Arvilla R. Coy was born on December 19, 1925 to Croal Winslow Coy and Mary Devine Coy in Crawford County KS. Croal and Mary could not decide on a name so the doctor who delivered the baby girl asked if they would mind naming her Arvilla after his mother. They agreed on Arvilla……… but did not have a middle name. Arvilla’s older brother, Linn, wanted her to be named after his calf Rosalie so that was how Arvilla obtained the unique name that she was so proud of.
Arvilla’s family moved to the Milford area when she was very young and she continued to live there until her last years when she moved to Springfield to be near her daughter and grandchildren.
Arvilla attended Milford and Lamar High Schools. She attended State Teachers College in Springfield and obtained credentials to teach, which she did for one year. She opened a bank account at Lamar Trust Company to keep the checks she earned from teaching and kept that account until she passed away, a total of 72 years. She was very proud of the letter she received from the president of the bank, thanking her for her loyalty this past year.
Arvilla laughed and said she taught one year before they found out she couldn’t read and write, when in reality, she met and married the love of her life, Robert Daniel Rhyne on July 1, 1943.
Bob worked as an Extra Gang Foreman on the Frisco Railroad so off they went, living on the railroad. Their home was a railroad car with half of it being living quarters and the other half to haul Bob’s bulldozer when they moved to a different location.
November 19, 1949, their daughter Nancy was born so living on the railroad car was over and a small gulfstream was purchased for Arvilla and Nancy to live in while traveling with Bob. They also purchased a farm for $12.50 an acre where Bob planned to retire. Retire, yeah right! Bob worked tirelessly to make the farm better, picking up rocks, building fence, farming as best he could with the old farming equipment he had, raising pigs, cattle, chickens and selling hatching eggs.
Bob passed away in 1956 from Cancer. Because of his work all those years on the railroad, Arvilla and Nancy were blessed with help so they could remain on the farm that Bob and Arvilla loved so much. The help made it possible BUT Arvilla made it work. She milked cows, 16 by hand, no machines……that would ruin the cow. She raised chickens, until her asthma and hay fever made it necessary to sell them. With the help of her father, Croal, nephew James, and brother Wendell she and Nancy farmed the land, raising corn, milo, wheat, red top. They also changed from milking cows to raising beef cattle.
Arvilla loved having company, as she called it. Summers at her house found a whole passle of kids. The nieces and nephews who lived in Springfield, Tulsa, and Texas loved to come to Aunt Arvilla’s and would spend as much time as they could at her house during the summer. It was not unusual for her to have from 4 to 7 extra kids in the summer. With it being a three room house, it was a lot of togetherness. At night time, it was kids sleeping everywhere. She loved having them and took time to make their time with her special…….teaching them to drive “Henry”, riding in the back of the pickup, taking a pickup load of kids to the Barco drive-in. They never minded that they had to ride in the back, she didn’t have a car. It was a treat for them. These “town kids” didn’t get to do those things except at Aunt Arvilla’s.
Her doors were always open even when friends had to go to KC to work and their children needed a place to stay and go to school, Evelyn Young, Gail and Clea Winchell, or when her nephew Tom, his wife Wanda and baby needed a place to stay until they could get on their feet and get a house of their own in Lamar.
In 1967 after Nancy graduated from high school, Arvilla went to work at the Missouri State Hospital in Nevada. She drove the 70 miles a day for 20 years until her retirement in 1987. She was blessed to have two special ladies, Norma Jefferies and Emily Lewis, who shared that ride with her for some of those years.
After retirement, Arvilla enjoyed visiting her neighbors, family and friends and attending her grandson, Chad’s, ball games. When not visiting in person she was on the phone visiting with loved ones who lived away from her. She was the BIGGEST fan of the mobile phone with unlimited minutes after 7 PM and weekends. Her family who lived in different time zones would often get phone calls in the wee hours. SHE WAS UP and not thinking about time differences, SHE CALLED. Nephew Dean, who lived in Hawaii, knew when the phone rang at 4 AM, it was Aunt Arvilla.
SHE LOVED FAMILY, always up for hosting a family gathering, whether it was a family reunion, out of state relatives visiting or gathering to celebrate the life of a loved one who passed, Arvilla’s house was ground central. She always had plenty of hospitality, love and food to go around. Now you might need to check the date on anything that was in the refrigerator or cabinet before consuming. She wasn’t big on throwing ANYTHING away. And if she was out of an ingredient to make a dish she improvised. Her chicken enchilada’s were delicious until she was out of Milnot one time when her nephew Dean was visiting and she substituted Condensed Milk. Just didn’t taste the same but it was made with love. Her great niece Missy said Aunt Arvilla taught her the simple joy of quiet country and looking at stars. She also taught her how to catch catfish by feeding them every evening, it was AOkay to use coffee on grape nuts, when the milk is sour, and giving up is NOT an option.
Arvilla loved crocheting one of her masterpieces, quilting, and working outside. She continued crocheting until her eyesight failed but continued to wish she could until she passed.
Because of health reasons Arvilla moved to Springfield in 2007 and found what she said was the closest she could find to her farm, a duplex in a retirement community, with a little creek behind it and deer often in her back yard. One of her biggest joys while living there was having her friend Belle Sherron move two duplexes away. They were partners in crime the entire time Belle lived there.
Arvilla was preceded in death by husband Bob , parents Croal and Mary Coy, brothers Thornton, Wendell and Linn Coy, sisters Marie Bennett and Wanda Allman. She was also preceded in death by a step son, Thomas Daniel Rhyne, her extended family, Luther and Nancy Rhyne, Anna Leist, Evelyn Breeden and Virginia Breeden, who loved her like their daughter and sister.
Arvilla is survived by her daughter, Nancy and husband John, granddaughter Piper Michelle Schulte (Dan), grandson Chad Daniel Stills (Jennifer), step grandchildren Travis Daniel Rhyne (Noelle), Wendy Slayton (Michael) and Jill Johnson (Kevin). She is survived by great grandson Nicholas Stills, great granddaughters Kyla, Lakin and Brooklyn Schulte and 8 step great grandchildren. She is also survived by a special nephew, Jim Allman (Sharon), whom she loved like the son she never had, 13 other nieces and nephews and a host of friends.
Arvilla was baptized at an early age and was a member of the Nazerene Church but had attended the Newport Baptist Church in her later years.
She was one of a kind as her great nephew Chuck said, “she took no prisoners, made no excuses, did it her way and was never bashful about telling you what she thought.”
We will miss you Mom, Grandma, Granny, Aunt and Friend. Let the family reunion in heaven begin.
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