Naomi (Tootie) Maxine Batson was born August 4, 1929, in Winters, California, and passed away July 23, 2015, at Mercy Hospital. Naomi was one of seven children. Her family moved back to Enid, Oklahoma, about a year after she was born. Her father, Leo Brewer, drove a truck and raised cattle, and her mother, Martha, was a homemaker. Her family was dirt poor but they always managed to have food on the table. It was during the depression when times were rough for a lot of families. Naomi only graduated from eighth grade. She worked at a drugstore in her teens and married James (J.E.) Lyon when she was young. J.E. was a bricklayer and tried to provide for his family, but had a problem with alcohol. They lived in Texas for a short time, and he had tried to persuade her to move to Australia, but she didn’t want to move that far away. She had three children from this union. She worked at Bond Bakery, Newman’s Department Store, and started a successful floral business, Lyon Florists, while she was married to J.E. It was while she was working at Champlin Petroleum that she met her second husband, Galen Ware, whose parents owned a Champlin station in Osceola, Iowa. She had been planning to divorce J.E because he was abusive to her and her children. Galen and Tootie developed a romance by phone, married, and she moved to Osceola with her youngest daughter. He had three girls of his own to raise because his wife had died. She described him as “the love of her life.” She got a job at the bank in Osceola, and enjoyed painting the walls of their home with colorful paint. They ended up moving to Springfield, Missouri, after Galen wanted to escape the cold winters in Iowa. Naomi began working at Missouri State University in the Bursar’s office. They were planning on retiring and traveling, but Galen died in 1989 after developing a staph infection during surgery. Naomi then retired early from Missouri State to assist Galen’s mother who was in ill health, but that did not work out, and she always regretted quitting her job at MSU. The house where she and Galen had lived burned to the ground not long after that due to some faulty electrical work. So she moved to a smaller home in Quail Creek and entertained her grandkids during summers at the pool area. She was lonely, however, and decided to start dating. She met Howard Wayne Batson from Billings who was divorced from his wife. They married, and she sold her home and moved to Billings. He had four sons who had not spoken to him since his divorce. Naomi was able to reconcile their differences, but she didn’t know that would work against her later on. After Howard died in 2010, they inherited his house. She was in the process of buying a house in Springfield for her and Sidney to live in when she died.

Naomi loved to dance, garden, paint pictures, take photographs, sew, and cook meals big enough for an Army. She had many friends over the years.
She is survived by her children Danny Lyon and wife Jan of Bristow, Oklahoma; Becky Cook, Battlefield, Missouri and Sidney Lisa Lyon of Springfield, Missouri; stepchildren Ann Ware and Katy & Gary Jamison of Osceola, Iowa; and Howard’s four sons and their families. She is also survived by her sister, Norma (Shorty) Hatfield, of Enid, Oklahoma; and brother Dr. Jess Brewer and wife Katy of Enid, Oklahoma. She is survived by grandchildren Ben Lyon of San Pedro, California; Elizabeth Lyon (and her daughter Kalee) of Edmond, Oklahoma; Chris Lyon of Florida; Galen’s and Howard’s grandchildren, etc.

Preceding her in death were her parents and brothers Ralph, Wayne, and Ira Dale (died at infancy); and sister Dorothy Carner (Mrs. Maynard); grandson Jason Cook of Bellingham, Washington; and stepdaughter Polly Ware of Texas.

Naomi will be buried alongside her beloved Galen at the Springfield National Cemetery with no services planned at this time. Memorial donations may be made to the Alzheimer's Association, the American Heart Association, or The American Cancer Society.

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