Gracie Pearl Haskins was born July 8, 1926, in Paducah, Texas, to Odis and Flossie Merrill. She died August 20, 2018, in the Community Health Center in Wakita, Oklahoma.

Gracie was raised in Cherokee, Oklahoma. She worked as a "fountain girl" at Smith Drug Store and at JC Penny's. In January 1945, she moved to Kansas City where she worked for Trans World Airlines (TWA). During World War II she made parachutes and jungle hammocks.

Gracie and Homer Haskins met in Cherokee, Oklahoma, and dated about a year. They were married September 15, 1947, in Cherokee. Their first home was in Conway, Missour...