Nell Willetta Horner

Courtesy of Tribune Staff Photos (Thursday April 6, 1944)

Nell Willetta Horner was born on the 26th of April 1914 in Centralia, Illinois. She died on the 17th of June 2005 and her grave is in the Mountain View Cemetery in Reno, Nevada.

Her father was William Horner (1882 – 1948) and her mother was Mary Ahlers Horner (1884–1944). Willetta had three brothers and one sister: Eurice Horner (1906–1977), Eunice Horner (1908–1996), Paul Horner (1910–1988), and John Horner (1917–1995). She graduated at the age of 18 from Centralia Township High School in 1932.

Horner met Carolann Smith who was using the alias Meredith Fontane in 1938 at the Aiken's grocery store on West Second Street in Tulsa.

Horner became friends with Mrs. Smith and later moved in with her at the Sophian Plaza Park. In 1939 the manager of the Sophian Plaza Park raised the rent for Carolann Smith because she was three months past due. He wanted her to make a payment amount of four months for her to be current.

Mrs. Smith had Willetta find them another place to live and Willetta found a rent home where the three woman stayed temporarily. Willetta eventually found the duplex at 10 East 21st Street and the three women moved and lived there for the next five years.

After the arrest of Mrs. Smith in March of 1944 Willetta moved to Tucson, Arizona. In 1950 she moved to Boston where she meet Lyman Nickell. Willetta and Lyman married on Sunday, March 5, 1950. The marriage only lasted a few years and ended in divorce.

Willetta moved back to Centralia, Illinois. She married Theodore Lindsay (1904-1973) on January 19, 1958 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Theodore Lindsay who died in 1973. Her final and third marriage was to William Harvey on Monday, May 15, 1978. Willetta Horner Harvey died on the 17th of June 2005 in Reno, Nevada.

Note to readers: We have made our best effort to provide the most accurate information about the history of the Hex House of Tulsa. We collected newspaper articles, researched genealogy, and historical documents like marriage licenses, census information, city directories, and draft cards.