Bernice “Berni” Virginia Ensminger, of Hugo, OK, passed away January 8, 2016, in Paris, TX. Berni was born on July 14, 1936, to Oscar Warner Sheppard and Canzadie “Sadie” (Woolever) Sheppard at the Dixie Lease in Seminole County, OK. She grew up in Wewoka, OK and Fresno, California where she graduated from the West Coast Bible School Junior College. She also lived in the Bay Area in California and worked in retail store decoration in San Francisco before returning to Oklahoma. She married George Donald Ensminger Sr on July 7, 1958, in Wewoka, shortly after George’s graduation from Oklahoma A&M College (now Oklahoma State University). They later lived in Ada, OK prior to their move to Hugo in 1970.
Funeral services for will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 12, 2016, at the Prater-Lampton-Mills & Coffey Funeral Home and burial following at the Springs Chapel Cemetery.
Berni was very talented in the arts. She was a skilled interior designer, oil painter, photographer, and writer. She wrote short stories, poetry, and music and had several articles published. She was the founding president of the Little Dixie Art Association and coordinated the art show at the Choctaw County Fair for several years in the 70’s. She was a member of the Southeast Oklahoma Art Guild and a chairwoman for the Oklahoma Arts and Humanities.
Berni spent many summers in Taos, NM, studying oil painting with artist Tico Mascarenas and collaborating with other artists in that art community, including the late R. C. Gorman, the internationally recognized Native American artist. She enjoyed the Taos community, establishing relationships with not only local artists but also the Indian dancers of Taos Pueblo. On summer evenings at the Pueblo-owned Kachina Lodge, Berni could be found assisting the child dancers in adjusting their authentic tribal costumes prior to dance performances. Berni enjoyed and loved Taos so much that she considered it her ‘second’ home.
Berni had a beautiful singing voice and played the piano, organ, guitar, and accordion. As a 10-year old, she sang on the KSMI radio station in Seminole, OK. In the 1960’s, she sang on several television shows in the Ada, OK market and as a featured country vocalist at rodeo events. At various times, she sang in gospel choirs in California and with the 1000 member voice choir for Benny Hinn Ministries in Tulsa and Houston. She loved classic country, gospel, and Broadway music, including her favorite musical “Camelot”.
During Berni’s work career, she worked in retail merchandising as a buyer for Sears and Wal-Mart and spent several years in the insurance industry with the Walter White Insurance Agency and later Farm Bureau. She and her husband George owned and operated the Olde Postlight Antique Shop in downtown Hugo in the late 90’s.
Berni loved working in her yard. She enjoyed collecting angel and Santa Claus figurines, blue and white porcelain, and flow blue glassware. She loved to travel, visit flea markets and antique stores, shop, and watch any old or new western movies. She was a fan of Oklahoma State University sports and activities as several family members attended the university at one time or another.
She is preceded in death by her husband, George, her sister, Beatrice Conger, and her brothers, O. C. (Junior) Sheppard Jr and Harold Sheppard. Also, a niece, Janie Sheppard Porter; four (4) nephews: Dennis Roe, Danny Weeks, Tommy Sheppard and Eddie Sheppard; beloved brother-in-law, Ed Conger; and sister-in-law, Trina Sheppard. Waiting on her in heaven, too, is a lifetime of family pets, including but not limited to Herman the dachshund mix and her beloved poodle, Cindy.
She is survived by her son George Donald Ensminger Jr and wife Debbie Dove of Las Lunas, NM; her daughter Denise Smith and husband Gary of Boswell, OK; three (3) grandsons: Cole Smith and wife Jamie of Boswell, OK, and Dalton Smith and wife Paige of Durant OK, and Justin Dove and wife Erin of Las Vegas, NM; and several nieces and nephews, Barbara Roe of Wewoka, OK; Cindy Abernathy of McAlester, OK; Sherry McNichols of Tulsa, OK; Julie McGee and husband Mike of Laramie WY, Buck Wilson and wife Judy of McAlester, OK; Robert (Robby) Sheppard and partner John Martin of Ft. Smith, AR; Ricky Sheppard and wife Toni; and Mitch Sheppard of Denver, CO.
