Sydney Jill Elston

Sydney Jill Wheatley was born in Shattuck, Oklahoma on April 14, 1964, to Billy Lynn Wheatley and Audrey Joan (Howard) Wheatley. She was the youngest of two children. Jill attended Darrouzett ISD for all but one year of her primary school years. The family moved to Perryton, Texas in 1974, and Jill attended Perryton ISD for her fifth-grade school year. After a year, the family moved back to Darrouzett.

Upon graduation from Darrouzett High School in 1982, Jill married Eric Elston of Forgan, Oklahoma. To this union was born Louis Wayne Elston. By the end of 1985, Jill and Eric had divorced, and Jill, who was employed at the time by Home Petroleum in Beaver, took a transfer to the Geary/El Reno office. In late 1987, Home Petroleum had hit financial problems and as the newest hire, Jill was laid off. Jill and Louis moved to Darrouzett, Texas. Jill began working for Howard Drilling Company in Beaver, Oklahoma, and continued for nine years, before taking a job working for Booker Packing. After a year and a half, Jill began a twenty-plus year career at BP Amoco/BP/BPX in Perryton, Texas. Jill worked there until the closing of the Perryton office and then worked remotely from home out of the Houston office. Upon BPX’s sale of the Texas Panhandle assets, Jill began working as the Business Secretary for Darrouzett ISD in early 2021.

Jill had a passion for Sudoku, crosswords, architecture, log cabins, art, and quilts.

Sydney Jill (Wheatley) Elston 57, of Darrouzett, Texas, died on January 2, 2022, in Liberal, Kansas after a turbulent two-and-a-half-month-long battle with COVID-19 and subsequent complications.

Jill was preceded in death by her grandparents, Rodney and Wilma (McCrory) Wheatley and Alva Sr. and Leona (Mills) Howard, as well as her father Bill Wheatley.

She is survived by her son, Louis Wayne Elston of Darrouzett, Texas; Mother Audrey Wheatley of Darrouzett, Texas; Brother Brad Wheatley of Los Cabos, Mexico; her bonus grandsons, and many other beloved relatives and friends.