Jimmie L. Miser

No ordinary man

Jimmie's parents were Jesse Laurence Miser & Florence Opal Vaughn Miser. This young couple picked a rough time - a very rough time in American history - to start a family. The first of their four children, little Jimmie Lawrence Miser, was born - at home - on March 9, 1932 under the black skies of the tragic Dust Bowl. And to make matters worse, the Great Depression was also bearing down on the entire country, crushing Americans' hopes from coast to coast.

For years the young family of six piled into the old family sedan & battled the summer heat as they rattled west to California, where they looked for seasonal work picking fruit at whatever orchard would hire them. It was a tough time for every ordinary man, but their son Jimmie Miser was no ordinary man!

By the time young Jimmie reached the second grade at Lanier Elementary School in Tulsa, the suffocating effects of the Dust Bowl (1930-1936) had thankfully subsided & the Great Depression (1929-1939) was also releasing its strangle-hold on the American economy. But both of those nightmares were quickly followed by an even scarier chapter: the onset of WW II. Teenage Jimmie's mother, Opal, supported the war effort by serving as a "Rosie Riveter," as they were known, at McDonnell-Douglas in Tulsa while Jimmie's father, Jesse, supported his family as a very capable auto mechanic.

Jimmie eventually moved on to Rogers High School in Tulsa, where he finished his first two years before transferring to Cotter, AR where he completed his last years of high school. Prior to graduating in 1950, he competed in track & field, wrestling & his long arms made him a dangerous - and according to Jimmie -- a feared opponent in the boxing ring.

After graduating from Cotter High School, he fulfilled his dream of enrolling at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville & he attended until his funds ran out after one semester. His time on campus was short, but the experience sprouted into a lifelong support of the Razorbacks and, although he was born, lived in & died in Oklahoma, he always proudly proclaimed that Arkansas had his heart.

Jimmie Miser was a working man. He landed his first paying job at age 11, sweeping up trash & cigarette butts off a wooden shop floor & he quickly matured into a natural entrepreneur. In junior high he took over a fledgling early morning newspaper route & grew it into a profitable business. And in high school he used his mechanical skills & sharp mind to learn how to operate the projectors at a movie theater on weekends.

At 19 Jimmie married the love of his life, 17-year-old Barbara Burton, on Aug. 25, 1951 in Tulsa. The newlyweds quickly built a family of six children in only eight years. These sweethearts were married two months shy of 69 years.

After working his way up in the Tulsa printing industry from floor sweeper to lithographer, he finally struck out on his own with a printing company he named Liberty Press, a commercial printing company that remains in business to this day. His wife Barbara was his lifelong partner & company bookkeeper, and five of their six children were also employed at different times at Liberty Press.

The demands & long hours required to build a successful printing business and raise six hungry children occupied most of Jimmie's working life, but throughout adulthood he was also a prolific writer with a particular passion for historical fiction. As a published author, he wrote under the nom de plume of "Hank Kahill" whose most ambitious undertaking was his three-volume "Dixon Road" series.

Jim also loved all things outdoors, including family weekends of river rafting, tent camping, hunting, fishing, spelunking & hiking. Nature was his second home. He moved his young family of school-aged children from Tulsa to the country town of Coweta in 1968, and there, in his spare time, Jimmie built a three-bedroom house for his family, from the ground up, using recycled materials he and his family salvaged from two demolished houses.

Jimmy stepped into paradise last Friday morning, April 12, 2024 at Brookdale Assisted Living Center in Claremore, OK at 92 years, one month & three days. He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife of nearly 69 years, Barbara; a sister, Myrna; & a grandson, Mark.

Immediate survivors include:

Son Mark & wife Bonnie Miser of northeast OK & their two daughters & one grandson

Son Stephen & wife Jan Miser of Coweta, OK & their son & daughter & four grandchildren

Daughter Dianne & husband Monte of Kansas, OK & their three sons & four daughters & 13 grandchildren

Son Scott & wife Carol Miser of Kansas, OK & their daughter

Son Curtis & wife Cecilia Miser of Claremore, OK & four sons, one daughter, six grandchildren & two great grandchildren

Daughter Kathleen & husband David of Claremore, OK & their son & six grandchildren

Jimmie Miser was no ordinary man & his legacy will live on for generations in the hearts of his family and those that had the honor of knowing him.

Viewing will be 12-8PM, Wednesday, April 17, 2024 with family greeting friends from 4-7PM, both at Moore's Southlawn, 9350 E. 51st, Tulsa, OK. Funeral Service will be 10:00 A.M., Thursday, April 18, 2024 at Memorial Park Cemetery Chapel, 5111 S. Memorial Drive, Tulsa, OK.

Moore's Southlawn 918-663-2233