Georgia (Dolly) Anne Mershon O’Hare

Georgia (Dolly) Anne Mershon O’Hare, 96, passed away peacefully on

April 17, 2020, in Marlow, Oklahoma, with family at her side.

Due to the continuing health crisis, a memorial service in Georgia’s honor

will take place at a later date at the Marlow First United Methodist Church.

Please check the funeral home website for updates. Cremation and other

arrangements have been entrusted to the Callaway-Smith-Cobb Funeral

and Cremation Services in Marlow.

In 1907, Georgia’s maternal grandmother, Dolly Van Cleave, purchased

160 acres in the Fort Sill Wood Reserve west of Marlow and moved her

family there from Missouri. Georgia was born to Edna (nee Van Cleave)

and Vance Mershon at the family homestead on November 28, 1923.

Weighing only 3 pounds at birth, they nicknamed her Dolly after her

grandmother. She and her sister Polly grew up helping their parents on the

farm. They “walked a mile and three quarters” (as she was fond of saying)

to the Oak Lawn School through 8th grade and then caught the bus to

Marlow High. After high school, Georgia graduated from Cameron State

Agricultural College with an Associate in Science degree (1943), then

attended the University of Oklahoma, graduating in 1945 with a BA in

Library Science. She finished a second BA in Spanish at OU by

correspondence (1950). Her first job as a librarian was at the University of

Nevada in Reno, Nevada. From there she went to Missouri and worked as

a Bookmobile Librarian, performing outreach and bringing books to

communities across the region.

In 1951 she left Missouri to become a librarian with the U.S. Civil Service

and was initially stationed in Bad Nauheim, Germany. While there, she met

her future husband, Joe O’Hare from Brooklyn, New York, a U.S. Army

First Lieutenant also stationed in Germany. They married in April 1954 after

they both returned to the States. They lived in Norman while Joe attended

the University of Oklahoma School of Architecture, and then moved to

Valley Stream, Long Island, NY, ultimately settling in Midland Park, NJ, in

1965.

Georgia became a single mother with 2 children still at home when Joe lost

his battle with cancer in 1978. In 1991, after more than 25 years in Midland

Park, where she developed strong bonds in the community and many great

friends, she retired back to her roots and lifelong friends in Marlow.

Never one to sit idle, Georgia was involved in many activities. In New

Jersey, she was employed for one year as the first elementary school

librarian in Midland Park. She was also a Sunday school teacher with the

Midland Park United Methodist Church, a member of the Friends of the

Midland Park Library, and she played in a weekly community bowling

league (her team was two time champions!). When she moved back to

Marlow, she founded the Tat and Chat Club at the Garland Smith Library

so she could learn to tat and meet new friends. She was also a member of

the Friends of the Garland Smith Library, the First United Methodist

Church, United Methodist Women, the Neighborly Club, and was a long-

standing Board Member of the Oak Lawn Community Center.

Survivors include son Michael (Joan) Descovich O’Hare of Westford,

Massachusetts, daughters Anne (John) Morris of Edmond, Oklahoma,

Margaret O’Hare (Peter van Noort) of Arlington, Texas, and Carolyn

(Steve) Shimoda of Houston, Texas; grandchildren Meagan (Joe) Stella,

Caitlin Descovich O’Hare (fiancé Nathan Berner-Potts), Kerianne (Sameer)

Hasan, Jennifer (Seth) Collier, Brian (Katherine) Morris, Laura (Tyler)

Young, Christopher Morris, Hilary van Noort, Nathan van Noort, Erin

Shimoda, Kelsey Shimoda, and Lindsey Shimoda; great-grandchildren Lilly

and Claire Hasan, Levi, Benjamin and Henry Collier; sister Polly Pope of

Manhattan, Kansas; 11 nieces and nephews and many great-nieces and

nephews.

Georgia is preceded in death by husband Joseph Aloysius O’Hare, parents

Edna and Vance Mershon, and brothers-in-law Bill Pope, Bob O’Hare, and

Gene O’Hare.

Georgia was passionate about her family history, the local history of

Stephens County, her wildflowers, and her dogs. Consider local historical

societies, nature preserves, animal shelters, the Oak Lawn Community

Center, or the First United Methodist Church in Marlow if interested in

making a donation in her memory.