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Dublin Core
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Title
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Family Histories
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Oral History
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral accounts of various family histories
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Bristow Historical Society, oral history collection
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
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Regan Siler
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Sharon VanOrsdol
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https://bristoworalhistory.org/ohms/render.php?cachefile=OHP-0077_Sharon_VanOrsdol.xml
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6.0 October 30, 2025 OHP-0077 Sharon VanOrsdol OHP-0077 00:54:01 Bristow Historical Society, Inc. bristowhistory Sharon VanOrsdol Regan Siler 0 https://bristoworalhistory.org/interviews/OHP-0077 VanOrsdol, Sharon.mp4 Other video 0 Birth Regan Siler 00:00
 ; This is Regan Siler with the Bristow Historical Society in Bristow, Oklahoma. This interview is part of the Historical Society's ongoing oral history project. The date is October 30, 2025 and I'm here with Sharon VanOrsdol at the Bristow Library Annex. She's going to tell us a little bit about her life and what it's like living and working in the Bristow area. Can you please state your full name? 
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 00:24
 ; Sharon Kay Brown VanOrsdol. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 00:27
 ; Okay, and do I have permission to do this interview?
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 00:30
 ; Yes, you do.
 ; Sharon Kay Brown VanOrsdol was born on July 9, 1949. She was born at her family's home in Gypsy, Oklahoma. Bristow Historical Society ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Bristow Library Annex ; Gypsy (Okla.) Birth 0 44 Parents Regan Siler 00:44
 ; At home. Okay, well, let's start by talking about your family. Can you tell me what your parents full names are?
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 00:53
 ; My dad's name is Jesse Henry, and my mom's name was Winnie McGuire. She had no middle name. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 01:01
 ; No middle name, okay? And I have your dad's birthday as 3/24/1909 with date of death, 11/2/1977.
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 01:14
 ; That's correct.
 ; Sharon's father was Jesse Henry Brown. Her mother was Winnie McGuire Brown. Her mother had no middle name. Jesse Henry Brown ; Winnie McGuire Brown Parents 0 97 Siblings Regan Siler 01:37
 ; Yes, yeah, because Rachel would bring me some sometimes. Okay. Do you have any siblings? 
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 01:43
 ; I do. I have seven siblings. Betty Louise [Brown] was born and only lived a couple of months. And then my brother, Henry, Henry Oscar Brown, Wilma Irene Brown Duke, Margaret Mae Ailey or Brown Ailey, Fredia Christine Brown Fowler, Shirley Faye Brown, she never married, myself-Sharon Kay Brown VanOrsdol and my youngest sister, Earlene Marie Brown Bostick. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 02:26
 ; I don't guess I realized you had that many siblings. Man, you had a big family.
 ; Sharon was born into a large family. She had seven siblings. Sadly, only Sharon and two other siblings are still living. Betty Louise Brown ; Henry Oscar Brown ; Wilma Irene Brown Duke ; Margaret Mae Brown Ailey ; Fredia Christine Brown Fowler ; Shirley Faye Brown ; Sharon Kay Brown VanOrsdol ; Earlene Marie Brown Bostick Siblings 0 154 Home Regan Siler 02:34
 ; Three left. Okay, so where did you live growing up, and did you have family living nearby you growing up?
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 02:43
 ; Actually, I've lived in the Gypsy area all my life. We lived eight miles south of Bristow, in the Gypsy area. I was born there, raised there. My dad drove a bus there for a while, and then he worked for the county for several years. My mom was always a housewife. And of course, with that many kids, you stay busy.
 ; Sharon has always lived in the Gypsy area. Growing up, her family lived eight miles south of Bristow. Her father drove a bus, and then later worked for the county. Sharon's mother was a housewife and stayed busy with all of the children. Her mother also quilted. Jesse Henry Brown ; Winnie McGuire Brown ; Gypsy (Okla.) ; Missouri ; Kellyville (Okla.) Home 0 266 School Regan Siler 04:26
 ; In Missouri? Okay, okay. Well, can you tell me about your school life? Where did you first attend school?
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 04:35
 ; I attended Gypsy School. At that time, it was K through eighth. My sisters and brother, actually, or part of them, graduated from Gypsy School when it was first through twelfth. Actually, it wasn't K. They didn't have Kindergarten at the time, so it was first through eighth. So, I went the first eight years there at Gypsy and then I transferred to Depew. At that time, we had an option of going to Depew or going to Bristow, and I chose to go to Depew. I graduated from Depew High School.
 ; Sharon attended Gypsy School from the first through eighth grade. She then transferred to Depew and graduated from there in 1967. Sharon loved school. She remembers her first grade teacher, Mrs. Burton. She lived by the school and would take them to her house for treats. Bristow Public Schools (Bristow, Okla.) ; Gypsy Public Schools (Gypsy, Okla.) ; Depew Public Schools (Depew, Oklahoma) ; Mrs. Burton School 0 377 Mealtimes Regan Siler 06:17
 ; Right, okay. Well, tell me about what meal times were like in your family. Did everyone like get together every evening for dinner and sit down at the table and eat?
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 06:29
 ; We did. Everybody pretty much had their meals. They had their breakfast together. And of course, everybody was going about their daily routines at lunchtime. And then we were all home for supper, that's correct. And we didn't go out and eat. It was you ate what you got, you ate what was on the table, and you enjoyed it.
 ; Sharon and her family ate dinner together every night. They even had breakfast together most days. She says they did not go out to eat and that you ate what was on the table. Sharon says that all of the children were taught how to cook and clean. She remembers chocolate gravy being a favorite for breakfast. Winnie McGuire Brown Mealtimes 0 483 Community Activities Regan Siler 08:03
 ; Well, thinking back to town life and growing up, what were some of your favorite community activities as a young person? I know a lot of people have talked about like Western Heritage Days, day camp, county fair, stuff like that. Do you have any particular memories growing up that you enjoyed doing in Bristow?
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 08:25
 ; Do you want growing up or after I after I got in town and started working? Actually, we didn't really get to participate in things growing up. We lived eight miles south of town, and, you know, we just did what we did around home. We didn't get to go into town for a lot of activities or get involved.
 ; Sharon and her family did not participate in very many community activities, because they lived so far out of Bristow. The highlight of their Saturdays was coming to town. Her parents would park their car at the depot. Sharon and her siblings would play under the water tower while their parents ran their errands. Western Heritage Days ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Jesse Henry Brown ; Winnie McGuire Brown ; Bristow Train Depot Community Activities 0 600 Bristow Businesses Regan Siler 10:00
 ; Yeah, okay. Do you remember what some of the biggest or most popular businesses were growing up around town, or something that maybe stuck out in your memory as a youngster?
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 10:11
 ; Yeah, Henderson's Furniture Store, I remember that. M & ; P Grocery Store, I think, and let's see Shamas [Shamas Dry Goods], Strong's.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 10:31
 ; A lot of those, I've heard people talk about.
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 10:34
 ; I was trying to think of the dress shops that were there. There actually was a dress shop, I can't remember what the name of that was.
 ; Sharon remembers some of the businesses in Bristow from her childhood, M& ; P Grocery Store, Shamas Dry Goods and Strong's. Sharon's mother made most of their clothes, but they did shop for shoes at Strong's. M& ; P Grocery Store ; Shamas Dry Goods ; Strong's ; T& ; J ; Frosty Freeze Businesses ; Bristow (Okla.) 0 721 Car Regan Siler 12:01
 ; Didn't nescessarily. Well, do you remember your first car?
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 12:08
 ; I remember it was, I think it was a Chevy. I got it right after I graduated. It was an older Chevy. I don't remember.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 12:20
 ; So was it just your car? Or did you have to share?
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 12:23
 ; No, that one was just mine. And like I said, I got it after I graduated, because I was starting a job. And I needed a way to get to work. And, honestly, I don't really remember my sisters' cars as they were going up, or my brother. I know my sisters attended a business college. And in Tulsa, Fredia and Margaret did Draughon's School of Business. That's where they went. But I honestly can't tell you a whole lot about their vehicles. I was just busy growing up.
 ; Sharon's first car was a Chevy. She got it after high school. She was starting a job and needed it to get to and from work. Chevrolet automobile ; Tulsa (Okla.) ; Fredia Christine Brown Fowler ; Margaret Mae Brown Ailey ; Draughon's School of Business Car 0 778 Childhood Home Regan Siler 12:58
 ; Or just happy to be able to get around. Well, tell me about the house that you grew up in. What was it like?
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 13:07
 ; It was a little, two-story house. It set there eight miles south and a quarter of a mile back, west, north I guess. Actually, there's a house sitting there now that actually burned right after I got married. It burned, so my mom and dad built another little house in the same location. But you can imagine we were two in a bed, and you know all there and happy as a lark.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 13:41
 ; Right. So did you as far as entertainment at home, I'm guessing you guys spent most of your time outdoors?
 ; Sharon's childhood home was a little, two-story house. Sharon said it was two in a bed while she was growing up. The house burned after Sharon was married, and her parents built another house in the same location. Jesse Henry Brown ; Winnie McGuire Brown Childhood Home 0 821 Entertainment Regan Siler 13:41
 ; Right. So did you as far as entertainment at home, I'm guessing you guys spent most of your time outdoors?
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 13:48
 ; We did. They did get a TV later on. I don't remember how old, but we didn't have one when we were really young. We had one a little later. But we went outside, we made mud pies, we made forts in the woods, and we rode bikes. And you know, we entertained ourselves. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 14:13
 ; Right.
 ; Sharon and her siblings spent most of their free time outdoors. They made mud pies, forts in the woods, and they rode their bikes. Sharon says that they did get a television later on. Her father loved watching wrestling shows. Television ; Jesse Henry Brown Entertainment 0 915 Childhood Dreams Regan Siler 15:15
 ; Okay. Well, as a child do you remember what you wanted to be when you grew up?
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 15:24
 ; You know, as a child, we never really thought about that. Or I never really thought about that, you know.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 15:32
 ; You were just busy being a kid.
 ; Sharon says as a child that she did not really think about a career other than being a housewife. She says she was busy being kid. She was playing outside and playing school and church with her siblings. Dreams Childhood Dreams 0 953 Hosting Regan Siler 15:53
 ; Right, right. So being there where you grew up, did your dad farm or anything? Did you have farm chores and stuff to do?
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 16:03
 ; We didn't really have a farm. We had a few cows, and they always raised a big garden, and we had a horse. We'd ride the horse occasionally, and we didn't do that a whole lot. But I do remember almost every Sunday, we would get together with my aunt and uncle, who is my mom's brother, and my dad's sister. Because mom and dad married brothers and sisters, so they were actually our double cousins. And either we would go there on Sunday, or they would come to our house, the whole family. And I remember, Uncle Walter and Aunt Tressie (sp), they had horses. And we would get out there and ride horses or donkeys, play croquet, badminton, things like that. But we just always were a family like that, we had people over. Mom would always have the preacher over, or somebody for lunch. And I actually had a cousin that moved in with us, Albert Blythe. He moved in with us when he was a teenager. Because his parents, which was my dad's folks, my dad's brother was moving to California. And Albert didn't want to go, so he came and lived with us. And he actually met his wife down the hill, Ruby Blythe, Ruby Morris, while he was living there with us. So you know, we were just family. We just had fun.
 ; Sharon and her family did not have a farm, but they did have a few cows, a horse and a big garden. They would visit with Sharon's aunt and uncle almost every Sunday. They would ride horses, play croquet, and play badminton. Sharon's mother was always inviting people over for lunch. Sharon even had a cousin (Albert Blythe) that moved in with their family. Albert Blythe ; Ruby Morris Blythe ; California ; Walter Brown ; Tressie Brown Hosting 0 1085 Church Regan Siler 18:05
 ; And church was big in your life?
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 18:08
 ; It was very big, very present in our life. Yes, we were raised in church. We were raised in the Gypsy Holiness Church.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 18:16
 ; Now was it at the same location that it is now?
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 18:19
 ; Across the road.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 18:20
 ; Across the road? Okay.
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 18:21
 ; We call it the old church. But yes, Brother Pete Duke was our pastor growing up, and then later there were other pastors. But yes, mom and dad would take us to church. I mean, we went to church on Wednesday night, Saturday night, Sunday, Sunday night. And that was, you know, that's just what we did.
 ; Sharon attended the Gypsy Holiness Church when she was growing up. Pete Duke was the pastor. Church was a big part of her life. They had services on Wednesday nights, Saturday nights, Sundays, and Sunday nights. Church ; Gypsy Holiness Church (Gypsy, Oklahoma) ; Pete Duke Church 0 1126 Work Regan Siler 18:46
 ; Now as far as after you graduated, you did not go to college, right?
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 18:51
 ; I did not. I went straight to work.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 18:53
 ; You went straight to work.
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 18:53
 ; Probably the next couple of weeks after graduating.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 18:59
 ; You literally went straight to work. Okay, well, so tell me about the the jobs that you've held. I know you said you started out at the B& ; B Rexall for about six months after graduating.
 ; Sharon did not go to college but went straight to work shortly after graduating. She worked at B& ; B Rexall Drug for a few months. Then she worked in the office at Blackstock & ; McMillan. After a year or so, they downsized in the office, so she was let go. Sharon then worked at the Bristow Memorial Hospital as a switchboard operator and in the office. She went from there to American National Bank. Sharon quit working when she pregnant with her son. After her oldest daughter was born, she decided to go back to work. A part-time position wasn't open at American National Bank, so she started work at Community Bank. Sharon worked at Community Bank for over 42 years before retiring. B& ; B Rexall Drug ; Berta Asher ; Harry McMillan ; Bob Blackstock ; Blackstock & ; McMillan ; Bristow Memorial Hospital ; American National Bank ; Kell Kelly ; Community Bank ; Patrick Todd VanOrsdol ; Rachel Michelle VanOrsdol Lenington ; Jennifer Lynn VanOrsdol Morgan ; Lewis Foster ; Arthur Foster Work 0 1673 Husband Regan Siler 27:53
 ; Yes. Okay, well, let's move on from there and talk about Gene. So tell me what your spouse's full name is?
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 28:04
 ; Okay. Franklin Gene VanOrsdol.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 28:08
 ; And I have he was born September 19, 1944 and he passed March 15, 2021?
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 28:15
 ; That is correct.
 ; Sharon was married to Franklin Gene VanOrsdol. Unfortunately, he passed in 2021. They met at a church event. Sharon and Gene courted about a year before marriage. Franklin Gene VanOrsdol ; Gypsy Holiness Church ; Advent Christian Church Husband 0 1791 Marriage Sharon VanOrsdol 29:51
 ; Yes, we got married in 1968.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 29:54
 ; So I have August 15, 1968, at the Gypsy Holiness Church?
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 29:59
 ; That's correct. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 30:00
 ; So did you guys just decide you wanted to get married? Or did he ask you? Or how did that work?
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 30:05
 ; Well, he kind of asked me. Well, he was kind of bashful, but yeah, in a roundabout way. I don't know if he actually just came out and said will, you marry me. But you know, I got the gist of it.
 ; Sharon and Gene were married on August 15, 1968. They held their wedding ceremony at the Gypsy Holiness Church. Gene built a home for him and Sharon, and they moved in after they were married. Sharon still lives in this same home. Franklin Gene VanOrsdol ; Gypsy Holiness Church Marriage 0 1868 House and Property Sharon VanOrsdol 31:08
 ; Right there. He had that house built by the time we got married, and he had bought the land from his grandma, I think. He and Orlan Colley [12/6/1908-10/1/1968], and I'm sure they had others, but they built the house there. And we've had to add on to it since.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 31:30
 ; Right.
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 31:31
 ; But anyway, the house was there when we got married. So, we moved from my house, eight miles south to the house I live in now.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 31:38
 ; I don't think I knew that. That's neat! Okay, all right.
 ; Orlan Colley helped build Gene and Sharon's home. They added on to it over the years. They also bought more acreage through the years, and now Sharon has over 100 acres on her farm. Orlan Colley ; Franklin Gene VanOrsdol ; Hollis house ; Property 0 2023 Children Regan Siler 33:43
 ; Okay. And then tell me how many children you have.
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 33:47
 ; I have three. Pat, Patrick Todd, Rachel Michelle and Jennifer Lynn.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 33:57
 ; Okay. And I have Pat's birthday, July 14, 1972 and he passed, July 4, 2016? Then I have Rachel as September 24, 1974, and then Jennifer's birthday, August 11, 1979? Does that sound, right?
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 34:16
 ; Yes.
 ; Sharon has three children. Her oldest was a son, Patrick Todd VanOrsdol. She has two daughters, Rachel Michelle VanOrsdol Lenington and Jennifer Lynn VanOrsdol Morgan. Patrick Todd VanOrsdol ; Rachel Michelle VanOrsdol Lenington ; Jennifer Lynn VanOrsdol Morgan Children 0 2129 Grandchildren Regan Siler 35:29
 ; Okay, then tell me how many, you have a lot of grandchildren?
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 35:34
 ; I do. I can't wait to be a great grandma someday. But I don't know if that's ever gonna happen.
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 35:34
 ; I have eight.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 35:34
 ; You have eight grandchildren, okay. Because Rachel has three. Jennifer has four. And then Pat has one. Okay, okay. And I know you love being a grandma.
 ; Sharon has eight grandchildren. She says that she can't wait to be a great grandma someday. Rachel Michelle VanOrsdol Lenington ; Jennifer Lynn VanOrsdol Morgan ; Patrick Todd VanOrsdol Grandchildren 0 2155 Retirement Regan Siler 35:55
 ; Well. Have you enjoyed being retired?
