Obituary for Viva Dean "Deannie" Strickland
Viva Dean (Deannie) Strickland was born on July 21st 1940 to Arter and Hazel Thornton. When she was very young, her parents attended a revival meeting in Hebert Louisiana and gave their lives to God. When she was five years old, they were having family devotions and as she testified so many times, there was a glorious moment one night in family devotions, when she was filled with the Holy Ghost and shouted all over that house speaking in tongues. From that time on she was devoted to following her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and to putting into practice the precepts of His Word.
As she grew in her understanding of God’s Word, the Biblical teaching of “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” caused her to develop an intense desire to help people who are suffering; which inspired her to become a nurse. She graduated High School and pursued her vision to become a very proficient Registered Nurse. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” was the concept that guided her actions as a nurse for more than 40 years.
On March 30th 1962 she married the love of her life Jacob O'Neal Strickland. The young couple moved to California for a few months but soon decided that they needed to be in Louisiana. In her training years she worked in the emergency department of E. A. Conway Memorial Hospital in Monroe, LA. In the 1970s, when her children were small and as they grew, she worked at Glenwood Hospital in West Monroe. She was the head nurse on 6th floor (the cardiac ward there) for 12 years. After that, she worked in two different nursing homes: Shady Oaks Nursing Home and Riverside Nursing Home, both in Monroe, Louisiana. She and her husband Jacob Strickland were a team. He was the administrator and she was the Director of Nursing. Because of her intense care for patients and desire to “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”, she was a very strict Director of Nursing. She would slip into the facility at night to see if bedridden patients were turned in the correct positions and if they weren’t someone would be written up or fired. She was well loved by like minded health care workers who prioritized patient care as she did. At times she was despised by “health care professionals” who merely held the title but didn’t genuinely care about the patients. It was as though her patients were her very own family members. During those years in nursing homes, she began to study Alzheimer’s disease. At Shady Oaks Nursing Home, she opened the first Nursing Home Alzheimer’s unit in the state of Louisiana. After working in nursing homes for many years she worked as a home health nurse for St. Frances Hospital many more years.
She and Jacob raised their three children Maloy, Michael and Sonja in the fear and admonition of The Lord. Any night they were not otherwise involved in a church service they had family devotions with their children. Jacob would read a chapter from The Bible and afterward the family would all pray together just before going to bed. She and her husband were always providing transportation for people who didn’t have it to attend church in their vehicles. She sang alto in the church choir for many years, taught Sunday School, Bible classes, and children’s church in several different churches throughout the years of her life. Many times they hosted children’s evangelism events like Day Camps and Kids Clubs and church fellowship events in their barn and all over their property in West Monroe, LA. That desire to help others influenced her children. Maloy became a music teacher and father of their three precious grandchildren Jahzi, Lyric and Maloy II. Michael pastors a Hispanic mission and Sonja is married to the pastor of a Hispanic church and both are heavily involved in the work there.
She is preceded in death by her parents Arter Steven Thornton and Hazel Marie Monroe Thornton and by her brother Richard (Mahlon) Thornton. She is survived by her loving husband Jacob Strickland to whom she was married for 60 years 9 months and 23 days, her brothers Arnold Thornton and Clint Thornton, her son Maloy Strickland and wife Eunice and three grandchildren Jahzi, Lyric and Maloy II, her son Michael Strickland and wife Rebecca, her daughter Sonja Acevedo and husband Edwin, and by many nieces and nephews.
Pallbearers will be Edwin Acevedo, Jackson Miles, Nathan Miles, Russell Miles, Jorge Mosqueda, and Taylor Phillips. Honorary pallbearers will be Ezekiel Acevedo and Antonio Mosqueda.
SPECIAL THANKS to the staff of St. Joseph Hospice for their very special and compassionate care for her in this last year of her declining health.
As she grew in her understanding of God’s Word, the Biblical teaching of “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” caused her to develop an intense desire to help people who are suffering; which inspired her to become a nurse. She graduated High School and pursued her vision to become a very proficient Registered Nurse. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” was the concept that guided her actions as a nurse for more than 40 years.
On March 30th 1962 she married the love of her life Jacob O'Neal Strickland. The young couple moved to California for a few months but soon decided that they needed to be in Louisiana. In her training years she worked in the emergency department of E. A. Conway Memorial Hospital in Monroe, LA. In the 1970s, when her children were small and as they grew, she worked at Glenwood Hospital in West Monroe. She was the head nurse on 6th floor (the cardiac ward there) for 12 years. After that, she worked in two different nursing homes: Shady Oaks Nursing Home and Riverside Nursing Home, both in Monroe, Louisiana. She and her husband Jacob Strickland were a team. He was the administrator and she was the Director of Nursing. Because of her intense care for patients and desire to “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”, she was a very strict Director of Nursing. She would slip into the facility at night to see if bedridden patients were turned in the correct positions and if they weren’t someone would be written up or fired. She was well loved by like minded health care workers who prioritized patient care as she did. At times she was despised by “health care professionals” who merely held the title but didn’t genuinely care about the patients. It was as though her patients were her very own family members. During those years in nursing homes, she began to study Alzheimer’s disease. At Shady Oaks Nursing Home, she opened the first Nursing Home Alzheimer’s unit in the state of Louisiana. After working in nursing homes for many years she worked as a home health nurse for St. Frances Hospital many more years.
She and Jacob raised their three children Maloy, Michael and Sonja in the fear and admonition of The Lord. Any night they were not otherwise involved in a church service they had family devotions with their children. Jacob would read a chapter from The Bible and afterward the family would all pray together just before going to bed. She and her husband were always providing transportation for people who didn’t have it to attend church in their vehicles. She sang alto in the church choir for many years, taught Sunday School, Bible classes, and children’s church in several different churches throughout the years of her life. Many times they hosted children’s evangelism events like Day Camps and Kids Clubs and church fellowship events in their barn and all over their property in West Monroe, LA. That desire to help others influenced her children. Maloy became a music teacher and father of their three precious grandchildren Jahzi, Lyric and Maloy II. Michael pastors a Hispanic mission and Sonja is married to the pastor of a Hispanic church and both are heavily involved in the work there.
She is preceded in death by her parents Arter Steven Thornton and Hazel Marie Monroe Thornton and by her brother Richard (Mahlon) Thornton. She is survived by her loving husband Jacob Strickland to whom she was married for 60 years 9 months and 23 days, her brothers Arnold Thornton and Clint Thornton, her son Maloy Strickland and wife Eunice and three grandchildren Jahzi, Lyric and Maloy II, her son Michael Strickland and wife Rebecca, her daughter Sonja Acevedo and husband Edwin, and by many nieces and nephews.
Pallbearers will be Edwin Acevedo, Jackson Miles, Nathan Miles, Russell Miles, Jorge Mosqueda, and Taylor Phillips. Honorary pallbearers will be Ezekiel Acevedo and Antonio Mosqueda.
SPECIAL THANKS to the staff of St. Joseph Hospice for their very special and compassionate care for her in this last year of her declining health.