Vera Irene McNickle was born January 26, 1925, near McWillie, Oklahoma, to Harry and Della (Ross) Thompson, and passed away in Enid, Oklahoma, on November 4, 2024.

She married Everett L. Smith in 1942. While Everett was in the Air Force they lived in several areas around the U.S. until he went overseas and Vera made a home for them and their two children in Ringwood, Oklahoma. He passed away in 1960. Vera married Alfred Cross in 1962 and helped raise his small son as her own. Alfred passed away in 1978. She married Gerald McNickle in 1982. He passed away in 2011.

Vera was a member of Ringwood Presbyterian Church until it closed in 2011, when she became a member of the New Beginning Wesleyan Church until she moved to the retirement center in Enid where she began attending church. She was past Noble Grand of the Ringwood Rebecca Lodge. She worked at Enid State School, Hamm & Phillips Service, and Nichols Agency throughout her life. She was a member of the Ringwood Community Club and a member of the MARC Board, where she also volunteered to deliver meals to the homebound.

Vera moved to The Commons in Enid in March 2014 to an independent living apartment. There she found a calling to visit nursing home patients every evening. She moved in with her granddaughter in 2023 while continuing to frequent The Commons for worship, to play games with friends, get her hair done, and make visitations until the week before she passed away.

Surviving are her grandchildren: Troy Smith and wife Barbara of Tulsa, LaDonna Dennis of Enid, Tina Rion and husband Jim of Smyrna, Tennessee, Todd Harrelson and wife Dody of Clarkston, Washington, Twilla Case of Texas, Tammy Garner and husband Shane of Park City, Kansas, Kristina Easterday of Oklahoma City; sister, Donna Kuykendall of Cameron, Texas; numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren and even great-great-grandchildren; stepchildren: Judy Davidson and husband Boone, Alfred Chris Cross and wife Kaye, and Carol Nickel and husband Eldon; several step-grandchildren, with special mention of Linda Haines and husband Darrel and Cassie Lord and husband Billy.

She was preceded in death by her parents; three husbands; daughter, Sherill and her husband David; son, Danny and his wife Margaret; brothers, Virgil and Gene and their wives Dorothy and Betty; her sister's husband, Ed; infant brother, Elmer; infant sister, Dorothy; stepchildren, Richard, Joan and Francis.

Funeral service for Vera will be Saturday, November 9, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. at The Commons Chapel in Enid. Burial will be at 1:00 p.m. at Glenwood Cemetery, south of Ringwood. Viewing will be Friday from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. at Lanman Funeral Home in Helena. www.lanmanfuneralhome.com Facebook: Lanman Funeral Home Inc.

Memorials may be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital or Elara Caring Hospice Foundation.