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 36:00
 ; Yes and no. I never minded working. You know, it never bothered me to work. I always enjoyed it. I didn't mind getting up, going to work.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 36:13
 ; I feel like you're definitely a doer, like you're not a sit around kind of gal.
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 36:17
 ; No. That's true. I don't like to stay in the house and sit around. And I'm sure everybody that knows me, knows that.
 ; When asked if she enjoys retirement, Sharon says yes and no. She says that it never bothered her to work, and that she doesn't like to stay in the house and sit around. She says that one of the reasons she went ahead and retired was because of her husband's bad health. Sharon does still stay very involved in the community. Franklin Gene VanOrsdol Retirement 0 2281 Bristow Holiness Church Regan Siler 38:01
 ; Well, so since you don't have any hobbies. I think one of the things that you're known for in Bristow is your heart for service. You have given your heart and soul to this community. So, I'd like to talk some. I know we we talked a little bit about church early on. But I know your church life is very important to you.
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 38:25
 ; It is.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 38:25
 ; So,tell me what you're involved in there.
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 38:27
 ; Okay. Well I go to the Bristow Holiness Church now. And we just finished a new sanctuary.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 38:34
 ; A beautiful building!
 ; Sharon attends the Bristow Holiness Church. She teaches the beginner Sunday school class and has for many years. Bristow Holiness Church ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Douglas Meadow ; Cecily Meadow Church 0 2399 Involvement in the Community Regan Siler 39:59
 ; So, then let's also talk about all the other things that you do. And I have a whole list here. You just tell me what all you're involved in, because it's a lot.
 ; 
 ; Speaker 1 40:13
 ; Okay, well, right now I'm not involved in that much. But I will tell you that growing up and being in Bristow, while I worked in Bristow, I always enjoyed getting involved in the community. But you have to understand, by getting involved in the community and working, you had to be working at a place that allowed you to do that. And so working at Community, they were so good to let me go out. I mentored, would do reading programs with kids at the elementary sometimes. But again, they had to let me off for that 45 minutes or whatever to go do that. I delivered Meals-on-Wheels, I don't know how many years.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 40:58
 ; I think you told me, like 40 years?
 ; Sharon has always loved being involved in the community. She stresses the importance of working a job that allows flexibility to be involved. She says the bank always allowed her to be involved. She delivered Meals on Wheels for many years. Sharon helps put on the big Easter egg hunt in Bristow every year. Sharon is also very involved in the Bristow social services. Bristow (Okla.) ; Meals on Wheels Association of America ; Western Heritage Days ; Lafayette Johnson ; Krumme ; Jennifer Lynn VanOrsdol Morgan ; 4H club ; Day of Caring ; Head Start Community 0 2765 Awards Regan Siler 46:05
 ; And then, in talking to Rachel, she also mentioned that you were Citizen of the Year in 2019?
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 46:12
 ; Yes, ma'am.
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 46:13
 ; And that's through the chamber.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 46:15
 ; Through the chamber, okay. And then you had a business award, tell me about that too.
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 46:18
 ; Yes, actually, it was through the Business and Professional Women. They nominated me for an award, and I had to go to Tulsa to interview for that. It was a big deal.
 ; Sharon has received several awards over the years. She received Citizen of the Year in 2019. She also won an award through the Business and Professional Women. She received another award through the Chamber. Rachel Michelle VanOrsdol Lenington ; Citizen of the Year ; Chamber of Commerce ; Business and Professional Women ; Tulsa (Okla.) Awards 0 2833 Social Services Regan Siler 47:13
 ; Well, can you think of, there's such a long list. Can you think of any other things that we have forgotten, that you've been involved in, or that you've enjoyed doing around Bristow?
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 47:23
 ; Well, right now, I enjoy helping the social services.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 47:29
 ; In whatever capacity.
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 47:30
 ; In whatever. Yes, I do go to the office and volunteer one day a week. But, I'm on the Social Services Board of Directors. So another thing that I remember, Dr Cooper had started a clinic called the Bristow Free Clinic. It was for people that needed care, that couldn't afford care. That was one day a month, I think.
 ; Sharon enjoys helping the social services. She is on the Social Services Board of Directors. Sharon says that she goes to the office and volunteers one day a week. Social Services ; Social Services Board of Directors ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Chip Cooper Social Services 0 2935 How the World is Different Regan Siler 48:55
 ; Okay. Well, I want to ask you and this is just kind of a I'm curious about. How do you feel the world is different now than when you were a child?
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 49:07
 ; Oh, my goodness, technology. Technology has changed so much. As a kid, we grew up being a kid. We can be a kid. You can't be a kid anymore. You're going to be sitting in front of a screen or a phone or something, you know. I don't feel like kids can be kids anymore. I feel like kids have too much technology. They have to keep up with somebody.
 ; Sharon says that technology has changed so much since she was a child. She says that kids can't be kids anymore. Sharon believe that technology has its place and is great for adults, but not for children. Technology Technology 0 3022 Nation's Biggest Problem Regan Siler 50:22
 ; Okay. What do you feel is our nation's biggest problem, and how do you think it can be solved?
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 50:32
 ; Well, the nation's biggest problem is turning away from God. You know, they took prayer out of school. They took God out of everything. You know what I'm saying. So, our coins say In God We Trust. I don't even know if that still says that. I don't even know if they still print that on on the coins anymore. But they don't, the world doesn't trust in God anymore. They trust in technology.
 ; Sharon feels like our nation's biggest problem is turning away from God. She says they took God out of everything, and that the world doesn't trust in God anymore. God Nation 0 3066 Historic Events Regan Siler 51:06
 ; Okay. How have historic events for example, like the Oklahoma City Bombing, 9/11, maybe a natural disaster or even a World War. Have any of any of those types of events affected your life, and even covid? I mean, you could count covid in that.
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 51:34
 ; I think it affected everybody. Covid affected everybody's life. The Oklahoma City bombing affected so many people's lives. I don't know, just in daily life, it's affected so much. Because you used to be able to say what you wanted, do what you wanted, go where you wanted. Now, the government's got an eye everywhere. You know, you can be thinking something and it'll pop up.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 52:07
 ; It comes up on your phone.
 ; Sharon talks about Covid affecting everybody's life. She says that people are afraid to do anything anymore. Oklahoma City Bombing ; Covid Historic Events 0 3147 Wisdom Regan Siler 52:27
 ; Okay, okay. Well, my final question for you, first of all, is there anything else you would like to tell us? And I would like for you to leave some wisdom for future generations. Give us some Sharon VanOrsdol wisdom to leave for future generations.
 ; 
 ; Sharon VanOrsdol 52:46
 ; Okay. If you're working, if you get there on time, you're late. So be there early, do more than expected, and always stay busy. And as far as wisdom, the thing that has helped me, and I can't remember, it's in Psalms. But I can't remember the verse. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. And there's been many times that I've needed that strength.
 ; Sharon finishes the interview with some words of wisdom. She says that if you are working to not just get there on time, be early. Also, she says to do more than expected and always stay busy. She also references a verse from Psalms that says I can do all things through Christ. She says she has needed that many times. Psalms ; Christ Wisdom 0 MP4 Sharon VanOrsdol, born July 9, 1949, in Gypsy, Oklahoma, shared her life story with Regan Siler. Sharon, who has seven siblings, lived in Gypsy all her life. She attended Gypsy School and Depew High School, graduating in 1967. Sharon worked at various jobs, including Bristow Memorial Hospital and American National Bank, before joining Community Bank, where she worked for 42.5 years. Married to Franklin Gene VanOrsdol since 1968, they had three children. Sharon is actively involved in the Bristow Holiness Church and community service, including Meals-on-Wheels and the Easter egg hunt. She emphasized the impact of technology on youth and the importance of faith. NOTE TRANSCRIPTION BEGIN 00:00:00.300 --> 00:00:24.839 This is Regan Siler with the Bristow Historical Society in Bristow, Oklahoma. This interview is part of the Historical Society's ongoing oral history project. The date is October 30, 2025 and I'm here with Sharon VanOrsdol at the Bristow Library Annex. She's going to tell us a little bit about her life and what it's like living and working in the Bristow area. Can you please state your full name? 00:00:24.839 --> 00:00:27.719 Sharon Kay Brown VanOrsdol. 00:00:27.719 --> 00:00:30.239 Okay, and do I have permission to do this interview? 00:00:30.239 --> 00:00:30.780 Yes, you do. 00:00:30.780 --> 00:00:34.679 Okay. Please tell me when and where you were born. 00:00:34.679 --> 00:00:41.219 I was born July 9, 1949 in Gypsy, Oklahoma. 00:00:41.219 --> 00:00:44.000 Okay, and were you, so I'm guessing you were born in a home? 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:44.479 At home. 00:00:44.479 --> 00:00:53.719 Okay, well, let's start by talking about your family. Can you tell me what your parents full names are? 00:00:53.719 --> 00:01:01.159 My dad's name is Jesse Henry, and my mom's name was Winnie McGuire. She had no middle name. 00:01:01.159 --> 00:01:14.299 No middle name, okay? And I have your dad's birthday as 3/24/1909 with date of death, 11/2/1977. 00:01:14.299 --> 00:01:14.359 That's correct. 00:01:14.359 --> 00:01:26.780 And then I have, and I remember little Winnie. I have her date of birth as 7/19/1914 and her date of passing 4/1/2008. 00:01:26.780 --> 00:01:27.691 Yes, ma'am, she was. 00:01:27.691 --> 00:01:29.879 Okay. I remember she would make, what is it called CherryYum Yum? 00:01:29.879 --> 00:01:37.900 One of Rachel's favorites. 00:01:37.900 --> 00:01:43.780 Yes, yeah, because Rachel would bring me some sometimes. Okay. Do you have any siblings? 00:01:43.780 --> 00:02:26.965 I do. I have seven siblings. Betty Louise [Brown] was born and only lived a couple of months. And then my brother, Henry, Henry Oscar Brown, Wilma Irene Brown Duke, Margaret Mae Ailey or Brown Ailey, Fredia Christine Brown Fowler, Shirley Faye Brown, she never married, myself-Sharon Kay Brown VanOrsdol and my youngest sister, Earlene Marie Brown Bostick. 00:02:26.965 --> 00:02:31.750 I don't guess I realized you had that many siblings. Man, you had a big family. 00:02:31.750 --> 00:02:34.750 I did. There's only three of us left now. 00:02:34.750 --> 00:02:43.150 Three left. Okay, so where did you live growing up, and did you have family living nearby you growing up? 00:02:43.150 --> 00:03:12.235 Actually, I've lived in the Gypsy area all my life. We lived eight miles south of Bristow, in the Gypsy area. I was born there, raised there. My dad drove a bus there for a while, and then he worked for the county for several years. My mom was always a housewife. And of course, with that many kids, you stay busy. 00:03:12.235 --> 00:03:13.074 Yeah, absolutely. 00:03:13.074 --> 00:03:31.780 She was always quilting, making quilts, canning. I tell you, she would make quilts. And if anybody in the family needed something, or, you know, burnout or something going on, she would hand quilt those quilts, and then she would give them away. 00:03:31.780 --> 00:03:36.340 Oh, well, she was such, a she was such a neat little lady. I just loved her. 00:03:36.340 --> 00:03:37.300 She was very giving. 00:03:37.300 --> 00:03:46.344 Yes, I would agree with that. So your dad, so then your family has always lived in the Gypsy area? 00:03:46.344 --> 00:03:47.365 Yes. 00:03:47.365 --> 00:03:55.884 So back before then, where did their parents live? Did they? 00:03:55.884 --> 00:04:09.490 Mom grew up in Missouri, I believe, or she was, I'm not sure she was born there, but anyway, she came from Missouri. Dad was raised around Kellyville. Yes, a lot of his family lived around Kellyville. 00:04:09.490 --> 00:04:23.290 You know, I have learned while doing these interviews that a lot of people came from Missouri to this area, that that was a typical trek here. And I don't know if it was for the farming, maybe, or? 00:04:23.290 --> 00:04:26.995 Yeah, I'm not sure, but I know that we have family still in Missouri. 00:04:26.995 --> 00:04:35.995 In Missouri? Okay, okay. Well, can you tell me about your school life? Where did you first attend school? 00:04:35.995 --> 00:05:10.660 I attended Gypsy School. At that time, it was K through eighth. My sisters and brother, actually, or part of them, graduated from Gypsy School when it was first through twelfth. Actually, it wasn't K. They didn't have Kindergarten at the time, so it was first through eighth. So, I went the first eight years there at Gypsy and then I transferred to Depew. At that time, we had an option of going to Depew or going to Bristow, and I chose to go to Depew. I graduated from Depew High School. 00:05:10.660 --> 00:05:13.524 Okay. And you said you graduated in 1967? 00:05:13.524 --> 00:05:14.185 That's correct. 00:05:14.185 --> 00:05:24.444 Okay. Do you remember having any influential teachers as you grew up? Do you have much memory of like your school life and what that was like? 00:05:24.444 --> 00:05:56.470 Actually, I remember my first grade teacher was Mrs. Burton, and she lived there by the school. She lived real close, and so she would take us kids up to her house to get a treat if we needed it. And if you ever had a belly ache, you just climbed up on her lap and she rubbed your belly, and it was instantly better. But I do remember her. All my teachers were really good, though. All through high school, I had some great teachers and through grade school. 00:05:56.470 --> 00:05:57.894 Did you enjoy school? 00:05:57.894 --> 00:05:59.154 I did. I loved school. 00:05:59.154 --> 00:06:04.795 You loved school? Did you have a favorite subject? Say, more like in high school? 00:06:04.795 --> 00:06:17.694 Yeah, I don't know that I really had a favorite. You know, you just went to school and did your work. And I don't know that I really had anything that I liked better than the other. 00:06:17.694 --> 00:06:29.319 Right, okay. Well, tell me about what meal times were like in your family. Did everyone like get together every evening for dinner and sit down at the table and eat? 00:06:29.319 --> 00:06:52.884 We did. Everybody pretty much had their meals. They had their breakfast together. And of course, everybody was going about their daily routines at lunchtime. And then we were all home for supper, that's correct. And we didn't go out and eat. It was you ate what you got, you ate what was on the table, and you enjoyed it. 00:06:52.884 --> 00:07:06.189 Right. Well, I can't imagine having a family that big trying to take them out to eat anyway. That would be something. Well, so did your mom teach you how to cook? Were you part of the meal making? 00:07:06.189 --> 00:07:36.175 We all knew how to cook and clean. There wasn't anybody that just went outside or went and sat down while the rest of them did it. We all joined together. Mom would teach us how to cook, or, you know, we would just watch as the meal came up, which, you know, the meals weren't elaborate. They were, you know, beans and cornbread and gravy and biscuits and, you know, just the simple things of life. But, but yes, we pretty much knew how to cook when we got out of school. 00:07:36.175 --> 00:07:43.014 So, I have to ask, did you have a favorite meal or dessert that your mom fixed for you growing up? 00:07:43.014 --> 00:07:58.540 Chocolate gravy was the favorite breakfast. Yes, we loved chocolate gravy in either pancakes or biscuits. And you know, at supper time, I don't remember a favorite. I just remember they were all good. 00:07:58.540 --> 00:08:01.300 They were all good. Well, I knew she was a good cook. 00:08:01.300 --> 00:08:03.939 She was a wonderful cook. 00:08:03.939 --> 00:08:25.045 Well, thinking back to town life and growing up, what were some of your favorite community activities as a young person? I know a lot of people have talked about like Western Heritage Days, day camp, county fair, stuff like that. Do you have any particular memories growing up that you enjoyed doing in Bristow? 00:08:25.045 --> 00:08:46.210 Do you want growing up or after I after I got in town and started working? Actually, we didn't really get to participate in things growing up. We lived eight miles south of town, and, you know, we just did what we did around home. We didn't get to go into town for a lot of activities or get involved. 00:08:46.210 --> 00:08:55.750 So whenever you did your shopping, still thinking back when you were young, did you come to Bristow to do your shopping and stuff? 