This week’s blog post is going to seem a little all over the place but really, it’s a story of a little bit of divine intervention, God’s will and plan, and a story bigger than us all.
We’re starting the story with local Dr. Wanda Omatine (Price) Milburn who was born February 3, 1927, in what was Indian Territory (Maysville, Oklahoma) and later moved west to New Mexico during the Dust Bowl era. Wanda was the first woman to enter the PhD program at the University of Michigan, deeply involved herself in hearing sciences, enhanced the English language, held various patents, worked for NASA, ran a lab with equipment donated by Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, created and coded a two handed alphabet system, even more effective than ASL, thus carrying forward the work of Alexander Graham Bell. Wanda passed November 14, 2024, at the age of 97, she was a truly REMARKABLE woman!
Wanda’s life connected academia, local heritage, and community investment in West Texas. By returning to Vega and helping preserve a historic building for a museum, she anchored her legacy in place as much as in her professional field. Her story is one of bridging national level achievement with local roots and giving back to her community.
The Milburn – Price Culture Museum (Wanda’s Name Sake) was previously the home of Western Lumber & Hardware Co. (1926) and then Roark & Sons Hardware (1958). The museum seeks to educate the public and travelers of the history and culture of the Oldham County area with its more than “glass case” hands on experiences for visitors of all ages. From local Texas Panhandle history, small-town culture, vintage vehicles, the legacy of route 66, the museum offers an immersive experience rather than only passive displays. If you’re around on a weekday morning, I recommend stopping by for a cup of coffee and a tale from the “local liars club”.
One of the visitors that have passed through the doors of the Milburn-Price Culture Museum is author Keith E. Smith. In the Summer of 2019, Keith had spent time in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado with a group of writers searching for inspiration when they settled for the night in an Airbnb right here in Vega. As the sun rose on our quite little town, the beauties began to reveal themselves. The Courthouse and Magnolia Service Station flashing a glimpse of historic days past before all the attention was captured by the mural of Comancheros and Comanche people trading on the side of the museum. As the group of writers toured the museum, they were shown yet another captivating and beautiful mural, one painted of Valerie Doshier.
Keith parted ways with the group of authors and headed west towards family but couldn’t get the mural or the feeling he felt out of his head and heart, so he did what any writer would do and blogged about it. That blog about a beautiful mural in a small-town museum led to regular correspondence with D’Ann Swain (Valerie’s Mother) and later turned into Nowhere Near the Middle: The Life Story of Valerie Doshier.
“Through her story, I found my own renewed purpose. Valerie had lived with a fierce love for life and people, and through her, I began to see what it truly meant to live with intention.
When the book was finished, Vega came alive once again. What was supposed to be a small book signing turned into a town-wide art show and celebration that drew hundreds of people. It was a night filled with laughter, tears, and music, a fitting tribute to the woman who had quietly changed so many lives, including mine.”
6 years later, Keith has become a part of our community, you can find him lending a helping hand at the museum, Mama Jo’s, or anywhere he can be of service. He has helped me build this blog into what is today and been my editor to make sure this wanna be writer doesn’t sound too bad before I publish!
All of this to say, God’s plan, divine intervention, call it what you will, but everything happens for a reason and we all cross paths with who we are intended to, and life is truly a beautiful thing.
I have linked his personal blog below if you would like to go check out his post about Valerie or any of his others (which I highly recommend, he has also written about Richard Sandoval and Imogene Galbraith).
Straight Up Living Blog about Valerie
Straight Up Living Blog about Imogene