Obituary of Cleo Akins

Cleo Ramona Akins was born November 21, 1920 in Topeka, Kansas to Louis and Ida (Spetter) Masching. She passed from this life on Friday, July 26, 2013, at age 92 in Tulsa. Cleo was raised and educated in Topeka, where she graduated from Topeka High School. Soon thereafter she moved to Tulsa where she worked as a Switchboard Supervisor at Bell Telephone Company. She loved to ballroom dance, often at Cain's Ballroom, where Earl first spotted her across the room and asked her to dance--the beginning of a long, cherished friendship and more than 50 years of marriage, until Earl's passing nearly ten years ago. She never stopped missing him. After their marriage, Cleo became a full time wife and mother, all the while supporting Earl in building his business, Akins and Fincannon Packing Company. They built a new home in Tulsa in 1959, the place Cleo loved and made wonderful memories until moving to The Villages Assisted Living, where she spent the last 15 months of her life. Earl and Cleo were charter members of Harvard Avenue Christian Church. In their later years they joined Victory Christian Center where they served as greeters for over ten years until health no longer allowed them to continue. But even after that, they both continued growing in their faith and trust in their Savior, Jesus Christ. Cleo made a priority of teaching her children high ethical and moral values, the very fiber of who she was. She was a strong, self-sufficient lady, known for her grace and generosity in many forms to many people. Cleo always had a kind word, a wit for saying or doing something funny to make friends and acquaintances laugh. She was affectionately named "Miss Cleo" by many in her elder years. She touched peoples' lives and shared her faith through love. The goodness and glory that Cleo carried in her heart clearly showed in her daily life. In earlier years, Cleo loved gardening, bird watching and holiday seasons that always included family dinners with her home fully decorated for the occasion. She became an accomplished cake decorator, creating cakes of all types for family and friends, including tiered wedding cakes for all three of her children. She is survived by her son Charles "Rick" Akins and wife Roz of Albuquerque, NM; daughter Cheryl Parsons and husband Randy of Norman, OK; daughter Helen Clark and husband Gene of Tulsa; five grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; and many beloved friends, some of whom considered her a second mother.