Helen Jewel (O'Neal) Baird

Helen Jewel (O’Neal) Baird, age 87 and a former resident of Asher, Oklahoma, passed away Thursday, November 12, 2015 at Burford Manor in Davis, Oklahoma. Funeral services are scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Tuesday, November 17, 2015 at the First Baptist Church of Asher, Oklahoma under the direction of Swearingen Funeral Home of Konawa, Oklahoma.  Earl Blankenship and Lester Robbins will officiate.  Burial will follow at Wanette Cemetery.  Pallbearers are Johnny Warren, Ronny Nail, Jeff Doss, Shane Nail, Brian Bruno, and Michael Baird. Helen was born August 20, 1928 in Stilwell, Oklahoma to John D. O’Neal and Lucinda Ann (Kumpe) O’Neal.  She married Curtis Baird on August 24, 1951 in Van Buren, Arkansas.  She was a long-time member of the Maxwell Holiness Church near Ada, Oklahoma, and she was a resident of Asher for forty-one years.  Helen instilled in her children a love for books which created avid readers.  She loved gardening, crocheting, and rock collecting.  She also enjoyed flowers and being in the great outdoors.  Helen was a loving mother, grandmother, and great grandmother with an independent, adventurous spirit, quick wit, and a love for laughter. She is survived by one son, Ernest Baird of Asher; two daughters, Brenda Warren and husband, Johnny of Hennepin, Oklahoma, and Peggy Nail and husband, Ronny of Asher; five grandchildren, Tabatha Doss and husband, Jeff of Hennepin, Shane Nail and wife, Lanita of Midwest City, Oklahoma, Brian Bruno of Shawnee, Oklahoma, Nicki Mills and husband, Shane of Prague, Oklahoma, and Michael Baird of Ada; seven great grandchildren, Tucker and Maycee Doss of Hennepin, Daniel,Isabel, and Ansel Downum of Midwest City, Deven Mills of Paden, Oklahoma, and Alex Mills of Prague, Oklahoma; one brother, LeeRoy O’Neal of Asher, and a host of family and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents, John and Lucinda O’Neal; her husband of sixty years, Curtis Ernest Baird; two sons, James David and Ralph Eugene Baird; one grandson, Jimmy Wayne Baird; three brothers, Ralph, Hurshel, and Harley O’Neal; and three sisters, Mirt Cole, Nellie Orr, and Charlotte Raines. The family wishes to express a special “Thank you” for the wonderful care given Helen by Cross Timbers Hospice and Burford Manor.   Donations can be made to Cross Timbers Hospice, 207 C Street NW, Ardmore, Oklahoma 73401. Funeral Information: November 17, 2015, 2:00 PM First Baptist Church of Asher, Oklahoma under the direction of Swearingen Funeral Home of Konawa located at 217 N. Broadway, Konawa, OK 74849