Emma Jo Seabourn Hilliard, 94, of Pauls Valley, Oklahoma, formerly of Lindsay, Oklahoma, passed from this life into the arms of Jesus on August 10, 2022. She was born in Pecos, Texas to Joe Delano Seabourn and Leta P. Mount Seabourn on April 18, 1928.
At the age of 12, Emma Jo’s family moved to Grove, Oklahoma, where she graduated from high school. She attended Peru University in Nebraska and Northeastern Oklahoma State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, each for one year.
Emma Jo met J.C. (Tinker) Hilliard and they were married in Grove, Oklahoma, on September 5, 1950. They were the center of each other’s lives until his passing in 1998.
Emma Jo was a homemaker and the bookkeeper for the family business, Hillard Trucking Company, in Lindsay. She was a life-long member of the First United Methodist Church and taught Sunday school for many years. Moving to Pauls Valley in 1996, she attended the Pauls Valley United Methodist Church and was a member of the Crusaders Sunday School Class.
Her hobbies included hosting family reunions, knitting, crocheting, and reading. She was an avid speed-reader, capable of reciting by memory every detail.
Emma Jo was survived by two loving daughters and their families, Linda Hilliard Work and Stan Work and Emily Hilliard Spence and her husband, Larry; grandchildren, Beth Work Alkuhiani and her husband, Mohammed, Jarod Work and his wife, Autumn, Marie Hadfield and her partner, Chris Keeno, Jennifer Work Hayes and her husband, Justin, Amanda Riddle, Diana Clampitt and her husband, Brad; great-grandchildren, Madison Riddle Stucks and her husband, Kurry, Maci Riddle, Jake Clampitt, Garrett Haynes, Rose Haynes, Jenna Hadfield and Caycen Work; and by many nieces and nephews whom she adored.
Emma Jo was preceded in death by her husband, Tinker Hilliard; brothers, Ed Seabourn, Herbert Seabourn, Joe T. Seabourn and Jerry C. Seabourn; and sisters, Kathryn Southard and Helen Seabourn Lee.
Funeral services Tuesday, August 16, at the First United Methodist Church, with Pastor Angie Flemming officiating. Interment followed in the Mt. Olivet Cemetery under the direction of Wooster Funeral Home.
Memorials may be made to The Oklahoma Medical Research Facility at http:// gift.omrf.org/give/384655/#!/donation/checkout or to The First United Methodist Church in Pauls Valley, 401 N. Willow, Pauls Valley, Oklahoma 73075.
