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Services to honor and celebrate the life of Dorothy Jean (Morris) Bittle will be 2:00 p.m. Friday, June 19, 2020 at Riverview Baptist Church, Bixby. She will be laid to rest in Duck Creek Cemetery, Mounds. Family will receive friends for visitation on Thursday, June 18, 2020 from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. at Bixby Funeral Service. Dorothy passed away on Tuesday, June 16, 2020 at her home. She was 79.
Dorothy Jean Morris Bittle was born June 19, 1940 in Bixby, Oklahoma. She was the daughter of Lowry & Ila (Martin) Morris. Dorothy passed away on the land on which she was born, June 16, 2020, just 3 days shy of her 80th birthday.
Dorothy was a farmer’s daughter, growing up with cousins on the surrounding family farms. Liberty Public School was where she developed some lifelong friends with whom she remained close. Liberty was where she met Johnnie Bittle, and his brown eyes had her hooked. Dorothy graduated with the Class of 1958, and, after Johnnie graduated, they married on July 31, 1959. This past year, they celebrated 60 years of marriage.
Dorothy packed a lot of living in the time she had here. She was a stay at home mom, and when the kids got bigger, she went to work for Dorset Electronics as a solderer. She began her babysitting career in the early 1970’s. Dorothy loved and rocked the children of friends, family and the schoolteachers at Liberty. In 1979, Johnnie started JB’s Hot Oil Service, an oil field maintenance company, and Dorothy was the secretary/treasurer. No cell phones existed, so she would call Johnny on the CB radio as home base and send him to the next job. As she got older, she started answering the business phone, “Good Morning, JB’s Hot Oil Service, Dorothy speaking. How may I direct your call?” This was hilarious to the family because she was the only one there.
This business gave Johnny and Dorothy the freedom to go on many trips in the summer. There are many pictures of all the wonderful things they experienced and the friends with whom they traveled. Besides a love for travel, Dorothy loved serving at her church, Bixby Free Will Baptist. She gave her heart to Jesus in 1970 during a revival and never looked back. She taught many young preschool kids for over 25 years in Sunday School and Bible School. Dorothy cooked and served food at every funeral, and beginning in 2001, she assisted in the food ministry, sorting, distributing, and delivering food to friends and neighbors for several years. Then, we cannot forget her love of sewing, teaching her grandkids how to bake, and talking on the phone to friends and family.
As amazing as all of her work was, most people didn’t know about her health issues in the early years. Although she wouldn’t be diagnosed until several years later, at 35, a persistent cough started a struggle with spina cerebellar degeneration ataxia. In 1997, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, completed chemo and radiation treatments, and never stopped teaching her little kids at church. As her brain disease progressed, she had to change how she was living day to day and had to give up many of her activities. She seemed to miss driving herself and the ability to walk the most. Not long ago, she dreamed that she could walk. Now, it’s not a dream; she can!
Giving, caring, and compassionate, with a sprinkle of stubborn and bossy, Dorothy’s way was the right way. That was Dorothy.
Dorothy was preceded in death by her father, Lowry in 1978.
Dorothy is survived by: her loving husband, Johnnie Bittle; her children: Brenda Evans and husband, Dale; Regina Osburn and husband, Larry and Ricky Bittle and wife, Brenda Lee; her mother, Ila Morris; brothers: Roy Edward “Eddie” Morris and wife, Donna and David Morris And wife, Sharon; brother-in-law, James Bittle and wife, Becki; sister-in-law, Florence James and husband, Dale; grandchildren: Michael Dale “TJ” Evans and wife, Trina and their children: Chayce and Kayden; Chris John “Chris” Evans and wife, Jennifer and their children: Allyssa and Ellanie; Amanda Dawn Bittle and Kenneth Simmons; Austin Kent Osburn; Amy Darlene White and husband, James and their children: James and Amiyah; Kristen Deann Cox and husband, Eric and their children: Kahrson and Barrett; bonus granddaughters: Pashey Willhite and husband, Jamie and their children: Payton and Brooklyn; Jamie Keller and husband, Matt and their children: Malachi, Julianna, and Felicity.
The family would like to thank Emerald Hospice for their awesome care and support over this last year, especially Kelly & Lisa.
To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Dorothy Jean Bittle, please visit our floral store.