00:08:55.750 --> 00:09:19.434 We did. And,actually, that was kind of a highlight on Saturdays, to come to town. Now I do remember growing up, mom and dad would park the car or the truck down at the depot, under the old water tower, and we would play under the water tower while they went and did whatever they were doing. 00:09:19.434 --> 00:09:25.360 That's so cool, because I was actually going to ask if you had any memories of the depot as a young person. 00:09:25.360 --> 00:09:44.679 Yes, we would play there under the water tower. You know, we didn't walk down Main Street with mom or dad. Usually, all they did was maybe they had something to sell or would just go look to see what they needed to buy. And, you know, they didn't want 15 kids trailing behind. 00:09:44.679 --> 00:09:46.360 Right, right. 00:09:46.360 --> 00:09:50.965 So we would stay there and play under the old depot [water tower]. 00:09:50.965 --> 00:09:57.144 Yeah, that's cool. That's cool. So that was, like an every Saturday thing you would come to town or most Saturdays? 00:09:57.144 --> 00:09:58.164 Most Saturdays, yeah. 00:09:58.164 --> 00:09:59.304 Saturdays, okay. 00:09:59.304 --> 00:10:00.144 We would come to town. 00:10:00.144 --> 00:10:11.950 Yeah, okay. Do you remember what some of the biggest or most popular businesses were growing up around town, or something that maybe stuck out in your memory as a youngster? 00:10:11.950 --> 00:10:31.870 Yeah, Henderson's Furniture Store, I remember that. M & P Grocery Store, I think, and let's see Shamas [Shamas Dry Goods], Strong's. 00:10:31.870 --> 00:10:34.914 A lot of those, I've heard people talk about. 00:10:34.914 --> 00:10:43.254 I was trying to think of the dress shops that were there. There actually was a dress shop, I can't remember what the name of that was. 00:10:43.254 --> 00:10:51.235 So did you get to shop for clothes? Or did your mom make most of your clothes? 00:10:51.235 --> 00:10:52.254 She made our clothes. 00:10:52.254 --> 00:10:52.554 Okay. 00:10:52.554 --> 00:10:56.335 I do remember going into Strong's and shopping for shoes. 00:10:56.335 --> 00:10:56.860 Shoes. 00:10:56.860 --> 00:11:05.919 Yeah, yeah, they would have shoes. And they'd measure your feet and, you know, find the size shoe that you needed. So, that was always kind of fun. 00:11:05.919 --> 00:11:08.139 That was probably a big deal. 00:11:08.139 --> 00:11:10.059 Got to get new shoes. 00:11:10.059 --> 00:11:12.759 So was that like, maybe before the school year started? 00:11:12.759 --> 00:11:20.200 Yeah probably, I don't really remember if it was a certain time of year, but yeah that was always fun. 00:11:20.200 --> 00:11:31.764 So then thinking to later on, like when you were a teenager, did you have a favorite place to hang out, or anything that you did as a teenager? 00:11:31.764 --> 00:11:55.929 No, not a lot. And again, we went to Depew. So, you know, we would hang out in Depew a little bit, but we didn't really have a car or anything. So if we did, or if we were with somebody, we'd drag Main, you know. We would go to T&J maybe, and get a hamburger or Frosty Freeze somewhere like that. 00:11:55.929 --> 00:11:57.309 Right, right. 00:11:57.309 --> 00:12:01.149 But as far as actually having a spot in Bristow, no. 00:12:01.149 --> 00:12:08.095 Didn't nescessarily. Well, do you remember your first car? 00:12:08.095 --> 00:12:20.154 I remember it was, I think it was a Chevy. I got it right after I graduated. It was an older Chevy. I don't remember. 00:12:20.154 --> 00:12:23.034 So was it just your car? Or did you have to share? 00:12:23.034 --> 00:12:58.264 No, that one was just mine. And like I said, I got it after I graduated, because I was starting a job. And I needed a way to get to work. And, honestly, I don't really remember my sisters' cars as they were going up, or my brother. I know my sisters attended a business college. And in Tulsa, Fredia and Margaret did Draughon's School of Business. That's where they went. But I honestly can't tell you a whole lot about their vehicles. I was just busy growing up. 00:12:58.264 --> 00:13:07.379 Or just happy to be able to get around. Well, tell me about the house that you grew up in. What was it like? 00:13:07.379 --> 00:13:41.144 It was a little, two-story house. It set there eight miles south and a quarter of a mile back, west, north I guess. Actually, there's a house sitting there now that actually burned right after I got married. It burned, so my mom and dad built another little house in the same location. But you can imagine we were two in a bed, and you know all there and happy as a lark. 00:13:41.144 --> 00:13:48.764 Right. So did you as far as entertainment at home, I'm guessing you guys spent most of your time outdoors? 00:13:48.764 --> 00:14:13.710 We did. They did get a TV later on. I don't remember how old, but we didn't have one when we were really young. We had one a little later. But we went outside, we made mud pies, we made forts in the woods, and we rode bikes. And you know, we entertained ourselves. 00:14:13.710 --> 00:14:14.190 Right. 00:14:14.190 --> 00:14:16.934 Or with, you know, the ones of us that were still there. 00:14:16.934 --> 00:14:17.534 Right. 00:14:17.534 --> 00:14:19.514 We just enjoyed each other. 00:14:19.514 --> 00:14:30.735 So, do you remember, you mentioned the TV. Do you remember any particular shows that you enjoyed getting to watch? Because I'm sure it probably wasn't something you just got to do all of the time. 00:14:30.735 --> 00:14:31.034 Oh, no. 00:14:31.034 --> 00:14:33.075 It was probably a special occasion. 00:14:33.075 --> 00:14:39.075 Yeah, honestly, I don't really remember those. Except I do remember my dad liked to watch wrestling. 00:14:39.075 --> 00:14:40.154 Are you serious? 00:14:40.154 --> 00:14:41.654 Yes, he loved to watch wrestling. 00:14:41.654 --> 00:14:42.899 Oh, that's funny. 00:14:42.899 --> 00:14:48.360 So, we would watch wrestling shows. I remember that, but honestly, that's the only thing I can really remember. 00:14:48.360 --> 00:14:51.899 I honestly didn't even realize they had wrestling like that back then. 00:14:51.899 --> 00:14:56.759 It was amateur stuff, you know? 00:14:56.759 --> 00:14:59.100 Oh, that's hilarious. 00:14:59.100 --> 00:15:09.825 Oh, that's funny. Did you listen to any, I'm sure you had radios? Did you listen to any particular kinds of music growing up or not really? 00:15:09.825 --> 00:15:15.644 No, not really. I don't remember, just the radio that we had. 00:15:15.644 --> 00:15:24.450 Okay. Well, as a child do you remember what you wanted to be when you grew up? 00:15:24.450 --> 00:15:32.000 You know, as a child, we never really thought about that. Or I never really thought about that, you know. 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:33.919 You were just busy being a kid. 00:15:33.919 --> 00:15:52.639 I was busy being a kid. We would go outside and play. And we'd play church, or we'd play school. But I don't have any early memories of really wanting to be anything in particular, besides being a housewife. 00:15:52.639 --> 00:15:53.000 Right. 00:15:53.000 --> 00:15:53.779 That's all I knew. 00:15:53.779 --> 00:16:03.080 Right, right. So being there where you grew up, did your dad farm or anything? Did you have farm chores and stuff to do? 00:16:03.080 --> 00:17:40.900 We didn't really have a farm. We had a few cows, and they always raised a big garden, and we had a horse. We'd ride the horse occasionally, and we didn't do that a whole lot. But I do remember almost every Sunday, we would get together with my aunt and uncle, who is my mom's brother, and my dad's sister. Because mom and dad married brothers and sisters, so they were actually our double cousins. And either we would go there on Sunday, or they would come to our house, the whole family. And I remember, Uncle Walter and Aunt Tressie (sp), they had horses. And we would get out there and ride horses or donkeys, play croquet, badminton, things like that. But we just always were a family like that, we had people over. Mom would always have the preacher over, or somebody for lunch. And I actually had a cousin that moved in with us, Albert Blythe. He moved in with us when he was a teenager. Because his parents, which was my dad's folks, my dad's brother was moving to California. And Albert didn't want to go, so he came and lived with us. And he actually met his wife down the hill, Ruby Blythe, Ruby Morris, while he was living there with us. So you know, we were just family. We just had fun. 00:17:40.900 --> 00:17:54.220 So I feel like the difference, or a big difference maybe between now and then, is it just feels like everything was very much more family oriented, there was less distractions. 00:17:54.220 --> 00:17:56.019 Absolutely. 00:17:56.019 --> 00:17:59.000 So your entertainment was your family. Your family was your friends. 00:17:59.000 --> 00:18:05.960 Yeah, that's right. We didn't socialize a lot, you know church people. 00:18:05.960 --> 00:18:08.000 And church was big in your life? 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:16.819 It was very big, very present in our life. Yes, we were raised in church. We were raised in the Gypsy Holiness Church. 00:18:16.819 --> 00:18:19.640 Now was it at the same location that it is now? 00:18:19.640 --> 00:18:20.660 Across the road. 00:18:20.660 --> 00:18:21.000 Across the road? Okay. 00:18:21.000 --> 00:18:45.404 We call it the old church. But yes, Brother Pete Duke was our pastor growing up, and then later there were other pastors. But yes, mom and dad would take us to church. I mean, we went to church on Wednesday night, Saturday night, Sunday, Sunday night. And that was, you know, that's just what we did. 00:18:45.404 --> 00:18:46.839 Okay. 00:18:46.839 --> 00:18:51.000 Now as far as after you graduated, you did not go to college, right? 00:18:51.000 --> 00:18:53.000 I did not. I went straight to work. 00:18:53.000 --> 00:18:59.119 straight to work. Probably the next couple of weeks after graduating. 00:18:59.119 --> 00:19:04.559 You literally went straight to work. Okay, well, so tell me about the the jobs that you've held. I know you said you started out at the B&B Rexall for about six months after graduating. 00:19:04.559 --> 00:19:56.000 I did. I worked for Berta Asher at B&B Rexall Drug, and I worked as a soda jerk. They had the soda fountain, and so I just worked there as a soda jerk. And after a few months, Harry McMillan or Bob Blackstock, I can't remember which one. One of them came in and asked me if I would like to go to work for them, which their office was right there on the corner. So I said, sure, I've never done that, but I did have shorthand and things and school. So that's what they were wanting me to do, is take dictation and do some typing and stuff. So I went and worked for Blackstock & McMillan. 00:19:56.000 --> 00:19:59.000 So kind of like a receptionist? 00:19:59.000 --> 00:20:26.585 Yes, receptionist. They had another girl in their office, Linda, and I worked there with her. So I was just kind of her backup. And I worked there for, I don't know, a year, maybe a little longer, I don't remember. And then they decided that they were going to downsize to one person, so I was the low man on the totem pole. 00:20:26.585 --> 00:20:27.125 Right, right. 00:20:27.125 --> 00:20:52.970 So I actually went straight from there. I don't even think I was off a week, and I went to the Bristow Memorial Hospital, and I worked as a switchboard operator. So we had a switchboard at that time. So I'd work in the office, do paperwork and answer the phone and do a switchboard operating. 00:20:52.970 --> 00:20:54.410 So you did that for about a year? 00:20:54.410 --> 00:21:13.894 I did that. Yes, I don't remember how long, probably a year, maybe two. And then I and I don't know why I decided to change, if I decided or what the deal was, but anyway, I went from there to the American National Bank. 00:21:13.894 --> 00:21:24.214 Which I find funny, because growing up, you always worked at Community, and my mom always worked at at the time American National. I did not know you had ever worked at American National. 00:21:24.214 --> 00:21:26.315 I did. I did. It was on Seventh Street. 00:21:26.315 --> 00:21:27.214 Yeah, right. 00:21:27.214 --> 00:21:41.000 When the bank was on Seventh Street, I worked there. In fact, I can tell you my very first day to work. I went into work and they had had a robbery. 00:21:41.000 --> 00:21:46.579 Are you serious? What a first day! 00:21:46.579 --> 00:22:18.710 They had someone come through the top, through the roof, went into their drive through and had robbed it. But little did they know that of course, their money is locked up in the vault, except for their coins. So they had dumped all the coins into a trash basket, if I can remember right, but couldn't get them out because it was all too heavy. Couldn't get it back through the roof. 00:22:18.710 --> 00:22:20.630 So probably not a very smart robber. 00:22:20.630 --> 00:22:25.849 Wasn't a very smart robber, and it was an interesting first day at work. 00:22:25.849 --> 00:22:29.150 So did that make you question your choice to leave the hospital? 00:22:29.150 --> 00:22:34.849 I wondered if I should be working there. But actually, that's not the only robbery they had while I worked there. 00:22:34.849 --> 00:22:35.690 Oh my goodness! 00:22:35.690 --> 00:22:37.069 They had another robbery. 00:22:37.069 --> 00:22:44.734 So would that have been like in the 70s? Like maybe mid 70s? 00:22:44.734 --> 00:23:20.420 Yeah, probably. I'm sure that Kell [Kell Kelly] or somebody could probably tell you, I don't know. But anyway, I do remember that I was working in the back, and someone ran back from the front and said we're being robbed. And so, of course, I was in the back and I didn't know anything about it. But come to find out the robber, the guy that came to hold up the bank, took the taxi to rob the bank. 00:23:20.420 --> 00:23:21.079 Oh, my Gosh! 00:23:21.079 --> 00:23:32.345 And, so, when Gerald figured out what was going on, he drove off without the robber, and the robber was left on foot. 00:23:32.345 --> 00:23:34.204 These aren't very smart robbers, are they? 00:23:34.204 --> 00:23:40.444 They weren't very smart. They did catch him. But anyway, that's a couple of interesting things. 00:23:40.444 --> 00:23:42.484 Well, that's definitely interesting! 00:23:42.484 --> 00:23:48.545 Then one other time, while I was working there, they had a bomb threat. So, you know, it was kind of active. 00:23:48.545 --> 00:23:52.069 Yeah. Man, it sounds like it was very active! 00:23:52.069 --> 00:23:56.029 Yeah, but it was a false alarm. We did have to evacuate the bank though. 00:23:56.029 --> 00:23:59.150 Well, thank goodness it was a false alarm. 00:23:59.150 --> 00:23:59.869 Absolutely! 00:23:59.869 --> 00:24:08.150 So then from there, you landed at your home, at Community Bank for the next 42 and a half years? 00:24:08.150 --> 00:24:08.630 That's right. 00:24:08.630 --> 00:24:16.654 That is incredible! So tell us a little bit about your time at Community Bank, like what you did there and the different positions you held. 00:24:16.654 --> 00:24:32.075 Well, let me tell you first that the reason I left the bank was to have my family. I actually left because I was pregnant with Pat and I just wanted to have some time off. 00:24:32.075 --> 00:24:32.555 Right. 00:24:32.555 --> 00:24:59.660 And then I decided after Rachel that I wanted to go back to work. A part time position wasn't available at American. So I went to Community and actually applied, and they hired me. I thought it was going to be part time, but from the day I was hired, I worked every day. It wasn't part time. 00:24:59.660 --> 00:25:01.025 It wasn't part time! 00:25:01.025 --> 00:25:16.085 Lewis Foster hired me. Arthur Foster was the president at that time. So from that time, I worked every day pretty much for the next 42 and a half years. 00:25:16.085 --> 00:25:19.265 So did you take any time off whenever you had Jennifer? 00:25:19.265 --> 00:25:37.069 I did. I was going to take more time off. She was three weeks early. I worked until six o'clock the night before she was born. But I didn't know that. I didn't know I was going to be doing that. 00:25:37.069 --> 00:25:38.390 Oh my goodness! 00:25:38.390 --> 00:25:43.430 But, yes. And then I just was off probably a couple of months or whatever. 00:25:43.430 --> 00:25:43.910 Right. 00:25:43.910 --> 00:25:45.214 And then I went back to work. 00:25:45.214 --> 00:25:56.734 Okay. So, during the time that you were there, I know you told me, you started out kind of like a receptionist, and then you had several different positions while you were there. Tell us about some of the positions you held there. 00:25:56.734 --> 00:26:57.769 Actually, I started out as a receptionist, like I said. I thought I was going to be starting part time, but pretty much worked, well I did work every day. I went from there and did some teller work. I worked in the teller line. I loved, loved working in the teller line. Even after I moved positions, I would still work on Saturdays in the teller line. I worked in new accounts, I would open accounts, worked in CDs and IRAs. Through that time, I advanced from teller, assistant to assistant vice president, and then went on to be a vice president. At the time I retired, I was working in IRA, CDs, new accounts, just whatever. I would jump around to whoever needed help or whatever they needed. 00:26:57.769 --> 00:27:02.930 Right. And I know you said you didn't go to college, but during that time, you took a lot of business classes? 00:27:02.930 --> 00:27:09.470 I did. I took Principles of Banking and different college classes. 00:27:09.470 --> 00:27:12.710 That applied to your job? 00:27:12.710 --> 00:27:20.075 Yes, that applied to banking. Yes, the bank sent me to different schools and classes that we took. 00:27:20.075 --> 00:27:26.134 Okay. So I would say you must have been pretty happy at Community to have been there for that long. 00:27:26.134 --> 00:27:41.420 I was very happy. They were great people to work with. And I loved what I was doing. I loved my job. I loved the people that I worked with and for. And, yeah, I stayed there 42 and a half years. 00:27:41.420 --> 00:27:52.819 Well, we love Community Bank with my own personal family. There's just a very hometown feel, and it's always stayed that way, which we appreciate it. 00:27:52.819 --> 00:27:53.299 Yes, it has. 00:27:53.299 --> 00:28:04.805 Yes. Okay, well, let's move on from there and talk about Gene. So tell me what your spouse's full name is? 00:28:04.805 --> 00:28:08.224 Okay. Franklin Gene VanOrsdol. 