Delila Henning

Delila “Dee” Henning died peacefully in the presence of her daughter on Monday evening, March 17, 2025, at a hospice care facility in Owasso, Okla. She was 89 years old.

She was born Delila Buller to Leo L. and Tillie Harms Buller on Sept. 17, 1935, in Cordell, Okla., — the oldest of five children.

Dee was raised on the family wheat farm near the German Mennonite community of Bessie, Okla., not far from Herold Mennonite Church where the Bullers attended regularly and where she was baptized in 1948.

She first learned to speak English when she began first grade at McKinley Elementary School in Cordell. She attended high school and graduated from Oklahoma Bible Academy in Meno, Okla, in 1953. Dee attended college at Grace Bible Institute in Omaha, Neb. where she earned a certificate in Christian Education in 1956. She completed her education at Enid (Okla.) General Hospital School of Nursing to become an RN (registered nurse) in 1959.

She married Guy Eugene Henning on Dec. 27, 1959, and the couple had two children, daughter Sheryl Renee Henning and son Jeffrey Scott Henning.

Dee and her husband’s dual medical careers took them across the country, including Little Rock, Ark, and Key West, Fla. where her husband, now Dr. Henning, served as a U.S. Navy Flight Surgeon. Other locations included Stillwater, Okla., Chattanooga, Tenn., Pensacola Fla., San Antonio, Tex., McAllen, Tex., Reno, Nev., Bristol, Tenn., and eventually Tulsa, Okla.

While living in Texas, the couple enjoyed flying their single-engine private aircraft on family vacations and weekend outings, as well as on several medical mission trips. In their later years, Guy and Dee owned and operated a cattle ranch outside of Fairfax, Okla., where they hosted numerous holiday gatherings with their children, grandchildren, parents, siblings, and many close friends.

While in Fairfax, they were members of First Osage Baptist Church, sang in the church choir, and taught Sunday school classes. In addition to overseeing a small herd of Hereford cattle at their ranch and riding her John Deere tractor, Dee had several personal interests, including baking extraordinary blackberry cobblers, loaves of whole wheat bread, and famous cinnamon rolls, and also entering award-winning sewing projects in county fair competitions.

After retirement, they sold their ranch and lived for a time in Owasso. The couple were wed for nearly 59 years when Dr. Henning died in 2018. Dee spent her final years living in Ft. Worth, Tex., to be close to her son’s family, and then finally in Tulsa.

Dee was preceded in death by her parents and her husband. She is survived by her daughter Sheryl Rush and husband Christopher of Tulsa; son Jeffrey Henning and his wife Susie of Tulsa; grandson Evan Rush and his wife Julia of Tulsa; granddaughter Elizabeth Rush of Amarillo, Tex.; granddaughter Savanna Faith Watson and her husband Riley of Tulsa; and grandson Jacob Henning of Fort Worth, Tex.

She is also survived by her four siblings: brother Ronald Buller and his wife Ruth, of Oklahoma City, Okla.; sister Delphia Andrews of Wellington, Kan.; sister Viletta Schmidt and her husband Willis of Prosper, Tex.; and sister Leota Harms and her husband Larry of Newton, Kan.; as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

Viewing will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Friday, March 21, 2025, at First Osage Baptist Church, 236 S. Main Street in Fairfax, Okla., followed by the Funeral service at 2 p.m. Burial will follow the service at Fairfax Cemetery, 600 S. 8th St. Arrangements are under the direction of Hunsaker-Wooten Funeral Home of Fairfax, Okla. Leave a condolence or memory at: www.hunsakerwootenfuneralhome.com