Mozella I. Tillison ©2026 Tahlequah Daily Press
Tahlequah, Oklahoma
October 21,2011Submitted by:Jo Aguirre
Mozella I. Tillison was born to William and Eva Mae (Rose) Smith on Aug. 3, 1929 in Yale, Oklahoma.
She passed from this life on Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011, at the age of 82, in Tahlequah, while surrounded by her loving family.
Everyone who knew Mozella would call her Mama Jerry. She worked since she was 11, her first job being at a movie theater. She worked for Hulbert Public Schools for several years, helping the school and Native American children receive federal funding for things such as paper, pencils and other materials for families who could not afford school materials.
A couple of years after her late husband passed away in 1999, she remarried her husband of the home Mitchell Tillison.
Mozella loved to socialize and everyone was her friend. She enjoyed being outside and working in the flower gardens with her husband. One of the biggest joys in her life was spending time with her family. She would do anything for her children that she could, and loved to spoil all of her grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents, and late husband Charlie Lang, the father of her children.
She is survived by her husband Mitchell Tillison of the home; three sons, Jimmy Lang and wife Jamie of Hulbert, Darrin Lang and wife Deana of Siloam Springs, Ark., and Mitch Tillison and wife Hye Won of New Mexico; three daughters, Carolyn Mercer and husband Jett of San Antonio, Texas, Rose Essary and husband Jimmy of Stillwell, and Sue Ogle and husband Gene of Bentonville, Ark; one brother, Milton Smith and wife Sheila of Tulsa, Oklahoma; three sisters, Mary Adams of Bartlesville, Patricia Wilson of Tahlequah, and Charlene Rybka of Dewey; 17 grandchildren, Eric, Ashley, Terri, Kathryn, Elizabeth Page, Kristen Elizabeth, Avery, Christy, Matt, Jeremy, Jodi, Michael, Monroe, Teresa, Joshua, Joseph and Jordan; and 14 great–grandchildren, along with a host of other relatives and friends who are sure to miss her dearly.
Funeral services for Mozella were held at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 19, at Shipman Funeral Home Chapel with Pastor Mark Pointer officiating. Burial followed to I.O.O.F Cemetery in Hulbert.
Funeral arrangements were under the direction of Shipman Funeral Home and Crematory.
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