00:28:08.224 --> 00:28:15.244 And I have he was born September 19, 1944 and he passed March 15, 2021? 00:28:15.244 --> 00:28:15.964 That is correct. 00:28:15.964 --> 00:28:18.305 And you know, I did not know his first name was Franklin. 00:28:18.305 --> 00:28:19.625 Franklin Gene, yeah. 00:28:19.625 --> 00:28:21.184 I've only ever known him as Gene. 00:28:21.184 --> 00:28:26.345 Yeah, that's what he went by. He just went by Gene. 00:28:26.345 --> 00:28:33.109 So, can you tell me what your first impression of him was when you met him, or when you first saw him? 00:28:33.109 --> 00:29:31.220 Actually, the first time I saw him, his mother and he had come to the Gypsy Church. And you know, when a new boy comes to church everybody's looking. So, anyway, I noticed him then, and thought he was cute. But you know, where they had their family, we had ours. They went to the Advent Christian Church. But Gene's brother's wife, I don't know, I guess they were married at that time. Anyway, Phyllis, at that time, we were having a camp meeting, out north of Bristow. The churches had a campground out there, and so she asked me if he came to church that night, if I would sit by him. That's kind of how we got together. 00:29:31.220 --> 00:29:32.779 So, that's how the romance began? 00:29:32.779 --> 00:29:44.825 He was bashful, and I was bashful. We just kind of sat there. We didn't really talk, didn't really do anything. But he did ask me to go out again, and that's actually where it started. 00:29:44.825 --> 00:29:50.224 So, how long was your courtship? 00:29:50.224 --> 00:29:50.944 A year. 00:29:50.944 --> 00:29:51.365 A year? 00:29:51.365 --> 00:29:54.605 Yes, we got married in 1968. 00:29:54.605 --> 00:29:59.750 So I have August 15, 1968, at the Gypsy Holiness Church? 00:29:59.750 --> 00:30:00.349 That's correct. 00:30:00.349 --> 00:30:05.450 So did you guys just decide you wanted to get married? Or did he ask you? Or how did that work? 00:30:05.450 --> 00:30:21.335 Well, he kind of asked me. Well, he was kind of bashful, but yeah, in a roundabout way. I don't know if he actually just came out and said will, you marry me. But you know, I got the gist of it. 00:30:21.335 --> 00:30:32.255 Yeah, you got the hint. Well, tell me what your first years of marriage were like. Were they tough? Were they wonderful? What was that like? 00:30:32.255 --> 00:30:59.660 I think everybody's first year of marriage is going to be tough. You know, you just learn to live with somebody new. After mom and dad and all the things you were used to. Actually, he had a house built for me before we ever got married. He had started a house after we had decided to get married. And the house was ready, we moved into our own house. 00:30:59.660 --> 00:31:01.160 So, where was that located? 00:31:01.160 --> 00:31:07.204 That was five miles South and three quarters of a mile East of Bristow, where I live right now. 00:31:07.204 --> 00:31:08.285 Oh, so right there? 00:31:08.285 --> 00:31:30.605 Right there. He had that house built by the time we got married, and he had bought the land from his grandma, I think. He and Orlan Colley [12/6/1908-10/1/1968], and I'm sure they had others, but they built the house there. And we've had to add on to it since. 00:31:30.605 --> 00:31:31.025 Right. 00:31:31.025 --> 00:31:38.450 But anyway, the house was there when we got married. So, we moved from my house, eight miles south to the house I live in now. 00:31:38.450 --> 00:31:42.650 I don't think I knew that. That's neat! Okay, all right. 00:31:42.650 --> 00:31:46.490 And I don't know what question you just asked me. 00:31:46.490 --> 00:31:52.069 Well, I mean, knowing now that that's the house. I didn't realize that that's where you have always lived. 00:31:52.069 --> 00:31:53.150 I've always lived. 00:31:53.150 --> 00:31:58.474 Well, that's so neat. So, how many acres did you have when you first got married? 00:31:58.474 --> 00:32:14.494 We had 37 acres there. No, I take that back. He may have had 15, and we bought some later. Either 15 or 30. He had bought it from his grandmother. 00:32:14.494 --> 00:32:19.160 And then you just kept adding it throughout your life together? 00:32:19.160 --> 00:32:59.464 Actually, we bought another 80 acres that adjoined us. But we didn't get to buy that until just a few years before he passed away. It was owned by the Hollis family, who was a doctor here. And we tried to buy it several times through the years, and he wouldn't sell it. Then he passed on, and his kids had it, his kids got it, and they didn't want to sell it. And, so, a few years back, we saw a for sale on it and immediately contacted the realtor. And that's when we bought the 80 acres next to us. 00:32:59.464 --> 00:33:02.224 So,now you have around 124 acre farm? 00:33:02.224 --> 00:33:04.085 Yes. About that 130, 100. 00:33:04.085 --> 00:33:11.210 You have a lot, we'll just say a lot. 00:33:11.210 --> 00:33:22.069 Yeah. We have other property that doesn't join the property. But that was inherited, a lot of it by his dad, from his mom and dad. 00:33:22.069 --> 00:33:28.174 So, you guys have pretty much always had cattle and farmed there, right? 00:33:28.174 --> 00:33:40.234 Yes, we've farmed. He had cattle when we got married, maybe half a dozen or so. We've just added to that and raised cattle and calves and whatever. 00:33:40.234 --> 00:33:40.894 Over the years? Okay. 00:33:40.894 --> 00:33:43.174 Since we've been married, yes, 00:33:43.174 --> 00:33:47.255 Okay. And then tell me how many children you have. 00:33:47.255 --> 00:33:57.079 I have three. Pat, Patrick Todd, Rachel Michelle and Jennifer Lynn. 00:33:57.079 --> 00:34:16.744 Okay. And I have Pat's birthday, July 14, 1972 and he passed, July 4, 2016? Then I have Rachel as September 24, 1974, and then Jennifer's birthday, August 11, 1979? Does that sound, right? 00:34:16.744 --> 00:34:17.164 Yes. 00:34:17.164 --> 00:34:31.264 Well tell me, especially since you were a working mother, about any particular challenges you had as a mom with littles trying to work. Back at that time, what were some challenges you faced? 00:34:31.264 --> 00:34:35.164 Well, you had a challenge every day of getting up and getting around. 00:34:35.164 --> 00:34:38.090 Getting out the door? 00:34:38.090 --> 00:35:11.974 Yes, yes. But you know, I never really counted that as a challenge. It was just an everyday thing that you did. You know with the first one, of course with Pat and Rachel, I was home more. I didn't have to get everybody up and out. But after I started back to work, they were a little bit older. They weren't old, but they were a little bit older. So, you just get in a routine. You want to get there on time, you get there early. 00:35:11.974 --> 00:35:16.045 Right, right. Well, you had really good kids, too. 00:35:16.045 --> 00:35:25.440 I did. My kids were fabulous. They were good kids. They weren't rebellious, at least not when they were little. 00:35:25.440 --> 00:35:27.719 We're not going to get into that, Sharon. 00:35:27.719 --> 00:35:29.760 Okay. 00:35:29.760 --> 00:35:34.000 Okay, then tell me how many, you have a lot of grandchildren? 00:35:34.000 --> 00:35:34.559 I do. I can't wait to be a great grandma someday. But I don't know if that's ever gonna happen. 00:35:34.559 --> 00:35:34.820 I have eight. 00:35:34.820 --> 00:35:55.840 You have eight grandchildren, okay. Because Rachel has three. Jennifer has four. And then Pat has one. Okay, okay. And I know you love being a grandma. 00:35:55.840 --> 00:36:00.739 Well. Have you enjoyed being retired? 00:36:00.739 --> 00:36:13.219 Yes and no. I never minded working. You know, it never bothered me to work. I always enjoyed it. I didn't mind getting up, going to work. 00:36:13.219 --> 00:36:17.000 I feel like you're definitely a doer, like you're not a sit around kind of gal. 00:36:17.000 --> 00:36:24.980 No. That's true. I don't like to stay in the house and sit around. And I'm sure everybody that knows me, knows that. 00:36:24.980 --> 00:36:25.880 Right, right. 00:36:25.880 --> 00:36:34.880 Because I am still out and doing. I'm probably in town two or three times a day. But it never bothered me to work. 00:36:34.880 --> 00:36:38.000 So it was probably a big adjustment, maybe? 00:36:38.000 --> 00:37:11.039 It was an adjustment of course. The reason, one of the reasons that I retired when I did was Gene's health was bad. He had been retired several years. He retired when he was 65, so he had been retired several years. And I felt like he needed me at home. So honestly, I retired to be there, to be there with him. And I like the part of being able to do what you want, when you want to do it. 00:37:11.039 --> 00:37:12.659 Whatever, whenever. 00:37:12.659 --> 00:37:24.900 Yeah, not having to be at a certain place at a certain time most of the time. But I didn't enjoy the free time. I'm not a big hobby person. I didn't really. 00:37:24.900 --> 00:37:32.900 That's funny, because that was going to be my next question. Do you have any hobbies? Aside from all of your community service work. 00:37:32.900 --> 00:37:33.260 Yeah. 00:37:33.260 --> 00:37:34.639 But I think you're just so... 00:37:34.639 --> 00:37:42.480 I'm not really a hobby person. I enjoyed taking pictures, you know just for the fun of it. If we had a reunion, I was always snapping pictures. 00:37:42.480 --> 00:37:44.000 You were the camera lady? 00:37:44.000 --> 00:37:49.840 I'm the camera person. I'm probably not even going to have any pictures of me when I die. I'm not in anything. 00:37:49.840 --> 00:37:54.639 Well as a photographer, that's how it is at my house, too. Like I'm hardly in any pictures. 00:37:54.639 --> 00:37:55.780 I know. 00:37:55.780 --> 00:37:57.579 You're always the picture taker. 00:37:57.579 --> 00:37:59.320 Girls, you better start looking early. 00:37:59.320 --> 00:38:00.159 Yes, right. 00:38:00.159 --> 00:38:01.719 I'm not in any of my pictures. 00:38:01.719 --> 00:38:25.284 Well, so since you don't have any hobbies. I think one of the things that you're known for in Bristow is your heart for service. You have given your heart and soul to this community. So, I'd like to talk some. I know we we talked a little bit about church early on. But I know your church life is very important to you. 00:38:25.284 --> 00:38:25.644 It is. 00:38:25.644 --> 00:38:27.804 So, tell me what you're involved in there. 00:38:27.804 --> 00:38:34.945 Okay. Well I go to the Bristow Holiness Church now. And we just finished a new sanctuary. 00:38:34.945 --> 00:38:35.844 A beautiful building! 00:38:35.844 --> 00:39:18.295 We just got into it a week ago Sunday. It is beautiful! So we had some fundraisers along the way for that. But right now, I've taught the beginners, the little kids in Sunday school. They start about 18 months to up to age four. I've taught that age group for several years, a lot of years. I don't even know how many years, but I love them. I love teaching that group. I conduct booster bands for them, the little ones that come up on Sunday morning and sing little booster band songs. And they're so cute. They're so cute when they're up there. 00:39:18.295 --> 00:39:18.594 Yes. 00:39:18.594 --> 00:39:55.585 And I love doing that. And you know, our church has always been very giving. We are working right now on helping raise stuff for Social Services. We're bringing in stuffing mixes for Social Services, for Christmas baskets. So we've got a great youth group, and we've got a great church altogether. Our pastor, Brother Douglas and Sister Cecily are wonderful people. They're great leaders, and they're wonderful people. So I love my church! 00:39:55.585 --> 00:39:58.284 Yeah. I knew that was very important. 00:39:58.284 --> 00:39:59.965 It is very important to me. Yes ma'am. 00:39:59.965 --> 00:40:13.329 So, then let's also talk about all the other things that you do. And I have a whole list here. You just tell me what all you're involved in, because it's a lot. 00:40:13.329 --> 00:40:58.179 Okay, well, right now I'm not involved in that much. But I will tell you that growing up and being in Bristow, while I worked in Bristow, I always enjoyed getting involved in the community. But you have to understand, by getting involved in the community and working, you had to be working at a place that allowed you to do that. And so working at Community, they were so good to let me go out. I mentored, would do reading programs with kids at the elementary sometimes. But again, they had to let me off for that 45 minutes or whatever to go do that. I delivered Meals-on-Wheels, I don't know how many years. 00:40:58.179 --> 00:41:00.219 I think you told me, like 40 years? 00:41:00.219 --> 00:41:44.829 Yeah, probably. Honestly, I never kept track with the years, because time goes so fast. But I started when, well I don't know if I started then, but one of my first memories is when they served the meals out of the Mason's Lodge. They would actually go to the Mason's Lodge and get the meals to deliver. Then they went on, for awhile I think they did it at the Housing Authority. And now they're doing doing it at the Ninth Street village. 00:41:44.829 --> 00:41:45.190 Right. 00:41:45.190 --> 00:41:47.349 Yeah, I don't remember the name of that. But anyway... 00:41:47.349 --> 00:41:48.849 The retirement community there? 00:41:48.849 --> 00:41:58.809 Yeah, the retirement community. We get the meals. And they have several drivers that go out and deliver the meals to the people, home-bound or people that can't get out. 00:41:58.809 --> 00:41:58.989 Right. 00:41:58.989 --> 00:42:04.210 And they're always looking for volunteers. So, if you want to volunteer, there you go. 00:42:04.210 --> 00:42:05.755 Another volunteer opportunity. 00:42:05.755 --> 00:42:26.695 Another volunteer. I remember Western Heritage Days. We used to, all of the stores would dress up for Western Heritage Days. We would put our old costumes on and have the contest for best dressed and the best business. I remember we'd have gun fights on the street. 00:42:26.695 --> 00:42:42.039 So, do you remember back then? Western Heritage Days has always been a very common theme or a prominent memory for people. Who at that time, when it was such a big deal, who organized it at that time? 00:42:42.039 --> 00:42:45.539 You know, I don't really remember who organized it. 00:42:45.539 --> 00:42:48.079 To have all the businesses involved. 00:42:48.079 --> 00:42:51.079 I think it was just organized by the chamber. 00:42:51.079 --> 00:42:51.800 Okay. 00:42:51.800 --> 00:42:52.639 I'm not sure. 00:42:52.639 --> 00:42:53.900 I was just curious. 00:42:53.900 --> 00:43:19.684 Yeah. I remember Lafayette Johnson. He was a fellow that used to shine shoes in Red Bird Shoe Shop. And he was a very big advocate. He would go up and down the street, either selling tickets, if they need them sold, or promoting it. I remember they used to have bed races. They would have bed races in the street, stick horse races, all kinds of things. 00:43:19.684 --> 00:43:19.980 Fun stuff. 00:43:19.980 --> 00:43:21.559 So, it was a really big thing back then. 00:43:21.559 --> 00:43:22.219 Yeah. 00:43:22.219 --> 00:43:24.840 So I really enjoyed getting involved with that. 00:43:24.840 --> 00:43:37.519 With that being said, that along with your Easter egg hunt, that was all like you mentioned earlier, because you worked somewhere that allowed you to be part of that. 00:43:37.519 --> 00:44:29.650 Yes, Easter egg hunt. I love the Easter egg hunt, and it's still going now. It actually started with the 4h Club. I think before I got involved, several years before that, they had one somewhere. I don't remember, it seems like it might have been out by the Krumme building or something. But anyway, by the time I got involved Jennifer was in 4H. Danny Collins had kids in 4H and so we said, why don't we start that as a 4H project. Well, through the years, you have different 4H leaders that do different things. But the 4H leader right now, she's doing a great job helping us. So we're getting that done. But yes, I love the Easter egg hunt, and it's still going now. I mean and it started when Jennifer was in 4H. 00:44:29.650 --> 00:44:30.539 Right! 00:44:30.539 --> 00:44:41.619 So, yeah. And then you also, I know you've mentioned the toy run, the Day of Caring with United Way... 00:44:41.619 --> 00:45:18.804 Yeah, we just got through with that. And social services is a big part of that. It has evolved. It's actually, as you know, it's hard to get volunteers for things. But it's just as hard to get people to ask for help, you know. So when we started it, we actually had projects that people would give us ideas to do. We would mow lawns, we would clean yards, you know. But as time went on and the liability got greater, as far as if you did anything wrong. 00:45:18.804 --> 00:45:19.344 Right. 00:45:19.344 --> 00:45:28.090 You know you had to kind of scale back. But anyway, we just got through with the Day of Caring in August. The toy run is actually going to be tomorrow. 00:45:28.090 --> 00:45:28.630 Oh! 00:45:28.630 --> 00:45:49.090 It's not, no it's Saturday, November 1. Yeah, and the businesses have been very generous in giving to that. You know, we'll talk to the businesses and see if they want to donate some money or donate a toy. If they donate money, then we go buy the toys. 00:45:49.090 --> 00:45:50.000 And is that donated to social services? 00:45:50.000 --> 00:45:54.539 It's donated to social services and some to the Head Start. 00:45:54.539 --> 00:45:54.820 Okay! 00:45:54.820 --> 00:46:05.800 They get some of those also, if they have kids that need toys. So, yeah, that's going to be Saturday. Anybody that wants to get involved in that, come on down. 00:46:05.800 --> 00:46:12.900 And then, in talking to Rachel, she also mentioned that you were Citizen of the Year in 2019? 00:46:12.900 --> 00:46:13.440 Yes, ma'am. 00:46:13.440 --> 00:46:15.000 And that's through the chamber. 00:46:15.000 --> 00:46:18.840 Through the chamber, okay. And then you had a business award, tell me about that too. 00:46:18.840 --> 00:46:38.744 Yes, actually, it was through the Business and Professional Women. They nominated me for an award, and I had to go to Tulsa to interview for that. It was a big deal. 00:46:38.744 --> 00:46:39.704 Yeah! 00:46:39.704 --> 00:46:48.764 I, of course, was nervous going up there, but they had a list of questions that they would ask. And anyway, I got that. 00:46:48.764 --> 00:46:50.144 So,it was a big honor. 00:46:50.144 --> 00:46:59.804 It was quite an honor. Yes, it was. It was a great deal. Also, there was another one at the chamber. What did you mention? 