Estelle Sevilla Courtney Obituary
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Contributed by Linda Simpson greyoaks@brightok.net
Indian Nation/Indian Territory Archivist
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Estelle Sevilla Courtney 
moved to Oklahoma before it was 
Oklahoma. 
She died Sunday, Jan. 6, 2002 
at her home in Konawa at the age 
of 105.
She moved to Mill Creek, 
Oklahoma at the age of 3, in 
1899, from Georgia.
She remembers when Okla-
homa became a state, said her 
daughter, May Bell of Oklahoma 
City.
They moved to Konawa in 
1911.
They had dirt streets and 
boards for the sidewalks.
They had wells but no run-
ning water, Bell continued.
And they didn’t have a refrig-
erator so they used an ice box and 
blocks of ice to keep their food 
cold.
Her grandfather was a doctor 
and he would have to make house 
calls in the middle of the night 
during winter.
Her grandmother would line 
his coat with newspapers for a 
windbreaker and heat bricks  to 
put in the floor board of his 
horse-drawn buggy, she added.
Courtney was born July 2, 
1896 in Augusta, Ga. to John and 
Francis Fannie (Dye) Ander-
son.
She married Homer Wade 
Courtney on April 25, 1920 in 
Konawa.
He preceded her in death on 
Dec. 8, 1961.
Courtney was a member of 
First United Methodist Church in 
Konawa, Eastern Star, Progres-
sive Study Club, Charter Member 
of American Legion Auxiliary, 
and was the first president of the 
Band Mothers Club.
When she was 94, she got 
pulled over at 4 a.m. for going 35 
in a 25, her daughter said.
She told the police officer she 
president of the American Legion 
auxiliary and she going down 
there to cook breakfast for the 
veterans.
The policeman didn’t believe 
her so she told him to follow her 
down there.
They got and she got out her 
keys and unlocked the door and 
showed him the tables that were 
set up and invited him to come 
back for breakfast in a few 
hours.
She was preceded in death by 
her parents; and her husband.
She is survived by two sons, 
Edward Courtney of Del City and 
Milton Courtney of Konawa; two 
daughters, May Marie Bell of 
Oklahoma City and June Skaggs 
of Oklahoma City; 11 grandchil-
dren; nine great-grandchildren 
and two great-great grandchil-
dren.
Funeral services are scheduled 
for 2 p.m. Wednesday at Pickard 
Swearingen Funeral Chapel.
Rev. Pam Shirk is set to offici-
ate.
Burial is to follow at Konawa 
City Cemetery under the direction 
of Pickard-Swearingen Funeral 
Home.