- Eva Marie Raymer was born during the Christmas season on a cold December night in 1930 to Moid and Alice Raymer - two people who some might have said were well past their child bearing years. She was a scrawny, underweight little baby. And as the story goes, her sister Flodie cried when she saw her.
The year before she was born the stock market had crashed, and by the time of her birth many U.S. banks were closing their doors. It was a bleak time for the country and her family was not spared from the poverty of the Great Depression. The Raymers struggled to eat. Mom told us one story about how her dad would bring home a squirrel he had shot for dinner and how she got to "hold it" and "rock it" before it was cooked. They lived on water biscuits, "poor man's spaghetti", and soup. And in spite of the hardship, she never spoke disparagingly about her life growing up. She only shared memories of love and goodness.
Marie's mother, Alice Long Raymer, was 39 years old and had already borne 5 children before having Marie. Marie had two older sisters, Maxine Raymer Hunter and Florine Raymer Miller; and two brothers, Vance Raymer and Moid Raymer, Jr. and a brother who lived only a few days. She told us many stories about how she was beloved by her brothers and how they would take her places and buy her goodies. They once treated her to the world's fair - the 1936 Texas Centennial Exposition at Fair Park in Dallas. They traveled in style on the trolley and had a budget of $.25.
Although the Raymers struggled, they were a hardworking, close, and loving family who instilled in her the values of faith, love and perseverance. Marie adored her daddy and momma. In her eyes, there was none better. In her adult years, she was especially close to her sister, Florine. She was her best friend and confidant. They are all gone now, having left this earth many years ago.
Mom told us about how her mother first introduced her to the love of Jesus when she was 3 years old. When she was 9 years old, she was baptized at the Baptist church. Mom was 12 when she first attended a Pentecostal church where her sister Florine had been saved. Florine was so enthusiastic about her salvation that she started taking mom there regularly. That church was The Gospel Lighthouse where she would meet her future husband, J.C. Hibbard, Jr. When Marie and "Sonny" first met, they were both 12 years old, and there is where her story begins.
Surrounded by her children and grandchildren, Eva Marie Hibbard 93, our beloved matriarch, passed away peacefully on June 17, 2024 in Oklahoma City in the family home she and her husband built in 1984.
For over 70 years Marie stood as a pillar of strength and grace beside her husband, J.C. Hibbard, a devoted pastor. Marie tended to the spiritual needs of her church family with an open, caring heart and a nurturing spirit. Her life was a testament to selfless service embodying the role of pastor's wife with unwavering devotion and kindness.
Marie's legacy of love is carried forward by her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.
Marie is survived by her children: Judith Hibbard, Bruce Hibbard and his wife, Julie; Sandy Hibbard, and Elizabeth Hibbard Speegle and husband Randy; and by her grandchildren: Nikki Garland, Melissa Hibbard Rahmanian and her husband Hamid; Joshua Judkins and his wife April, Sarah Judkins Goode and her husband Josh, Zachary Speegle and his wife Malak, and Jake Speegle and his wife Kirsten; lastly, by her great grandchildren: Christian Garland, Sophie Rahmanian, Eliana Goode, Edie Goode, Vance Goode, and Scott Speegle.
Preceding Marie in death are her husband, J.C. Hibbard, Jr., her parents, Moid and Alice Raymer, siblings Maxine Hunter, Vance Raymer, Florine Miller and Moid Raymer, Jr., and grandchildren, Joseph Cotton and Melanie Hibbard.
Marie Hibbard was a gift and a treasure to all who were blessed enough to know her; her life was a testament to the enduring power of faith, family and unconditional love. Full of warmth and generosity, she lived her life of 93 years to the fullest. While her passing leaves a profound sense of loss, her spirit endures and lives on in the lives and hearts of her family and dear friends.
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