00:46:59.804 --> 00:47:01.050 The Citizen of the Year? 00:47:01.050 --> 00:47:03.510 Yeah, it was the achievement, I think. 00:47:03.510 --> 00:47:05.130 Okay. 00:47:05.130 --> 00:47:08.340 I have gotten two awards through the chamber. 00:47:08.340 --> 00:47:11.699 That doesn't surprise me even a little bit. 00:47:11.699 --> 00:47:13.000 That was quite an honor to do that. 00:47:13.000 --> 00:47:23.380 Well, can you think of, there's such a long list. Can you think of any other things that we have forgotten, that you've been involved in, or that you've enjoyed doing around Bristow? 00:47:23.380 --> 00:47:29.019 Well, right now, I enjoy helping the social services. 00:47:29.019 --> 00:47:30.000 In whatever capacity. 00:47:30.000 --> 00:48:00.885 In whatever. Yes, I do go to the office and volunteer one day a week. But, I'm on the Social Services Board of Directors. So another thing that I remember, Dr Cooper had started a clinic called the Bristow Free Clinic. It was for people that needed care, that couldn't afford care. That was one day a month, I think. 00:48:00.885 --> 00:48:01.244 Okay. 00:48:01.244 --> 00:48:04.244 So I was on that board for awhile. 00:48:04.244 --> 00:48:06.105 So were you also on the hospital board? 00:48:06.105 --> 00:48:10.559 I was on the hospital board. Yes, I was on the hospital board. 00:48:10.559 --> 00:48:20.199 You need a whole entire big resume to remember everything that you've done. Anything else that you can think of that we might be forgetting? 00:48:20.199 --> 00:48:29.840 Well, no, not really. Again, I have to emphasize the fact that none of this would have been possible if I hadn't worked in a place that was allowing me. 00:48:29.840 --> 00:48:29.920 When you work and you are on these boards, you have to have some time off. 00:48:29.920 --> 00:48:31.659 Wonderful business! 00:48:31.659 --> 00:48:33.280 Right. 00:48:33.280 --> 00:48:37.300 To do that. 00:48:37.300 --> 00:48:38.599 Right, Okay. 00:48:38.599 --> 00:48:45.599 Let me see, I was secretary for the bank for a while. 00:48:45.599 --> 00:48:54.420 Oh, okay. We'll probably turn this interview off and go, oh yeah, there was like three or four other things I forgot about. 00:48:54.420 --> 00:48:55.199 That's plenty. 00:48:55.199 --> 00:49:07.980 Okay. Well, I want to ask you and this is just kind of a I'm curious about. How do you feel the world is different now than when you were a child? 00:49:07.980 --> 00:49:34.585 Oh, my goodness, technology. Technology has changed so much. As a kid, we grew up being a kid. We can be a kid. You can't be a kid anymore. You're going to be sitting in front of a screen or a phone or something, you know. I don't feel like kids can be kids anymore. I feel like kids have too much technology. They have to keep up with somebody. 00:49:34.585 --> 00:49:37.405 Almost like the youth has been robbed? 00:49:37.405 --> 00:49:38.664 Yes, yes. 00:49:38.664 --> 00:49:42.804 I feel like they feel pressured to do more. 00:49:42.804 --> 00:49:43.000 Right! 00:49:43.000 --> 00:49:49.840 Know more. So, I mean, I think technology has been a good, big part of that. 00:49:49.840 --> 00:49:53.960 Well, I do think in some ways, you know, obviously technology is a positive. 00:49:53.960 --> 00:49:56.480 Technology is great! 00:49:56.480 --> 00:50:01.000 But in so many ways, especially for youth, I agree with you. I think it's a big negative. 00:50:01.000 --> 00:50:07.840 I think it's great for kids, not for kids, but for adults. I think we need it. We have to have it. 00:50:07.840 --> 00:50:08.260 Yeah. 00:50:08.260 --> 00:50:10.539 But I think kids need to be kids. 00:50:10.539 --> 00:50:10.960 Yes. 00:50:10.960 --> 00:50:17.440 I think they need to be taught to enjoy their life, enjoy being a kid. 00:50:17.440 --> 00:50:20.800 Enjoy and learn how to talk, actually talk to people. 00:50:20.800 --> 00:50:22.780 Actually talk to people, yeah. 00:50:22.780 --> 00:50:32.440 Okay. What do you feel is our nation's biggest problem, and how do you think it can be solved? 00:50:32.440 --> 00:51:03.025 Well, the nation's biggest problem is turning away from God. You know, they took prayer out of school. They took God out of everything. You know what I'm saying. So, our coins say In God We Trust. I don't even know if that still says that. I don't even know if they still print that on on the coins anymore. But they don't, the world doesn't trust in God anymore. They trust in technology. 00:51:03.025 --> 00:51:04.164 And man? 00:51:04.164 --> 00:51:06.025 Man, yes absolutely! 00:51:06.025 --> 00:51:34.500 Okay. How have historic events for example, like the Oklahoma City Bombing, 9/11, maybe a natural disaster or even a World War. Have any of any of those types of events affected your life, and even covid? I mean, you could count covid in that. 00:51:34.500 --> 00:52:07.005 I think it affected everybody. Covid affected everybody's life. The Oklahoma City bombing affected so many people's lives. I don't know, just in daily life, it's affected so much. Because you used to be able to say what you wanted, do what you wanted, go where you wanted. Now, the government's got an eye everywhere. You know, you can be thinking something and it'll pop up. 00:52:07.005 --> 00:52:10.320 It comes up on your phone. 00:52:10.320 --> 00:52:22.380 I'm like, how could that be possible? So, I don't know. I just think that especially Covid has had such an effect. People are afraid to do anything anymore. 00:52:22.380 --> 00:52:22.739 Yeah. 00:52:22.739 --> 00:52:27.360 They're afraid to go out in public without covering their mouth, something like that. 00:52:27.360 --> 00:52:46.300 Okay, okay. Well, my final question for you, first of all, is there anything else you would like to tell us? And I would like for you to leave some wisdom for future generations. Give us some Sharon VanOrsdol wisdom to leave for future generations. 00:52:46.300 --> 00:53:25.539 Okay. If you're working, if you get there on time, you're late. So be there early, do more than expected, and always stay busy. And as far as wisdom, the thing that has helped me, and I can't remember, it's in Psalms. But I can't remember the verse. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. And there's been many times that I've needed that strength. 00:53:25.539 --> 00:53:48.159 Yes, I agree. Well Sharon, I know you were nervous to do this interview, but honestly, it's been one of my favorite ones. You've done such a great job, and it's been such a joy talking to you. Your interview will become an important part of the Oral History Archives for our museum. Thank you for taking the time to talk with us, and we really appreciate it. 00:53:48.159 --> 00:53:50.159 Well, you are welcome! NOTE TRANSCRIPTION END ]]> video 0 https://bristoworalhistory.org/ohms/render.php?cachefile=OHP-0077_Sharon_VanOrsdol.xml OHP-0077_Sharon_VanOrsdol.xml
Dublin Core
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Title
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Sharon VanOrsdol
Description
An account of the resource
Sharon VanOrsdol, born July 9, 1949, in Gypsy, Oklahoma, shared her life story with Regan Siler. Sharon, who has seven siblings, lived in Gypsy all her life. She attended Gypsy School and Depew High School, graduating in 1967. Sharon worked at various jobs, including Bristow Memorial Hospital and American National Bank, before joining Community Bank, where she worked for 42.5 years. Married to Franklin Gene VanOrsdol since 1968, they had three children. Sharon is actively involved in the Bristow Holiness Church and community service, including Meals-on-Wheels and the Easter egg hunt. She emphasized the impact of technology on youth and the importance of faith.
Identifier
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OHP-0077
Date
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2025/10/30
Format
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video
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https://bristoworalhistory.org/files/original/c2bf850aabebc4aaa435bdf1304215af.jpg
04114e85f430f18634f82d254c40707d
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Family Histories
Type
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Oral History
Subject
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Oral accounts of various family histories
Source
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Bristow Historical Society, oral history collection
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Regan Siler
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Tommy Thompson
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Viewer)
https://bristoworalhistory.org/ohms/render.php?cachefile=OHP-0076_Tommy_Thompson.xml
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6.0 August 19, 2025 OHP-0076 Tommy Thompson OHP-0076 00:01:07 Bristow Historical Society, Inc. bristowhistory Tommy Thompson Regan Siler 0 https://bristoworalhistory.org/interviews/OHP-0076 Thompson, Tommy.mp4 Other video 0 Birth Regan Siler 00:00
 ; This is Regan Siler with the Bristow Historical Society in Bristow, Oklahoma. This interview is part of the Historical Society's ongoing oral history project. The date is August 19, 2025 and I'm here with Tommy Thompson at the Bristow Library Annex. He's going to tell us a little bit about his life and what it's been like living and working in the Bristow area. Can you please state your full name?
 ; 
 ; Tommy Thompson 00:24
 ; Tommy Ray Thompson.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 00:26
 ; And do I have permission to record this interview? 
 ; 
 ; Tommy Thompson 00:28
 ; It depends on what your questions are.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 00:31
 ; Okay. Well, we'll see how it goes. Please tell me when and where you were born.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 00:37
 ; So, was that at the, was it the Sissler Clinic? Is that what it was called? 
 ; Tommy Ray Thompson was born on January 20, 1948. He was born in Bristow, Oklahoma at the Sissler Clinic. Bristow Historical Society ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Tommy Ray Thompson ; Sissler Clinic Birth 0 54 Parents Regan Siler 00:54
 ; Okay, okay, um, well, let's start by talking about your family. Can you tell me your parents full names?
 ; 
 ; Tommy Thompson 01:02
 ; My mother's name was Pauline Agnes Hill Thompson. Later she remarried her with most people near as Pauline Clowers. My dad was Ray Junior Thompson, and they divorced when I was in the second grade. So pretty much raised by a single mom.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 01:26
 ; Single mom, okay. And I have her birth date as April 29, 1923 and she passed away, January 13 of 2020. Is that correct?
 ; 
 ; Tommy Thompson 01:37
 ; Yes.
 ; Tommy's mother was Pauline Agnes Hill Thompson. She later remarried and most people knew her as Pauline Clowers. Tommy's father was Ray Junior Thompson. Tommy's parents divorced when he was in the second grade. He was raised by a single mom. Pauline Agnes Hill Thompson ; Pauline Clowers ; Ray Junior Thompson Parents 0 119 Sister Regan Siler 01:59
 ; In that general, okay, and that's fine. Did you have any siblings?
 ; 
 ; Tommy Thompson 02:04
 ; Yeah, I have a half sister that I found out.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 02:07
 ; Oh, wow!
 ; 
 ; Tommy Thompson 02:07
 ; Years and years later when I graduated high school and made a connection with her after quite a few years, and we're very close now. And she, she she and my wife, Connie, are best friends or sisters, so it's been really a good connection.
 ; Tommy ended up connecting with a half-sister after high school. Tommy says she and his wife are best friends now. His sister moved to Bristow and was the principal of Washington Elementary. She later moved to St. James, Missouri and became principal and eventually the superintendent of schools there. Bristow (Okla.) ; Washington Elementary School ; Carrie Tucker ; St. James (Mo.) Sister 0 170 Childhood in Bristow Regan Siler 02:50
 ; Wow! Okay, so did you grow up in Bristow your your whole
 ; 
 ; Tommy Thompson 02:55
 ; Yep.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 02:56
 ; Okay. So did you have family living near you growing up?
 ; 
 ; Tommy Thompson 02:59
 ; Yeah, I had aunts and uncles posted on every street corner in Bristow.
 ; Tommy lived in Bristow all of his childhood. One of Tommy's homes was an apartment by the Post Office. Tommy had lots of family in Bristow. He spent a lot of time at his grandparents' home before and after school. Tommy loved swimming at the Silver Plunge pool when he was young. Bristow (Okla.) ; Gussie Hayes ; Larry Slawson ; Jack Wagner ; Wagner Hardware ; Silver Plunge ; Ken McCormick ; Betty McCormick ; Kenna Jean McCormick ; Dale Hill ; Randy Travis Childhood 0 481 School Regan Siler 08:01
 ; Oh, that's awesome. Okay, well, let's talk a little bit about your school life. I know you told me you attended Bristow Public Schools for 12 years, minus a little stint of about 12 weeks in Texas in the second grade. Can you tell me while at Bristow Public Schools, do you remember having any particular influential teachers?
 ; 
 ; Tommy Thompson 08:24
 ; Mr. Reader, Jimmy Reader was the PE teacher. And, you know, I remember almost all my teachers. First grade was Mrs. Jordan. Second grade, Ms. Wilson. Third grade, Ms. Jackson. Fourth grade, Ms. Walters. Fifth grade, Mrs. Reid. Sixth grade, Mrs. Cunningham. Then in between those we had Mrs. Holcomb to teach art so many days a week, and Mrs. Sanders teach music, and probably had a paddle used on me by each and every one of them.
 ; Tommy attended Bristow Public Schools for all of his school life except for about twelve weeks that he spent in Texas in the second grade. Tommy remembers most of his teachers and says that most of them probably used a paddle on him. He loved going to school in a small town. Tommy really enjoyed math. Bristow Public Schools (Bristow, Okla.) ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Texas ; Jimmy Reader ; Mrs. Jordan ; Ms. Wilson ; Ms. Jackson ; Ms. Walters ; Mrs. Reid ; Mrs. Cunningham ; Mrs. Holcomb ; Mrs. Sanders ; Bill Gurley ; Neva Gurley ; Edison Elementary School (Bristow, Okla.) ; Mrs. Frump ; American Legion Baseball School 0 729 Community Activities Regan Siler 12:09
 ; Okay, well, thinking back to, like, town life and growing up here, what were some of your favorite community activities? And, you know, a lot of people talk about like Western Heritage days and camps and parades and stuff like that. Is there anything that you can recall community wide that you enjoyed?
 ; 
 ; Tommy Thompson 12:32
 ; Well, you know, the parades that we had, Western Heritage days was fun. But, you know, just being in a community was an everyday thing. You know, it was you cross Main Street, I don't know how many times when you were young. One year, my Great Aunt Lorene Mercer (ph), she and Jack Chapman opened up C& ; M Clothiers, and it was a men's clothing store, and I worked part time for them during the Christmas holidays.
 ; Tommy enjoyed the parades that happened in Bristow when he was young. He also says that Western Heritage Days was fun. Western Heritage Days ; Main Street (Bristow, Okla.) ; Lorene Mercer ; Jack Chapman ; C& ; M Clothiers Community Activities 0 807 Bristow Businesses Regan Siler 13:27
 ; Well, that's neat. Well, that was going to be my next question was, what were some of the biggest, or I don't know, most popular businesses, or maybe your some of your favorite businesses around town growing up, like, what are your, what are your memories of that?
 ; 
 ; Tommy Thompson 13:40
 ; The first one that flashes to me was Strong's.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 13:43
 ; Strong's?
 ; 
 ; Tommy Thompson 13:44
 ; Yeah, it was a retail store between Eighth and Ninth Street, and you go in and Polly Parrot shoes and Buster Brown shoes, and and you go in there and to get your shoe size, they had an x ray machine that you stood and put your feet up under, and it would measure your feet. And it's really funny to see your feet and bones underneath it. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 14:09
 ; Wow!
 ; Tommy's great aunt opened a men's clothing store with Jack Chapman. Tommy worked part time there during the Christmas holidays. Tommy remembers going to Strong's as a child and them having a machine that measured your feet. His mother worked at the Safeway for 25 years. Tommy also recalls Groom's Cafe, Highway Cafe, Anchor Drive In and Hamburger King. C& ; M Clothiers ; Strong's ; OG& ; E ; Boerstler Brothers ; Curtis Gillis ; Bruce Phillips ; Billy Farha Jr. ; Safeway ; Groom's Cafe ; Highway Cafe ; Hamburger King ; Anchor Drive In Bristow (Okla.) ; Business 0 1076 Teen Town Regan Siler 17:56
 ; So, did you have a favorite hangout as a teenager? 
 ; 
 ; Tommy Thompson 17:59
 ; Yeah, Teen Town, teen town. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 18:02
 ; So, tell me about that.
 ; 
 ; Tommy Thompson 18:03
 ; Mrs. Harvey, her son was Leslie Harvey, and a couple years older than I, but she started a teen town. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 18:11
 ; So, where was that located? 
 ; 
 ; Tommy Thompson 18:12
 ; The first one was at Eighth and Main, next door to where the hardware store is, and it was in that building and had a little balcony in it, and had pool tables and, or a pool table and music playing.
 ; Tommy's favorite hangout as a teenager was at Teen Town. Mrs. Harvey started it. She had a son, Leslie Harvey that was a couple years older than Tommy. It had pool tables and live music. Tommy also mentions the two movie theaters that Bristow had, The Princess and The Walmur. Teen Town ; Leslie Harvey ; Mrs. Harvey ; Chevrolet automobile ; Cunningham Chevrolet ; Jack Wagner ; Billy Sumner ; The Princess ; The Walmur ; Connie Marie Mann ; Strong's ; Bill Wilkinson ; Nita Wilkinson Teen Life 0 1224 Music Regan Siler 20:24
 ; Well, I want to ask, too, because you mentioned music. What, what was your favorite kind of music back then? Like, can you what were some of the artists you listened to? 
 ; 
 ; Tommy Thompson 20:43
 ; Oh God. [Undecipherable] The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Righteous Brothers, Johnny Rivers. You gotta remember, I'm 77, I'm just fog up here.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 21:02
 ; No, that's okay. No, that's like all the all the good stuff.
