Nora Ellen (Rountree) Hallum

Nora Ellen Rountree was born September 3, 1918 in Vanoss, Oklahoma, the fifth child of William Levi Rountree and Cynthia Jane (Reeves). She outlived her parents and six siblings. The family moved back and forth between Gilbert, Arkansas and the area around Glencoe, Oklahoma. Ellen was very ill as a small child and was unable to go to school until she was nine years old, when her family moved closer to town. Her older siblings carried her to school and back every day until she became healthy enough to walk. On her first day of school she claimed to be in third grade, and she stayed quiet and attentive all that school term while she scrambled to catch up. By the time she graduated from high school she was an honor student and Salutatorian of her class at Glencoe High School. Ellen loved basketball and played on three different teams simultaneously in high school. She worked at the local drug store and soda fountain. After graduation she went to work at the hospital in Stillwater, Oklahoma, where she was trained as a nurse. In 1940 she met Lawerence Hallum and promptly ended an engagement to another man in order to marry him. The newlyweds lived with the groom’s parents a few months until they dragged a small chicken house out into the pasture and fixed it up as a cabin for their own residence. Their first winter they moved her parents to Arizona and stayed several months to harvest vegetables. They ended up back in Oklahoma where their first child, Patricia, was born in August of 1941, and the second, Awynne, was born in 1943. Ellen’s life revolved around her husband and family. For the rest of her life she was “and Ellen”. She pretty much rendered Lawerence unable to lift a hand, because she waited on him continually. In 1953 their third child, David, was born. That same year Patricia suffered from a severe brain tumor and subsequent treatments and lifelong disability. After their move to Cookson Hills in January of 1961, Ellen was the entire office staff for many years, responsible for all correspondence and financial accounting, as well as caring for several young people in their home. She was a source of encouragement and counsel for women on staff and for the girls, who found their way to her home for extra hugs and sympathy. Her home was full of laughter, mainly due to her wacky sense of humor. She entertained herself with pranks, and her victims were always unsuspecting. Once she sent a visiting basketball team on their way with a packed lunch full of sandwiches, each containing a slice of cardboard with the meat. April Fool’s Day was Mother’s Day at the Hallum house! She initiated water fights among the family all summer long. Lawerence whacked his head many times when he was under the car hood and she blew the horn. She loved to swim and would have been happy living near the sea. She floated like a cork with her children perched on her stomach. In her declining years Ellen suffered from dementia and found life to be confusing and frustrating. She died in the morning hours of March 2 from pneumonia. Ellen was preceded in death by daughter Patty, son David, and her husband, Lawerence. She is survived by her daughter, Awynne, countless foster children, grandchildren, and loving friends. Funeral services will be 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, March 7, 2013, at Wasson Memorial Chapel, Siloam Springs, Arkansas, with Family officiating, Visitation will begin at noon on Tuesday, at Wasson Funeral Home. To sign the online guest book visit www.wassonfuneralhome.com. Arrangements are under the direction of Wasson Funeral Home, Inc., Siloam Springs, Arkansas.

Tributes

Nora Ellen (Rountree) Hallum

September 3, 1918 - March 2, 2013