Vivian Rose (Batchelor) Benge, age 85, passed from this life on September 1, 2021 at the Hospice House in Oklahoma City. Vivian was born on December 1, 1935; the 2nd of six children born to Clyde Montgomery Batchelor and Lillie Lucile (Tidwell) Batchelor in DeKalb, Texas. Her early years were spent working in the fields on her parents' farm, attending school, and caring for her younger brother and sisters. Her early experiences on the farm had significant impact on her and she developed life-long characteristics of quiet strength, determination, and fortitude and a strong distaste for dirt and chicken feathers. She graduated from James Bowie High School in 1953 and attended business school in Texarkana, Texas. She married Ronald Merrell in 1954 and spent the next 16 years as an Air Force wife at military bases in Texas, Delaware, New Jersey, Alabama, and Oklahoma. While in Oklahoma she became a single parent, raising her 4 children. She studied and became a realtor and later a secretary with a long career in the Department of Human Services. She met William (Bill) Ray Benge at a Solo Club dance and they married in 1973; embarking on a 46-year relationship that lasted until Bill's death in April 2019. They made a home on an acreage south of Noble where Bill gardened and MacGyvered in his shop and on the farm while Vivian mowed and maintained a yard where twigs were immediately snatched up and weeds dared not grow. Anyone who knew the couple saw how fiercely devoted they were to each other despite their frequent squabbles over the thermostat. Vivian was also a beloved grandmother and was blessed with many grandchildren by blending the families of her 4 children and Bill's 4 children. After Bill's death at the age of 90, Vivian moved to Yukon, Oklahoma. Although she was no longer able to mow, she was an avid Sooner Fan (Boomer, Sooner!), enjoyed spending more time with family members, reading Danielle Steele novels, eating at Catfish Cove, keeping up with the news, weather, and current events, and never missing an episode of Jeopardy or Wheel of Fortune. She was meticulous about her appearance and visited the beauty shop twice a week for more than 50 years.

Vivian was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Bill, her brother Billy Wayne Batchelor, her sister Teresa Moody, her daughter Sherri Merrell, her son David Merrell and grandsons Aaron Schwartz and Jeff McCoy. She is survived by her sisters Verna Hawkins and Merna Snow, brother Johnny Batchelor and wife Pauline, daughter Debbie Schwartz and husband Mark, son Michael Merrell, bonus children Genese McCoy and husband Pat, James Benge and wife Susan, and a great many loving grandsons, granddaughters, great grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

Brief graveside services will be led by Pastor Mike Butler at Noble IOOF Cemetery (8399 Main Street/Highway 77 Noble, OK 73068) Saturday morning at 10:00 am. With the Oklahoma summer heat, casual dress is fine. Vivian was a big believer in doing her part in the fight against CoVid, so in her honor, the family requests masks be worn.