 ; Some of Tommy's favorite music was The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Righteous Brothers and Johnny Rivers. He remembers Jack Wagner's group, the Drifters opening for Mitch Rhyder and the Detroit Wheels. Beatles ; Rolling Stones (Rockabilly group) ; Righteous Brothers ; Johnny Rivers ; Tulsa (Okla.) ; Jack Wagner ; The Drifters ; Mitch Ryder ; Detroit Wheels (Musical group) Music 0 1308 Train Depot Regan Siler 21:48
 ; I want to ask, too, do you have happen to have, I mean, I know, and we'll get into this, I know you were the president of the Historical Society for a few years, and I'll ask you about that in in a little bit. But do you have any memories of the train depot as a youngster, or anything, any goings on down there, like, what are your memories of the train depot?
 ; 
 ; Tommy Thompson 22:09
 ; Well, we only we lived two apartment buildings west, or, I'm sorry, east, of the Seventh Street, between Seventh and Sixth, where the train station was, and my memory of it is two or three things. Number one, I could count on that train to help me going to sleep every night about 1030. It was just part of coming through town. They used to have a post outside the station with a wire on it, and they would attach a package that was, and as a train would come through, somebody would reach out and grab the package.
 ; Tommy says that he counted on the train to get him to sleep every night about 10:30. He remembers an older gentleman waiting at the train station for his brother to return from war. His brother was killed in action in World War II. Bristow Train Depot ; Kell Kelly Train Depot 0 1433 First Car 
 ; Regan Siler 23:53
 ; Well, do you remember, do you happen to remember your first car?
 ; 
 ; Tommy Thompson 24:00
 ; Yeah, my dad and I reconnected my first year of college, and he bought me an old 1958 Volkswagen, and it was great, as long as you were going down the hill or flat. When you had to go up a steep hill
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 24:26
 ; Did you have to "Fintstone" it?
 ; 
 ; Tommy Thompson 24:27
 ; Get your oars out and start rollin.
 ; Tommy's first car was a 1958 Volkswagen. Tommy and his father had reconnected his first year of college and he bought it for Tommy. Ray Junior Thompson ; Volkswagen automobiles Automobile 0 1491 Entertainment Regan Siler 24:51
 ; Oh, that's funny. Oh, that's a good one. Um, so growing up, do you remember what kind of entertainment you enjoyed? Like, I don't know from maybe TV programs, or I don't know if you listen to the radio a lot?
 ; 
 ; Tommy Thompson 25:10
 ; You know, the entertainment was at home, was TV and radio, and during the summer, baseball season, every night, I would listen either to the Cardinals on their station or on KVOO, and listen to the Oilers, Tulsa Oilers baseball team. Lynn Morton, Matt Krieger (ph), and one other gentleman. And I mean, I would listen to those games, especially when they went out to the Western Time Zone or Mountain Time Zone. So, it went a little bit later. But TV every Saturday morning, you know, and all the funny shows. I Love Lucy was a blast, and watched Ed Sullivan Show, yeah, good times.
 ; Tommy says that his entertainment was TV and radio. He says that during the summer it was listening to the baseball season on the radio. He loved all of the funny shows on television like I Love Lucy and Ed Sullivan. Cardinals (baseball) ; KVOO radio ; Tulsa Oilers ; Lynn Morton ; I love Lucy (Television program) ; Ed Sullivan show (Television program) ; Matt Krieger Entertainment 0 1558 Childhood Dreams and College Regan Siler 25:58
 ; Okay, as a child or a youngster, do you remember what you wanted to be when you grew up?
 ; 
 ; Tommy Thompson 26:05
 ; Oh, yeah, teacher and a coach.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 26:07
 ; Really? 
 ; 
 ; Tommy Thompson 26:08
 ; Yeah.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 26:09
 ; Well, you managed to achieve that, didn't you? Okay? So, I know we discussed, you attended college, and it was an interesting chain of events of college. So, tell us about your college experience.
 ; Tommy wanted to be a teacher and a coach when he grew up. He started college at OSU but did not take it seriously. The next year he drove back and forth with Bill Sumner and Kenneth Dale to Northern Junior College in Tonkawa. He then married his wife, Connie and shortly after received his draft notice. Tommy was planning on starting school at TU when he was drafted. After returning from war, he went to school at Tulsa Junior College. From there he went to Northeastern State University and received his BS degree in psychology and counseling, business education. Barry West ; Bill Sumner ; Kenneth Dale ; Northern Junior College ; Tonkawa (Okla.) ; Sinclair ; Connie Marie Mann ; Safeway Stores, Inc. ; Fort Polk (La.) ; University of Tulsa ; army ; Fort Lenoard Wood ; Tulsa Junior College ; Tulsa Community College ; Northeastern State University (Okla.) College 0 1796 Teaching Regan Siler 29:56
 ; Okay, okay, well, I know when we had visited before, I know you've had a lot of different teaching jobs. So, if you could touch on your earlier teaching jobs with maybe more of an emphasis on, you know, when you landed in Bristow and what you taught here.
 ; 
 ; Tommy Thompson 30:17
 ; Yeah, I'd been coached, taught and coached for two years at Nathan Hale High School, and ended up going to Edison, transferred over there, and to get the assistant football job I wanted, I had to take the head swimming coach's job. And there's, yeah. There was Bristow ties, believe it or not, coaching swimming. The head swimming coach at Memorial was the son of Frank Sanders, Jim Sanders, and Mr. Sanders was our principal. And respected him, and I was afraid of him, too. I really respected him, and I knew Jim, and on my swim team, my first swim team, Christian Wagner's (ph), mother, was the daughter of my junior English teacher, Mrs. Lipe (ph), and it was just a and Christian was
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 31:20
 ; So, you're saying like the stars aligned for you to come back to Bristow just because you had all the different connections there?
 ; Tommy started his teaching degree at Nathan Hale High School. He was there for two years, teaching and coaching. He then transferred to Edison in Bristow. He says to get the assistant football job, he had to take the head swimming coach position. Later in his teaching career he became the high school counselor. Nathan Hale High School ; Edison Elementary School (Bristow, Okla.) ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Frank Sanders ; Jim Sanders ; Christian Wagner ; Mrs. Lipe ; Darold Ritchie ; Dr. Carmichael ; Air Force Academy ; West Point ; Calvin Foster ; Senate Teaching 0 2192 Wife Regan Siler 36:32
 ; No, it's okay. It's okay. If you think of it, we'll come back to it. But, I would like to move on to and talk about your family a little bit. I know you mentioned your wife, Connie. Can you tell me her full name and date of birth?
 ; 
 ; Tommy Thompson 36:45
 ; Her full name is Connie Marie Mann. She was born July 29, 1950.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 36:51
 ; July 29th?
 ; 
 ; Tommy Thompson 36:53
 ; Yes.
 ; Tommy is married to Connie Marie Mann. She was born on July 29, 1950. He had Richard Worley introduce him to Connie and that is how their relationship began. They were married at the First Baptist Church in Bristow on September 6, 1968. They were married only a few months when Tommy was drafted. Connie Marie Mann ; Richard Worley ; First Baptist Church (Bristow, Okla.) ; Larry Slawson ; Gail Greer ; Marines ; Tulsa (Okla.) ; Tulsa Community College ; National Bank of Tulsa Wife 0 2348 Daughters and Grandchildren Regan Siler 39:08
 ; Right, right, and then you have, I know you have, two children. Can you tell me their names and dates of birth?
 ; 
 ; Tommy Thompson 39:16
 ; Heather and Hayley. Heather [Heather Thompson Charles] is the oldest. Her birthday is November the 27th.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 39:26
 ; I have November 28,1972.
 ; 
 ; Tommy Thompson 39:28
 ; I'm one day off.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 39:29
 ; Yeah, yeah.
 ; Tommy has two daughters, Heather Thompson Charles and Hayley Rae Woodson. He has three grandchildren-two granddaughters (Emily and Megan) and one grandson (Tyler.) Heather Thompson Charles ; Hayley Rae Woodson ; Oklahoma County (Okla.) ; District Attorney ; Oklahoma City (Okla.) ; Central University (Edmond, Okla.) Children ; Grandchildren 0 2470 Retirement from Education Regan Siler 41:10
 ; Didn't have any challenges. No, that's good. That's a good deal. Have you enjoyed being retired? Do you have any hobbies?
 ; 
 ; Tommy Thompson 41:18
 ; Yeah, when I retired from education, I worked at American National Bank, Spirit Bank, now for four years or so. And it, it was okay. I was making a good, a lot of, definitely a lot more money than being in education, and somebody from Express Personnel called me and asked me if I'd be interested in opening an Express office in Bristow. So, I left banking and did, and did that for six or seven years, and ended up being a region manager, and, you know, I just, education is what I loved, and I just couldn't get into it, and I had a fall and back of my head, and ended up, about six months later, having a hematoma taken off, so I left Express. And a year later, I started with the Jim Thorpe Association, which also has the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame. And I did that for three years, and we started our own organization, the guys that were on my board, called Tulsa Sports Charities. We did that for about 14 years, or I did it for 14 years, until I retired from it, and I didn't take a salary from it, and I was able to do other things to do it, but God, we had so much fun. Our our goal was to make a lot of money, have fun doing it and give it all away. We gave away. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 43:21
 ; That sounds fun!
 ; After retiring from Education, Tommy worked at the American National Bank (now SpiritBank) for about four years. He then opened an Express office in Bristow. He had that for about six or seven years and became a region manager. Tommy later started with the Jim Thorpe Association, which has the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame. After three years, they started their own organization, Tulsa Sports Charities. He did that for about fourteen years. American National Bank ; SpiritBank ; Jim Thorpe Association ; Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame ; Tulsa Sports Charities ; Fellowship of Christian Athletes ; Special Olympics ; Tom Osborne ; Barry Switzer ; University of Oklahoma (Tulsa, Okla.) ; Oklahoma State University ; University of Tulsa ; Tulsa World Retirement 0 2763 President of the Historical Society Regan Siler 46:03
 ; Well, that's cool. Well, I want to talk a little bit about your local accomplishments,too. I know you mentioned you were president of the Bristow Historical Society for three years. And, I know I asked about the depot in your early memories. What about your, your memories during that time at the depot?
 ; 
 ; Tommy Thompson 46:24
 ; You know, we were just in the beginning, and it was just organizing the meetings.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 46:34
 ; Trying to get everything set up?
 ; 
 ; Tommy Thompson 46:37
 ; You know, and people agreeing to do this. We had a great committee. I mean, Mrs. Chadderdon was on it. Dang, here I go. I don't want to start giving names I can't remember. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 46:48
 ; No, it's okay.
 ; Tommy was the president of the Bristow Historical Society. He did this for three years. He organized meetings, did fundraising and reached out to get the community involved at the depot. Bristow Historical Society ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Mrs. Chadderdon ; Gene Autry ; Bristow Chamber of Commerce Bristow Historical Society 0 2874 Running Regan Siler 47:54
 ; Well, you also told me that after your heart attack, that within six months you had run the Tulsa Run, and then tell me about your, you got into running, and then tell me about your friendship, running here and the Wildflower Run, and how all that came about. 
 ; 
 ; Tommy Thompson 48:13
 ; I had a heart attack in '84 and went through Saint Francis Cardiac Care Unit, where the you had people that were trainers that knew, and it was treadmill or bicycle, and then you had class on how to change your diet and just easy things to get you involved to make a change.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 48:40
 ; A positive change.
 ; Tommy ran the Tulsa Run six months after he had a heart attack in 1984. He says that he went through the Saint Francis Cardiac Care Unit and they helped him start training and learning how to change his diet. When Tommy moved to Bristow, he started running with Kell Kelly and Chip Cooper. They ran together for 17 years. Tommy helped Chip start the Wildflower Run in 1988. Tulsa Run ; Wildflower Run ; Saint Francis Cardiac Care Unit ; Dr. Earl Bachenberg ; Dermatologists ; Kell Kelly ; Chip Cooper ; Bristow (Okla.) Running 0 3081 Bristow Education Foundation Regan Siler 51:21
 ; Yeah, and then you had also mentioned, I wanted you to tell me, just touch on the Bristow Education Foundation, and I know we talked about, like the free throw contest, Cadet Lawman. Can you tell me about those few things?
 ; 
 ; Tommy Thompson 51:37
 ; There's two things that I was really proud of is, number one, is the Bristow Education Foundation. I was a counselor to high school, and you get a monthly newsletter from the technology centers, and I got one from Tulsa Tech, and there was, going up there, was going to have a seminar on how to start an Education Foundation. And I went in and talked to Bill Stephens, the principal, about going to that. And I said, you know, I think the best person I can think of right now that would be a good to help me with it would be Jim Masters. So, we got permission from Dr. Carmichael to look at the possibility. That's the way it started. Jim and I got it started, and before that, the other thing I was really proud of, is the dressing facilities out at the football field were still the same as when I was there back and, I mean, it was almost like a place where you put POWs. I mean, that's how,
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 52:52
 ; Yeah, right.
 ; Tommy played a big part in starting the Bristow Education Foundation. He had help from Jim Masters. Tommy was also responsible for getting much needed upgrades to the Bristow sports facilities. Bristow Education Foundation ; Cadet Lawman ; Tulsa Tech ; Bill Stephens ; Jim Masters ; Tom Alexander ; Calvin Gentry ; Tommy Herman ; Bobby Ledbetter ; Chuck West ; Larry Parish ; Tommy Parish ; Eddie Weiberdink ; Barry Switzer ; Ken McCormick ; Onions Martin ; LeForce Field House ; Bill Farha ; Senator Boren ; Chuck West Field House ; Elks Lodge ; Darold Ritchie ; Cadet Law Academy ; Burns Flat (Okla.) ; Teresa Westhaver Bristow Education Foundation 0 3636 How the World is Different Regan Siler 1:00:36
 ; Yeah, okay, well, I'm going to switch gears just a little bit. Um, I would like to ask you, um, how do you feel the world is different now than when you were a kid or younger?
 ; 
 ; Tommy Thompson 1:00:52
 ; It's not a good world right now. There's just too many, too much hate going on. It makes me sad.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 1:01:05
 ; Well, even listening to you talk about the community getting involved in the activities of like, the what you did at the football field, like, I miss that. I miss the involvement. So I
 ; 
 ; Tommy Thompson 1:01:18
 ; You're doing it right now.
 ; Tommy says it is not a good world right now. He feels there is too much hate going on and that makes him sad. Tommy does not like all of the division in the world today. Vietnam ; Afghanistan ; Iraq ; Donald Trump ; Andee Cooper ; God ; Connie Marie Mann World 0 3942 Wisdom Regan Siler 1:05:42
 ; Yeah, yeah, I agree. Well, so on that note, I'm going to ask you one final question. Is there any thing else that you would like to tell us about or share any wisdom that you would like to share with for future generations?
 ; 
 ; Tommy Thompson 1:05:57
 ; Just listen to the song by Louis Armstrong. What a Wonderful World. You listen to that song. If you don't get goose bumps, if you don't get a tear in your eye, you know, that tells you everything.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 1:06:10
 ; Right. You know, I like it. Well, you've given us a great interview. I appreciate it. Your interview will be an important part of the Oral History Archives for the museum. Thank you for taking the time to talk with us. We really appreciate it.
