Nina M. Aikman, 94, of Greenville, formerly of Honey Bend, died Friday, Oct. 23, 2020, at Greenville Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Greenville.
Visitation will be held Saturday, Oct. 31, from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at Smith Grove Baptist Church in Greenville. Funeral services will follow at 11 a.m. at the church with Pastor Matt Mendenhall officiating. Social distancing and masks will be required. Interment will follow at 2 p.m. in Honey Bend Cemetery, north of Litchfield. Donnell-Wiegand Funeral Home in Greenville is assisting the family.
Mrs. Aikman was born Jan. 7, 1926, in Honey Bend, to John and Nona (Mitchell) Crawford. She married her childhood sweetheart, Eugene Wallis Aikman, on Dec. 22, 1946, when he was home on furlough from the Navy, and he preceded her in death in December 1980.
She attended a one-room schoolhouse until going to Litchfield High School, where she was valedictorian for the class of 1944. In 1948, she graduated with a BS in education from SIU with high honors and a GPA of 4.94. While at SIU, she was active with the Baptist Student Union and continued going to their reunions for many years.
In 1950, she and her husband grew roots in Greenville, buying a house on what was then the outskirts of town. She was the home economics teacher at Greenville High School, and substituted many years after. She served in the welfare office and housing office. In December of 1967, after many applications and interviews, she and her husband adopted their first daughter, Patricia Marie.
She was active in many organizations, and was chosen to be a state delegate for the National 4-H Club Congress, even meeting Gene Autry. She met many of her lifelong friends through the Southern Baptist Women’s Missionary Union (WMU) and Farm Bureau Home Extension.
One of the oldest living members at her church, her devotion was truly seated at Smith Grove Baptist Church, where she served as Sunday school teacher, Vacation Bible school teacher and volunteer, church librarian, deacon’s wife, and often sang in the choir, being a member for over 65 years. In almost every conversation she mentioned her deep-rooted faith and dedication to serving her Lord and Savior. She was equally devoted to her family, serving as the family historian for both sides of the Crawford and Aikman lineage, researching bits of the genealogy back to the early 1700s.
An avid gardener, she distributed many of her jellies, flowers and plants to visitors.
She is survived by her daughters, Patricia Marie Aikman of Lago Vista, TX, and Regina of Kentucky; grandchildren, Crystal Dian Claxton, Robin Meredith Potter and Mary Cooper Elwood; seven great-grandchildren, Lillian Marie, Andrew and Aevalyn Grace, Harlie, Bently and Mallory Matthews, and newcomer, Frances Elwood,Jr.
In addition to her parents and husband, she was preceded in death by sister, Etta Marie Crawford in 1918.
Memorials may be made to the Smith Grove Baptist Church.
Online condolences may be left at www.donnellwiegand.com.
