Wanda O. Milburn

Dr. Wanda Omatine (Price) Milburn, 97 

February 3, 1927 - November 12, 2024

Matriarch, educator of the deaf, philanthropist, professional coffee drinker & gifted storyteller, Dr. Wanda (Price) Milburn, died after nearly a century of capturing the attention of everyone around her. Wanda, always a trendsetter, was known for many things including her impeccable style and unique approach to life. A collector of various and interesting artifacts, Wanda’s house is certainly the only place that one might stumble upon a whale vertebrae doubling as an end table in a room illuminated by a lamp derived from a camel bladder. 

Wanda was born in Indian territory in Maysville, Oklahoma to Tom and Ida (née Plaster) Price. When a drought made the land uninhabitable, Tom and Ida moved their family west to New Mexico, a weeks-long journey. This move, followed by the Dust Bowl and the great depression, created a woman with a patient and determined spirit who never shied away from a challenge or took ‘no’ for an answer. 

After earning her PhD in hearing science at the University of Michigan, Wanda became the first woman to work as a faculty member in the University's Special Education Department. Wanda continued to work with the deaf, both in Michigan and Amarillo, Texas until 2012. Despite opposition to her innovative signing system and unconventional educational methods for the deaf, Wanda remained committed to her students. Her dedication to the deaf community gave children the tools to succeed and allowed them the opportunity to become integral members of society without sacrificing their identity or space within the deaf community. As former student Sarah Elisabeth Clark shares, ‘She gave us the keys to our own lives.”

Wanda and Braxton returned to Vega in the 1980s to see her mother through her final days and remained in Vega until her death. Wanda loved West Texas and was steadfast in ensuring the opportunity for others to embrace the beauty and wonder that the Panhandle holds. In 2014, Wanda donated the ‘Western Lumber and Hardware’ building on Route 66 to the city of Vega to allow for the founding of the Milburn-Price Culture Museum, a project that brought her immense joy in the last decade of her life. Wanda’s commitment to preserving the land and architecture of Oldham County has allowed for the history of the Panhandle to live on in the stories reverberating through the walls of the museum and the treasures within it. As Wanda anticipated, the Milburn-Price Culture Museum has hosted visitors from all over the world, eager to learn about this land and its people. 

Wanda is survived by her sons, Richard (Sandra) & Kristar (Margot); four granddaughters, Tabitha (Nathan Schultz), Cassandra, Emily & Allie as well as three great-grandchildren; Alice, Harriet & Alfie. Wanda will also be missed by countless kinfolk, friends and students who enriched her life as much as she did theirs. 

Wanda was predeceased by her husband, Braxton, her parents & all of her siblings. 

In lieu of flowers, please share your favorite West Texas stories over coffee with friends. Most importantly, make sure to embellish a little (or a lot); it is what Wanda would have wanted.

To hear some of Wanda’s story in her own words, please refer to the documentary she was featured in about growing up in the Panhandle which can be found on YouTube and accessed here: Life on the Plains - Remembering the Dust Bowl and Great Depression