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Beloved youngest sister of nine, daughter of Nellie and Elbert, Verla Vee Hull was born in the Oklahoma panhandle on April 5, 1929. She worked hard both in school and on the farm in Gage, Oklahoma. It was during her first years on the farm that she encountered that great wall of dust that we now know as the Dust Bowl. She had a strong memory of running with her sisters for cover while dust enveloped her home and the laundry she was playing in on the clothesline. The family recovered but her father fell ill, so Verla had her first experience of moving from her home at a young age. To and from Arizona in a couple of years, she eventually graduated with a class of nine from Gage High School in 1947.
With art as a mainstay throughout her life, she and her sisters honed their sewing skills, designing and sewing their own clothes wherever the family resided. She created her own patterns with parts of the newspaper and saved her money for the best fabrics. Her notable talent in the sewing room was seen throughout her life, from career to home life, children to grandchildren.
Four years out of high school, Verla ventured to McCamey, Texas to help her sister set up house and care for her new niece. It was here that she encountered a charming Gene Sigle working on a field crew for Conoco Oil Company. The handsome couple was married within 6 months and thus began their adventure around the southern United States with the seismic field crew known as “The Doodlebuggers”. For six years, Verla used her knowledge from her past of moving and setting up a comfortable home wherever the wind blew them. A gift for turning a chicken coop into a cozy home and for maintaining a strong sense of style in her handmade clothes, she thrived on the road for the six years they worked.
In 1954, their first child, Viann Leigh, was born while on the crew in Mississippi. It was then that Verla and Gene decided to carry on the legacy of her parents by naming their daughters with all “V”names. With a toddler in tow, eventually, they decided to quit the road and settle down in Ponca City in 1957 when their second daughter, Vickie Jean, was born.
Ponca City fit them well. A nice place to raise a family and make friends, they entertained and brought stories from the road. She finally had a proper sewing room to design dresses for the girls and bow-ties for Gene. In 1960, a third daughter, Vena Joyce, was born to their growing family.
The Sigle family enjoyed their time in Ponca City until the summer of 1967 when a promotion at Conoco Oil Company took them to Houston and then back to Ponca City in 1971. Verla didn’t skip a beat. Maintaining a meticulously tidy household and perfectly coiffed children, she used her household moving skills perfected throughout her life for this move.
As the years ticked on, all three daughters moved to college, met partners and started their own families. A doting grandmother, Verla loved to create welcoming spaces and projects with her grandchildren. She pursued more of the art forms she had only dabbled in when her children were growing; painting, ceramics and more sewing. She hosted the holidays with an impeccably decorated home, even down to the seasonal hand-painted cookie jar covers. The delicious meals around her tables and playtime in the backyard made going to grandmas something to look forward to.
The matriarch of our little crew, she inspires us to be our best inner and outer selves. Dress well and be kind. Her proudest achievement was a role as a mother to three fortunate children, a grandmother to six and great-grandmother to one (and one on the way). We are proud to remember her as a sewing guru, a brilliant homemaker and a perfectly manicured beauty. Verla made us better and stronger human beings, she will not be forgotten.
At the age of 90, Verla Vee Sigle passed on to her next adventure on December 25, 2019 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We know she is making her new home very comfortable up there.
A service will be held at Trout Funeral Home Chapel in Ponca City, Oklahoma on Saturday, December 28, 2019 at 2:00 PM. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested donations to Clarehouse at clarehouse.org.
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