 ; Tommy finishes the interview with some words of wisdom. He says to just listen to the Louis Armstrong song "What a Wonderful World." He says if you don't get goosebumps or a tear in your eye that that tells you everything. Louis Armstrong ; WWI ; WWII ; Civil War ; Klingensmith Park Wisdom 0 MP4 Tommy Thompson recounts his life in Bristow, Oklahoma. Born January 20, 1948, Tommy discusses his family, including his mother Pauline Clowers and half-sister. He shares memories of growing up, including playing at the Silver Plunge swimming pool and attending Bristow Public Schools. Tommy details his involvement in sports, teaching, and community activities, such as being a founding member of the Bristow Wildflower Run and the Bristow Education Foundation. He also reflects on his military service, college education, and contributions to the community, including endowing scholarships and upgrading sports facilities. NOTE TRANSCRIPTION BEGIN 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:24.800 This is Regan Siler with the Bristow Historical Society in Bristow, Oklahoma. This interview is part of the Historical Society's ongoing oral history project. The date is August 19, 2025 and I'm here with Tommy Thompson at the Bristow Library Annex. He's going to tell us a little bit about his life and what it's been like living and working in the Bristow area. Can you please state your full name? 00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:26.445 Tommy Ray Thompson. 00:00:26.445 --> 00:00:28.000 And do I have permission to record this interview? 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:31.600 It depends on what your questions are. 00:00:31.600 --> 00:00:37.000 Okay. Well, we'll see how it goes. Please tell me when and where you were born. 00:00:37.000 --> 00:00:37.340 So, was that at the, was it the Sissler Clinic? Is that what it was called? 00:00:37.340 --> 00:00:51.000 I was born on January 20, 1948, and the hospital that used to be located at Eighth and Main. 00:00:51.000 --> 00:00:54.100 Sissler [indecipherable] or something like that. 00:00:54.100 --> 00:01:02.380 Okay, okay, um, well, let's start by talking about your family. Can you tell me your parents full names? 00:01:02.380 --> 00:01:26.545 My mother's name was Pauline Agnes Hill Thompson. Later she remarried her with most people near as Pauline Clowers. My dad was Ray Junior Thompson, and they divorced when I was in the second grade. So pretty much raised by a single mom. 00:01:26.545 --> 00:01:37.465 Single mom, okay. And I have her birth date as April 29, 1923 and she passed away, January 13 of 2020. Is that correct? 00:01:37.465 --> 00:01:37.644 Yes. 00:01:37.644 --> 00:01:45.549 And then I know we had discussed your your dad, and there was, we maybe weren't completely confirmed on his birth date. 00:01:45.549 --> 00:01:53.650 It's August the, I think it was yesterday, August the 18th, 1927. 00:01:53.650 --> 00:01:58.140 Okay. Because I had looked it up and I found August 14, which I thought was odd. 00:01:58.140 --> 00:01:59.280 I know it's in that 00:01:59.280 --> 00:02:04.200 In that general, okay, and that's fine. Did you have any siblings? 00:02:04.200 --> 00:02:07.140 Yeah, I have a half sister that I found out. 00:02:07.140 --> 00:02:07.480 Oh, wow! 00:02:07.480 --> 00:02:26.139 Years and years later when I graduated high school and made a connection with her after quite a few years, and we're very close now. And she, she she and my wife, Connie, are best friends or sisters, so it's been really a good connection. 00:02:26.139 --> 00:02:29.159 Well, good deal. 00:02:29.159 --> 00:02:50.580 And matter of fact, she and her husband moved here to Bristow, and she was the principal of Washington Elementary before moving on back to her husband, Carrie Tucker's hometown in St James, Missouri, and she went up there as principal and eventually superintendent of schools there. 00:02:50.580 --> 00:02:55.784 Wow! Okay, so did you grow up in Bristow your your whole 00:02:55.784 --> 00:02:56.025 Yep. 00:02:56.025 --> 00:02:59.985 Okay. So did you have family living near you growing up? 00:02:59.985 --> 00:03:05.025 Yeah, I had aunts and uncles posted on every street corner in Bristow. 00:03:05.025 --> 00:03:08.400 Well, that's good. You probably couldn't get away with much, could you? 00:03:08.400 --> 00:03:50.000 Yeah, I got in trouble, but I always got caught. Let's just put it that way. Yeah, I grew up during the elementary years, I stayed with my grandparents a lot, and before school and after school, and one of the best things that happened was the next door neighbor to my grandfather and grandmother was Larry Slawson. And Larry and I knew each other since we were two-years-old. Don't remember what it was like at two-years-old, but I noticed, I know that's about when we we started playing together and still do. 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:53.000 So, where was your house located growing up? 00:03:53.000 --> 00:03:53.199 The post office? 00:03:53.199 --> 00:04:00.015 We lived, being a single mom, we lived in three or four different places. We lived in the post office apartments that Gussie Hayes (ph) and his wife used to own. Gus did vending machines, and we lived 00:04:00.015 --> 00:04:26.285 It was across the street from the where the police station used to be, on Eighth Street, just a half a block, well, between Main Street and Chestnut. 00:04:26.285 --> 00:04:27.420 Okay. 00:04:27.420 --> 00:05:03.944 And there used to be a cotton gin that was active when we lived there. And Mr. Bishop, I believe, owned it, and some of the bins would be filled with cotton, and he let me go in there and play on these big stacks of cotton. The place where he weighed the wagons that come in with the cotton was a big scale, and our building that we lived in was there and had a big brick wall and went there was no trucks there, I'd go out there with my ball and glove and throw it off the building. 00:05:03.944 --> 00:05:04.785 Oh, okay. 00:05:04.785 --> 00:05:37.720 And Jack Wagner (ph), another good friend of mine, lived down the street, and I still have his nickname, still is Sheriff. He used to ride his bike up to the police station and stand guard outside with his little pistol wrapped around his waist. His dad was Jack Wagner (ph), and that owned Wagner hardware at the time, and Jack was a heck of a musician. He was quite talented with the piano, and 00:05:37.720 --> 00:05:39.639 You're the dad or the son? 00:05:39.639 --> 00:05:42.759 Oh, no, Jack, Jr., yeah. 00:05:42.759 --> 00:05:43.420 Your friend, yeah. 00:05:43.420 --> 00:06:00.579 One of my best friends, yeah. He was very talented, very talented. In fact, the old band that he used to play with when our 50th, 1966 reunion, they all got together again, except for one that had passed away, and played and sang at our reunion. It was pretty cool. 00:06:00.579 --> 00:06:08.665 So, then you as a youngster, you had friends around, you were riding your bikes doing all kinds of kid stuff. 00:06:08.665 --> 00:06:11.605 Yeah, yeah. That's just, I mean 00:06:11.605 --> 00:06:13.000 What was your favorite thing to do as a youngster? 00:06:13.000 --> 00:07:15.490 As a youngster, really, what was great was the Silver Plunge swimming pool out in the city park. Was the biggest swimming pool in the southwest. That was what it was touted as. And my mother was able to get me a season pass, and during the summer, ride my bicycle up Seventh Street and coast in to the Silver Plunge and pat the concession stand, you know you had to have ticket to get in. They knew me. The McCormicks rented at that time, Ken McCormick and BB, his wife and two other daughters, Betty McCormick and Kenna Jean McCormick (ph). And Betty became my aunt. My uncle, Dale Hill, and she got married. And Betty passed away at an early age with cancer, and but swimming all day, you know, all afternoon in swimming pool with all the friends that were there, getting up on the tower and acting like a fool, getting the whistle blown at me by the lifeguard. 00:07:15.490 --> 00:07:16.000 Getting in a little bit of trouble. 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:32.139 Yeah, but, and then the neatest thing was, when I got through swimming, I had to ride up a little bit of the hill there, and when I hit the top of Seventh Street, is like that Travis can't even Country and Western singer. 00:07:32.139 --> 00:07:32.180 Travis Tritt? 00:07:32.180 --> 00:07:32.875 Randy Travis, maybe? 00:07:32.875 --> 00:07:43.759 Yeah, no, no, no, no. He was before Travis Tritt, yeah. But anyway, his song is like this bicycle and, you know, no hands, yeah, going down a big hill, Mrs. Jones. 00:07:43.759 --> 00:08:01.180 Yeah. Randy Travis, yeah, okay. I love that song. It reminds me. And when I go down Seventh Street Hill, Mrs. Jones had a big mirror hanging up in the front room, and you could see yourself just fly by. 00:08:01.180 --> 00:08:24.740 Oh, that's awesome. Okay, well, let's talk a little bit about your school life. I know you told me you attended Bristow Public Schools for 12 years, minus a little stint of about 12 weeks in Texas in the second grade. Can you tell me while at Bristow Public Schools, do you remember having any particular influential teachers? 00:08:24.740 --> 00:09:05.284 Mr. Reader, Jimmy Reader was the PE teacher. And, you know, I remember almost all my teachers. First grade was Mrs. Jordan. Second grade, Ms. Wilson. Third grade, Ms. Jackson. Fourth grade, Ms. Walters. Fifth grade, Mrs. Reid. Sixth grade, Mrs. Cunningham. Then in between those we had Mrs. Holcomb to teach art so many days a week, and Mrs. Sanders teach music, and probably had a paddle used on me by each and every one of them.. 00:09:05.284 --> 00:09:07.504 Did you enjoy school? 00:09:07.504 --> 00:09:10.429 Oh God, it was great going to school in a small town. 00:09:10.429 --> 00:09:19.200 Did you have any favorite subjects or things that you really maybe excelled at? 00:09:19.200 --> 00:09:36.419 I really enjoyed math with our math teachers that we had. And Mrs. Wilson, the second grade teacher was she was just pleasant. She taught like she was one of you. 00:09:36.419 --> 00:09:48.480 Right? Did you have Mrs., did you, I I'm thinking about this because I just interviewed Bill Gurley this last time, and his mother was Neva Gurley. Did you have her? 00:09:48.480 --> 00:09:53.279 Yes and no comment. 00:09:53.279 --> 00:09:55.860 Did you struggle in her class? 00:09:55.860 --> 00:09:57.720 I could not keep my head above the water. 00:09:57.720 --> 00:10:11.779 Oh, no. Well, I thought it was funny because she was an older lady at the time, and she was my husband's algebra tutor. Well, I think she taught a lot of kids. 00:10:11.779 --> 00:10:29.299 Oh, she did, yeah, and she taught fast. It's like you've seen sometimes people on TV were at the chalkboard and they're putting up numbers up there and they're erasing as they go. 00:10:29.299 --> 00:10:30.200 Keep up. 00:10:30.200 --> 00:10:38.945 Actually, my mom thought it would be better for me if I went to her summer school, and it still wasn't better. 00:10:38.945 --> 00:10:39.899 Oh no. 00:10:39.899 --> 00:10:59.100 But I, you know, the teachers that I had at the in school were just, you know, when second grade, part of the year I was in at Edison, and Mrs. Frump (ph) was the second grade teacher, and I, all the teachers in elementary school were just great. 00:10:59.100 --> 00:11:08.440 So, on up into, say like, I guess, it was probably junior high at the time, junior high and high school, were you involved in any, like, activities or sports, or anything? 00:11:08.440 --> 00:11:39.565 Sports, to be quite honest with you, they were like having a dad around. I played football. I played basketball. I ran track. Basketball, and in high school, we had a team my junior year, and we wore the old American Legion baseball uniforms that was probably made in the 40s or 50s, very baggy, heavy. 00:11:39.565 --> 00:11:41.664 Probably hot, too. 00:11:41.664 --> 00:12:00.850 Yeah, and I remember we had a game the same day we had a track meet in Bristow, and I ran track. And as soon as I got my three races down, I put my uniform in and just walked over the through the fence where the baseball field used to be behind the football field. 00:12:00.850 --> 00:12:03.669 Because you had to clock in over there. 00:12:03.669 --> 00:12:09.500 Football and basketball were, you know, that's what I really enjoyed. 00:12:09.500 --> 00:12:32.764 Okay, well, thinking back to, like, town life and growing up here, what were some of your favorite community activities? And, you know, a lot of people talk about like Western Heritage days and camps and parades and stuff like that. Is there anything that you can recall community wide that you enjoyed? 00:12:32.764 --> 00:13:13.370 Well, you know, the parades that we had, Western Heritage days was fun. But, you know, just being in a community was an everyday thing. You know, it was you cross Main Street, I don't know how many times when you were young. One year, my Great Aunt Lorene Mercer (ph), she and Jack Chapman opened up C&M Clothiers, and it was a men's clothing store, and I worked part time for them during the Christmas holidays. 00:13:13.370 --> 00:13:14.000 As a teenager? 00:13:14.000 --> 00:13:27.080 Yeah, yeah. And help a lot of the men in Bristow come in. I'd help them with the sports jackets and things, Yeah, it was fun doing it. Even learned how to wrap packages for Christmas. 00:13:27.080 --> 00:13:40.940 Well, that's neat. Well, that was going to be my next question was, what were some of the biggest, or I don't know, most popular businesses, or maybe your some of your favorite businesses around town growing up, like, what are your, what are your memories of that? 00:13:40.940 --> 00:13:43.460 The first one that flashes to me was Strong's. 00:13:43.460 --> 00:13:44.205 Strong's? 00:13:44.205 --> 00:14:09.904 Yeah, it was a retail store between Eighth and Ninth Street, and you go in and Polly Parrot shoes and Buster Brown shoes, and and you go in there and to get your shoe size, they had an x ray machine that you stood and put your feet up under, and it would measure your feet. And it's really funny to see your feet and bones underneath it. 00:14:09.904 --> 00:14:10.865 Wow! 00:14:10.865 --> 00:14:18.065 And actually, my wife, when she was in high school, she was one of the bookkeepers up there. 00:14:18.065 --> 00:14:18.784 Oh, really? 00:14:18.784 --> 00:14:42.409 And I worked at OG&E as a janitor for my sophomore year through my, till I graduated as cleaning the Main Street office and then their warehouse over on Ninth Street, I believe. It used to be OG&E, and I think it was a beer warehouse once and a feed store, and I don't know what it is now. 00:14:42.409 --> 00:14:45.779 So, you had a work ethic from an early age? 00:14:45.779 --> 00:14:52.860 Yeah, yeah. And actually, the job that I had at OG&E paid for my first year of college. 00:14:52.860 --> 00:14:53.600 Wow! 00:14:53.600 --> 00:16:19.174 And, I mean, I worked for Boerstler Brothers whenever they needed help unloading train cars and so on. Funniest story about Boerstler Brothers is it was Clifford, Spencer, myself, Curtis Gillis and Bruce Phillips. We're unloading a semi truck with the cab gone. They just parked the trailer, and there was five pound bags of sugar and big, you know, cases of pickles and things. And we got dollies, and when we come off the truck trailer, we had a big metal plate that we could go over to get it inside the warehouse. And I'm pulling, I think it was Bruce Phillips, and I'm pulling him across to keep it level. And he's got a, you know, 80 pounds of sugar on it. And we got into the middle of that plate. That trailer started, and all of a sudden, when we got more than halfway, it just flipped. Lost sight of Bruce. Clifford was standing in the back of it, or, you know, towards the front, and he got him, Bruce ended up in the very front end. 00:16:19.174 --> 00:16:20.195 Oh my goodness! 00:16:20.195 --> 00:16:27.980 Billy Farha, Jr was the bookkeeper inside, and he'd come running out, you know, because it sounded like 00:16:27.980 --> 00:16:33.539 What the world?! Yeah. Did you have a favorite place to eat out in town? 00:16:33.539 --> 00:17:08.359 You know, my mother and I, you know, she worked at Safeway for 25 years, wrapping meat. And there were some nights when she got home, she was tired, and it was Grooms Cafe. And when I was in high school, a lot of us in high school would go to their back room and she'd have our order already set out for us. I always had a hamburger and french fries, you know, and it's mostly that, and and my mom would go in every week, like the other parents, and pay for the food and Highway Cafe. 00:17:08.359 --> 00:17:12.884 I remember people mentioning Highway Cafe, but Groom's Cafe. Where was that located? 00:17:12.884 --> 00:17:40.000 It was between Highway Cafe on Eighth Street on the west side of Main, halfway in between the Eighth and Ninth Street. And my favorite place was, obviously, the Anchor Drive In. And years ago, there was Hamburger King at South Main. And between Anchor and Hamburger King, they were the best hamburgers ever. 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:56.200 Yeah, I've heard a lot about Hamburger King too. Yeah. You know, and a lot of restaurants and cafes during that period of time always had bowls of peanuts, you know, as a little appetizer or snack, because we were the peanut capital of the world right back then. 00:17:56.200 --> 00:17:59.920 So, did you have a favorite hangout as a teenager? 00:17:59.920 --> 00:18:02.140 Yeah, Teen Town, teen town. 00:18:02.140 --> 00:18:03.160 So, tell me about that. 00:18:03.160 --> 00:18:11.545 Mrs. Harvey, her son was Leslie Harvey, and a couple years older than I, but she started a teen town. 00:18:11.545 --> 00:18:12.684 So, where was that located? 00:18:12.684 --> 00:18:30.490 The first one was at Eighth and Main, next door to where the hardware store is, and it was in that building and had a little balcony in it, and had pool tables and, or a pool table and music playing. 00:18:30.490 --> 00:18:33.000 So, was it just a place for teens to go and hang out. 00:18:33.000 --> 00:18:33.420 Hang out. 00:18:33.420 --> 00:18:34.779 They need something like that now. 00:18:34.779 --> 00:18:52.079 And then we moved over to Ninth Street. There was, when the Chevrolet building, Cunningham Chevrolet was there, there was the alley, then right next to it, it was an old white building. 00:18:52.079 --> 00:18:56.819 Is that where, like, the the retirement community is now, okay. 00:18:56.819 --> 00:19:13.380 Yeah, there was a white building there, and it had a nice, big room, and had another separate room where there was a pool table. And that's when music started becoming live during our period of time. Jack Wagner (ph) and Billy Sumner (ph). 00:19:13.380 --> 00:19:14.640 Oh, so they would come and play? 00:19:14.640 --> 00:19:14.880 Yeah. 00:19:14.880 --> 00:19:15.119 Awesome. 00:19:15.119 --> 00:19:22.380 They they would play there, and you had to pay $1 or two to get in, and it was fun, yeah. 00:19:22.380 --> 00:19:25.680 So, I'm guessing, and they had, like, dancing and stuff like that, too? 00:19:25.680 --> 00:19:26.880 Yeah, and 00:19:26.880 --> 00:19:27.660 That's neat! 00:19:27.660 --> 00:19:28.440 Oh, it was fun. 00:19:28.440 --> 00:19:31.200 I wish they had something like that, that now for kids. 00:19:31.200 --> 00:19:32.579 It was a big hangout. 00:19:32.579 --> 00:19:35.720 Yeah, and it was this, like a teacher that did this? 00:19:35.720 --> 00:20:24.049 No, she was just a citizen, like, you're volunteering here with the, yeah, with the Historical Society. And she just, I think she may have been paid a little bit because some, you know, we were charged admission, but it was, yeah, and I got to grow up when we had two theaters downtown, The Princess and The Walmur. Then we had a drive in theater out east or west of town. And, a matter of fact, the summer before we got married, I worked during the day with Sinclair Oil Company as a roustabout, and Connie was still working at Strong's. And then we both worked for Bill and Nita Wilkinson that every night at the drive in theater to save up money for a honeymoon. I had a blast. Bill Wilkinson, bless his heart, passed away just a couple three months ago, and Nita is still doing well. But man, we had some great movies out there. 