Irene Berneice Tillman

Irene Berneice (Schwartz) Tillman, mother and pianist, passed away peacefully in Tulsa, Oklahoma on April 11, 2016 at the age of 97. She was born in Medford, Oklahoma November 26, 1918 to Zella and Peter Schwartz. She had one brother, Channing Schwartz, and two sisters, Elizabeth Schwartz Hein and Ruth Schwartz Adams. Her father was the town dentist in Medford.

Irene earned the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Music Education from The University of Oklahoma in 1940. At O.U., she met Thomas Hayden Tillman and they were married in Charleston, South Carolina onboard a naval ship, during Tom’s service to the Navy in World War II. They followed his career as a geophysicist for Sun Oil Company, and lived in Texas and Mississippi until settling in Tulsa in 1968. Tom worked for Sun and retired with Oklahoma Natural Gas in Tulsa. Irene and Tom raised four children, Peter, Robert, Eloise and Holly. Irene taught piano lessons in the afterschool hours for neighborhood children from the 1960’s until late 1990’s. She began teaching in Jackson, Mississippi and continued in Tulsa. She was chairperson of The Music Teachers Guild of Tulsa from 1995 until 2002. She gave her children and grandchildren the gift of music, teaching them to play the piano.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Tom in 2000 and her son, Peter in 2013. She is survived by her son, Robert Tillman and his wife, Loretta of Brooklyn, NY; and daughters, Eloise Tillman of Brooklyn, NY; and Holly Ventle and her husband, Danny of Tulsa; four grandchildren, Danielle Dhiab and her husband, Ben of Montreal, Hillary Ventle and Tommy Ventle of Tulsa, and Alice Tillman of Brooklyn, NY; and one great granddaughter, Layla Dhiab of Montreal.

Irene was a very good and very dedicated mother; she lived a long, healthy and fulfilling life. A funeral service will be held 2:00 PM Friday, April 15, 2016 at Memorial Park Cemetery Chapel. Friends may contribute in Irene’s memory to Tulsa Jewish Retirement Center Health Care, 2025 E. 71st St., Tulsa, OK, 74136.