in Electra until Ava was nearly ten years old. Mr. Bilbrey was a hard-working manager of a busy grocery store in an oil field Texas town. He was industrious and successful and Mrs. Bilbrey was completely devoted to his care and the care of their two daughters. The girls were busy playing together happily with other youngsters in Electra, and were happy before their move to Lawton, Oklahoma where Mr. Bilbrey's business opportunities improved; he became the owner of his own business in Oklahoma in 1944.
Ava was an active and able student early in life and was soon inclined to music study and numerous performances all during school days and she graduated from Lawton High School in the spring of 1952. The Bilbreys were initially and consistently part of church and spiritual opportunities from before their marriage, so their girls became thoroughly allied with their church crowd. They were Baptists and became strongly aligned with Lawton's First Baptist Church. Ava's activities other than academic studies included much musical study, practice and unlimited performances. She studied piano and accordion and learned the musical history, theory and mechanics of these practices as part of the complete finishing of their disciplines. So much of her church work always included musical involvement by accompanying groups or singing with them.
After high school graduation she enrolled in Oklahoma College for Women at Chickasha, Oklahoma and also did some summer study at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado. She completed her work for a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education degree in 1956.
College was a great enrichment for her with much performing and active participation Chickasha's proximity to Oklahoma City offered countless opportunities to observe professional groups in performance as well as some participation from her school's involvement there.
When she finished her work at Chickasha she accepted a teaching position
with Tulsa Public Schools at Patrick Henry Elementary for the fall of 1956 and
remained there until the spring of 1967. After leaving the classroom she worked at First Baptist Church in the activities ministry as a clerical assistant to the director. During those years the activities ministry constructed an updated building to house their several specific variations of athletics, crafts and relaxation techniques. Eventually, however she became employed with Share Incorporated, an organization designed to help churches raise money for building programs. For the final years of her working career she became a legal secretary for two attorneys - Mr. James D. Davidson and Mr. Charles A. Voseles and retired from their office 16 years later in 2005.
When Ava came to Tulsa as a new teacher, she embarked on many enlightenment activities. She attended both the Tulsa Opera and the Tulsa Philharmonic and joined the Alumni chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota, an international music fraternity for women, and she has now been a member of that organization for over 60 years. She was also a member of The Hyechka Club of Tulsa.
So much of Ava's life and time were dedicated to her spiritual life through her church. She became a member of the First Baptist Church when she moved to Tulsa in 1956 where she sang in the choir for 25 years, played the piano in Bible Study departments, visited "homebound" members and participated in countless other church activities. She had acknowledged Jesus as her personal savior when she was in elementary school and never departed from that commitment. In 1963 Ava was offered a teaching position in an Oklahoma College, but declined the opportunity and married John C. Butts in August of that year. In 2013 they had been married for 50 years.
In addition to her husband, John, Ava is survived by her sister Allene Grigg, her niece Alece Newell and her husband Jackson Newell, her nephew James Allen Grigg and his wife Stephanie, all of Lawton, Oklahoma, and their children as well as numerous friends. She also leaves ten first cousins.
In addition to Ava's family are four nieces of her husband's who have been kind, gracious and especially generous to her. They love her with genuine feeling with sincere devotion and will miss her greatly. They are Kathie Black, Lynn Hannah, Teresa Kiss and Connie Butts.
In lieu of flowers please offer gifts to the Caring Center of the First Baptist Church of Tulsa, 403 South Cincinnati Avenue, Tulsa, OK, 74103.
Viewing will be 10AM-8PM, Sunday, January 25, 2015 at Moore's Southlawn,
9350 E. 51st, Tulsa, OK. Service will be 10:00 A.M., Monday, January 26, 2015 at Moore's Southlawn Chapel. Interment will be at Floral Haven Cemetery, Broken Arrow, OK. Moore's Southlawn 918-663-2233 share memories at www.moorefuneral.com