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DELLA F. (Renfro) OATS
May 8, 2008, 6:52 AM
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Della F. (Renfro) Oats, 98, of Battle Mountain, Nev., died Monday at Battle Mountain General Hospital Long Term Care Center.
Della was born in Berkeley, Calif., on Jan. 23, 1910, to Charles Wesley Renfro and Margaret Ione Shipe Renfro. Her husband, Alfred A. Oats, brothers Donald Renfro and Milton Rector and sister Eleanor Oats preceded Della in death. Also preceding her in death were stepsiblings Wesley Baumann and Helen Bradley.
Della is survived by son Fred (Marcia) Oats of Lamoille, Nev.; daughter Mildred (Bob) Pistner of Battle Mountain; sister Bernice Wendt of Middletown, Ohio and brother Charles Renfro of Torrence, Calif. Della had a special place in her heart for her niece Margaret Davis and her husband Rob of Fallon and nephew Bob Oats and his wife Bea of Newcastle, Calif., and their children and other nephews and nieces. Della also treated Toni Recanzone Caruso of Reno as a second daughter and special friend and left behind many other friends in Fallon and Battle Mountain.
A few weeks after her birth in Berkeley, her mother and she came to the Harmon District homestead. The family lived on several different ranches in Fallon during Della’s school years. She graduated from Churchill County High School in 1929 and the University of Nevada, Reno in 1933 with a degree in mathematics. She taught high school math in Fallon for 9 ½ years before marrying Alfred Oats on Nov. 12, 1943. While teaching, she was active in the local tennis club. All of her life, tennis was her favorite sport followed by professional football.
Della was an active room mother, Cub Scout and Girl Scout worker and hosted many youth church group activities in her home. She loved her work on the grand jury and most of all on the Churchill County School Board.
Della was active as a housewife on the Oats Brothers Dairy on North Maine Street until the sale of the Holstein herd in 1968. She fixed many meals for visiting dairymen from all over the country and even South America and Japan.
In 1988 Della and Alfred moved to Battle Mountain to live with their daughter and son-in-law, Mildred and Bob Pistner. Alfred died in 1989, and Della resided with Mildred and Bob until Jan. 1, 2005, when she entered the long term care facility at Battle Mountain General Hospital where she lived until her death.
Services are scheduled for 10:30 am on Thursday at Smith Family Funeral Home, 505 Rio Vista Drive in Fallon. Interment will follow at the Oats family plot in the Churchill County Cemetery.
Donations may be made in Della’s memory to the Churchill Arts Council, P.O. Box 2204, Fallon, NV 89407 or Battle Mountain General Hospital’s Long Term Care Unit, 535 South Humboldt, Battle Mountain, NV 89820.
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