00:20:24.049 --> 00:20:43.430 Well, I want to ask, too, because you mentioned music. What, what was your favorite kind of music back then? Like, can you what were some of the artists you listened to? 00:20:43.430 --> 00:21:02.075 Oh God. [Undecipherable] The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Righteous Brothers, Johnny Rivers. You gotta remember, I'm 77, I'm just fog up here. 00:21:02.075 --> 00:21:05.960 No, that's okay. No, that's like all the all the good stuff. 00:21:05.960 --> 00:21:48.545 And yeah, we used to go to Tulsa to watch them play at the old Convention Center. Simon and Garfunkel really went see them. And the Righteous Brothers were there, and they had a band that warmed up that was just really cool. They played, I I Want Candy or something like that. But Jack Wagner's group, the Drifters, the Drifters, was a warm up band for a big dance at the convention center, and it was Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, which was another popular band back then. 00:21:48.545 --> 00:22:09.000 I want to ask, too, do you have happen to have, I mean, I know, and we'll get into this, I know you were the president of the Historical Society for a few years, and I'll ask you about that in in a little bit. But do you have any memories of the train depot as a youngster, or anything, any goings on down there, like, what are your memories of the train depot? 00:22:09.000 --> 00:22:50.984 Well, we only we lived two apartment buildings west, or, I'm sorry, east, of the Seventh Street, between Seventh and Sixth, where the train station was, and my memory of it is two or three things. Number one, I could count on that train to help me going to sleep every night about 1030. It was just part of coming through town. They used to have a post outside the station with a wire on it, and they would attach a package that was, and as a train would come through, somebody would reach out and grab the package. 00:22:50.984 --> 00:22:51.525 Are you serious? 00:22:51.525 --> 00:23:32.775 Yeah, it was pretty cool. Then there was a elderly gentleman whose brother was killed in action in World War II, and every day when the train came through Bristow, even if, when the passenger train would stop here, and after that, it was just the freight trains going through, he would come down, walk across Main Street near, he lived where Base Funeral Home (ph) next door to it used to be, and walked down to the train station hoping that his brother would be coming in. 00:23:32.775 --> 00:23:35.480 I think I remember Kell [Kelly] telling me about him. 00:23:35.480 --> 00:23:47.359 It was in, he collected string, and I never saw it, but I was told that he had a huge ball of string in his house. He was quiet, nice 00:23:47.359 --> 00:23:50.720 But he kept thinking his brother was going to return? Aww. 00:23:50.720 --> 00:23:53.660 Yeah, yeah. 00:23:53.660 --> 00:24:00.299 Well, do you remember, do you happen to remember your first car? 00:24:00.299 --> 00:24:26.144 Yeah, my dad and I reconnected my first year of college, and he bought me an old 1958 Volkswagen, and it was great, as long as you were going down the hill or flat. When you had to go up a steep hill 00:24:26.144 --> 00:24:27.345 Did you have to "Fintstone" it? 00:24:27.345 --> 00:24:29.384 Get your oars out and start rollin. 00:24:29.384 --> 00:24:30.559 Yeah. 00:24:30.559 --> 00:24:51.180 And one of the things that happened, I swear this happened. I lived in East Bennett Hall at Oklahoma State my first year of college, and a bunch of the guys there went out while I was gone and picked that up and put it up in the bushes. Carried it up a little bit of slope. I don't know how the hell they did it? 00:24:51.180 --> 00:25:10.900 Oh, that's funny. Oh, that's a good one. Um, so growing up, do you remember what kind of entertainment you enjoyed? Like, I don't know from maybe TV programs, or I don't know if you listen to the radio a lot? 00:25:10.900 --> 00:25:58.585 You know, the entertainment was at home, was TV and radio, and during the summer, baseball season, every night, I would listen either to the Cardinals on their station or on KVOO, and listen to the Oilers, Tulsa Oilers baseball team. Lynn Morton, Matt Krieger (ph), and one other gentleman. And I mean, I would listen to those games, especially when they went out to the Western Time Zone or Mountain Time Zone. So, it went a little bit later. But TV every Saturday morning, you know, and all the funny shows. I Love Lucy was a blast, and watched Ed Sullivan Show, yeah, good times. 00:25:58.585 --> 00:26:05.890 Okay, as a child or a youngster, do you remember what you wanted to be when you grew up? 00:26:05.890 --> 00:26:07.809 Oh, yeah, teacher and a coach. 00:26:07.809 --> 00:26:08.230 Really? 00:26:08.230 --> 00:26:09.130 Yeah. 00:26:09.130 --> 00:26:22.420 Well, you managed to achieve that, didn't you? Okay? So, I know we discussed, you attended college, and it was an interesting chain of events of college. So, tell us about your college experience. 00:26:22.420 --> 00:26:42.338 Do I have to? You could probably asked Barry West. He was my roommate. First year in college, did not go well at all. Was not very smart about attending classes. 00:26:42.338 --> 00:26:44.000 You weren't very focused, maybe? 00:26:44.000 --> 00:27:40.069 No, I wasn't. OSU asked me not to come back. And the next year, I drove back and forth with Bill Sumner and Kenneth Dale to Northern Junior College in Tonkawa, and did, had a lot more focus, and ended, did a lot better. And the next summer, I worked for Sinclair, as I told you, and Connie and I got married September the 6th in 1968. And I was 20. She was 18. Three weeks or so after we were married, I got my draft notice, and so I was starting to TU, and I hadn't, school hadn't started yet. I had to go to TU and, you know, get out. 00:27:40.069 --> 00:27:41.319 Right. 00:27:41.319 --> 00:27:53.380 I stocked at a Safeway store at 51st and Harvard, from 11:00 at night to 7:00 in the morning until through October and November and left for Ft. Polk December 2, 1968. 00:27:53.380 --> 00:27:57.519 And how long were you in the service? And you were in the army, correct? 00:27:57.519 --> 00:28:31.359 Drafted into the army. I served 21 months. If you if your ETS came within 90 days and you were going to go back to college, the army would give you a 60 to 90 day early out. And my enlistment date was December the 2nd, and I started school in early September, so my last station was at Fort Leonard Wood, and that was. 00:28:31.359 --> 00:28:43.900 And then when you came back, did you go to TJC? Is that what you said? Yeah, it's TCC now, but back then, and it was TJC, right? Yeah. 00:28:43.900 --> 00:29:45.069 You know, I learned my lesson. I mean, every night that I was in Vietnam, I thought about why didn't you go to class? And married now, and I was going to go back to TU, but during that period of time, from the spring until I got out in the fall, Tulsa Junior College (Tulsa Community College) opened. And it was in the old Sinclair building at about 11th and Main, I think, or Boston. And, it was like a reunion of Vietnam veterans all going there on the GI Bill. It was crazy, right? And maybe I was in their first graduating class. There's 22 of us. And from there, I went to Northeastern State University and got my BS degree and in psychology and counseling, business education. 00:29:45.069 --> 00:29:47.049 And you were there a couple years, correct? 00:29:47.049 --> 00:29:48.910 I was at Northeastern two years. 00:29:48.910 --> 00:29:49.450 Two years. 00:29:49.450 --> 00:29:56.799 And then I went back and drove for another year and not quite a half, and got my Master's Degree there. 00:29:56.799 --> 00:30:17.259 Okay, okay, well, I know when we had visited before, I know you've had a lot of different teaching jobs. So, if you could touch on your earlier teaching jobs with maybe more of an emphasis on, you know, when you landed in Bristow and what you taught here. 00:30:17.259 --> 00:31:20.410 Yeah, I'd been coached, taught and coached for two years at Nathan Hale High School, and ended up going to Edison, transferred over there, and to get the assistant football job I wanted, I had to take the head swimming coach's job. And there's, yeah. There was Bristow ties, believe it or not, coaching swimming. The head swimming coach at Memorial was the son of Frank Sanders, Jim Sanders, and Mr. Sanders was our principal. And respected him, and I was afraid of him, too. I really respected him, and I knew Jim, and on my swim team, my first swim team, Christian Wagner's (ph), mother, was the daughter of my junior English teacher, Mrs. Lipe (ph), and it was just a and Christian was 00:31:20.410 --> 00:31:26.599 So, you're saying like the stars aligned for you to come back to Bristow just because you had all the different connections there? 00:31:26.599 --> 00:32:19.549 No, it's because I loved Edison. I wouldn't trade it for the world and, hell, as a matter of fact, I still got kids that keep in touch with me. But in '84 in April, I had a heart attack, two heart attacks, and first one was at home, got to the hospital. Second one was when I was in the hospital and ended up having a bypass and didn't go back to school to finish the year. And, the next year, I got out of coaching and went back to teaching, and we're already making plans on moving to Bristow, and wasn't planning on taking a high school counselor's job because I didn't know it was open at the time. We took over the 7-11 on South Main. 00:32:19.549 --> 00:32:22.730 And, see, I even forgot about that. 00:32:22.730 --> 00:33:03.140 Yeah, we we ran it, and there was a, Darold Ritchie was promoted to assistant superintendent, and I got a call from Dr. Carmichael asked me to come up and interview for the counseling job and assistant girl's basketball, and I told him flat out, you know, I coached for so many years, and I just don't want to do it again because of my health. And, so, I turned walk out and Darold Ritchie caught me when I was getting into the car to go back to the store, and Dr. C wants to see you again. Go back in, he said, you got a counseling job. 00:33:03.140 --> 00:33:16.539 Well, good, and and in talking to you about the counseling job, I know you said that that was like a great time for you, like I was in school at the time you were a counselor, and you said you really enjoyed your your time doing that. 00:33:16.539 --> 00:34:17.170 I enjoyed teaching and interacting with the classes, and I enjoyed coaching football, swimming and then back to basketball after the swim, my first five years in swimming and but when I got to be a high school counselor, my job was to know every student if I could. I don't know if you remember, but I had three yellow legal pads, and I tried to call in every student, sophomore, junior and senior, and had columns made, you know, make sure, you know, make start making plans and what your interests would be. Make sure you take the ACT if you're going to go to college, and PSAT when you're a junior, and this and that. And each year, I would try to talk to each one that came in. And, you know, it's just helping kids. 00:34:17.170 --> 00:34:21.659 You felt like you were able to maybe connect or help with them better in a counseling position? 00:34:21.659 --> 00:35:43.335 You know, I remember telling them, there's only a few things you can do once you graduate. Number one, you can go to college. Two, you can go to trade school. Three, you can join the service. Four, you can get a job. Five, you can just stay at home with your mom and dad. Those are about what you have to choose and you need to decide. And a good handful of kids went into the service. A lot of them went to college, trade or technical schools. Some of them got some jobs, and have done very well since then, and watching, you know, the ones that I really liked helping, and it wasn't because they were, I like them more than I like the others. It was they had more intense things they had to do, like the the academies, the Air Force Academy, the Naval Academy, and West Point, and was able to get some kids in, and I was also able to help a good group of kids like, my mind's going blank, I'll get back to them. 00:35:43.335 --> 00:35:44.360 Yeah, that's okay. 00:35:44.360 --> 00:36:19.565 And, you know, one of them called me about four years ago, when we were on our way to Fort Worth to watch the Sweet 16 basketball. I was with my brother and sister and my wife, my brother in law, sister and wife and I get a call, and it was Calvin Foster. He said, I wanted you to know you helped me so much to get into the Naval Academy. I just got nominated to be an admiral, and it has to be approved by the Senate, and both of us got tears. 00:36:19.565 --> 00:36:20.945 Yeah, that's a big deal. 00:36:20.945 --> 00:36:22.324 That's that was huge. 00:36:22.324 --> 00:36:28.639 Yeah. 00:36:28.639 --> 00:36:32.420 I swear I would get brain fog. 00:36:32.420 --> 00:36:45.059 No, it's okay. It's okay. If you think of it, we'll come back to it. But, I would like to move on to and talk about your family a little bit. I know you mentioned your wife, Connie. Can you tell me her full name and date of birth? 00:36:45.059 --> 00:36:51.960 Her full name is Connie Marie Mann. She was born July 29, 1950. 00:36:51.960 --> 00:36:53.940 July 29th? 00:36:53.940 --> 00:36:54.420 Yes. 00:36:54.420 --> 00:37:00.000 Okay. What was your first impression of her when you met her? 00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:24.224 It was at Sixth and Main Street. I was in my little red '65 Mustang, and I was in the outside lane going south. Richard Worley (ph), and a group of people were in his car, and Connie was in there. And, so, I had Richard Worley later, if he had introduced me, and that's the way it all started. 00:37:24.224 --> 00:37:25.545 Oh, okay, okay. 00:37:25.545 --> 00:37:27.284 That was in '67. 00:37:27.284 --> 00:37:47.070 In 1967 okay, and you had mentioned that you'd gotten married September 6, 1968 and that was at the First Baptist Church in Bristow. Okay. Well, can you tell me about what your first year for, like, the early years of marriage was like? I know you were, you were in 00:37:47.070 --> 00:37:48.929 Listen, we got married September the 6th. 00:37:48.929 --> 00:37:51.079 And then you were drafted. 00:37:51.079 --> 00:38:06.019 We lived together September, October and November, and I was working all night, and she's working days, and I left December the 2nd. So, I was in the Army a lot longer than I was with Connie. 00:38:06.019 --> 00:38:09.679 Yeah, so where did she stay while you were gone? 00:38:09.679 --> 00:38:35.704 She stayed, she stayed with Larry Slawson (ph), his wife, Gail Greer. Gail's, Larry was had gone away for basic training in Marines, and while he was gone, well, she and Connie lived together in Tulsa. Then when Larry was injured and got a discharge, physical discharge, she moved back home with her mom and dad. 00:38:35.704 --> 00:38:45.485 Okay, okay. And so whenever you got out, where did you guys end up living, when you got out of the service? 00:38:45.485 --> 00:39:08.630 Yeah, we bought a mobile home. Lived in Tulsa. I started going to TJC [Tulsa Community College], and she was working at that at Bank of Oklahoma, or actually, it was National Bank of Tulsa at that time. And you know, we just struggled through early years of marriage. 00:39:08.630 --> 00:39:16.000 Right, right, and then you have, I know you have, two children. Can you tell me their names and dates of birth? 00:39:16.000 --> 00:39:26.440 Heather and Hayley. Heather [Heather Thompson Charles] is the oldest. Her birthday is November the 27th. 00:39:26.440 --> 00:39:28.360 I have November 28,1972. 00:39:28.360 --> 00:39:29.079 I'm one day off. 00:39:29.079 --> 00:39:29.500 Yeah, yeah. 00:39:29.500 --> 00:39:35.380 And Hayley [Hayley Rae Woodson] was October the 8th. How close? 00:39:35.380 --> 00:39:37.000 October 9, 1980? 00:39:37.000 --> 00:39:37.539 I'm one day off. 00:39:37.539 --> 00:39:47.019 Okay. And then you have, I know you said Heather has, uh, two daughters, and then Haley has one son. 00:39:47.019 --> 00:40:50.940 Yeah, two granddaughters are Emily and Megan, and grandson is Tyler. And you'll you're going to start learning how great it is to have a grandkid. And boy did I, we got to watch him grow up. You have a Schnauzer, and we had a Schnauzer back then. It was just a puppy, and his name was Gibbs, or Buster. And Buster grew up with those kids. And Emily now is a lawyer, an attorney working for Oklahoma County as a district in the District Attorney's office, and she handles all the juvenile cases. Megan just graduated and has started as an RN at a woman's hospital that deals with obstetrics and those things in Oklahoma City. Tyler is in his senior year, starting at Central University in Edmond. 00:40:50.940 --> 00:41:00.639 Do you remember any challenges in the early years of being a dad? Any challenges you had? 00:41:00.639 --> 00:41:10.260 You know, both my kids were they were disciplined, but I never had any challenges. 00:41:10.260 --> 00:41:18.500 Didn't have any challenges. No, that's good. That's a good deal. Have you enjoyed being retired? Do you have any hobbies? 00:41:18.500 --> 00:43:21.664 Yeah, when I retired from education, I worked at American National Bank, Spirit Bank, now for four years or so. And it, it was okay. I was making a good, a lot of, definitely a lot more money than being in education, and somebody from Express Personnel called me and asked me if I'd be interested in opening an Express office in Bristow. So, I left banking and did, and did that for six or seven years, and ended up being a region manager, and, you know, I just, education is what I loved, and I just couldn't get into it, and I had a fall and back of my head, and ended up, about six months later, having a hematoma taken off, so I left Express. And a year later, I started with the Jim Thorpe Association, which also has the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame. And I did that for three years, and we started our own organization, the guys that were on my board, called Tulsa Sports Charities. We did that for about 14 years, or I did it for 14 years, until I retired from it, and I didn't take a salary from it, and I was able to do other things to do it, but God, we had so much fun. Our our goal was to make a lot of money, have fun doing it and give it all away. We gave away. 00:43:21.664 --> 00:43:22.960 That sounds fun! 00:43:22.960 --> 00:44:04.585 We gave away over $1.7 million to different charities and organizations, to Fellowship of Christian Athletes to Special Olympics. We had Tom Osborne and Barry Switzer do a legends dinner. And we donated $10,000 each to those two charities because they were in on them. And we, I mean, Ronald McDonald House, I don't know there's a list out. 00:44:04.585 --> 00:44:07.079 A whole list, well, you, you 00:44:07.079 --> 00:45:18.735 And we, one of the things I insisted on, here we go, memory, thank you. We endowed a scholarship at University Oklahoma in Tulsa, called the Wayman Tisdale scholarship, and they give it to freshmen. Then at Oklahoma State University and at TU, we endowed two scholarships, one each at those two universities and one at Oklahoma State was in Bill and Anita Connors name. Bill graduated from Oklahoma State and was a renowned sports editor and writer for the Tulsa World for years, and that scholarship goes to a junior who has successfully made it further than I did at Oklahoma State. And in their junior year, if they're majoring in journalism, they can apply for the scholarship. That way we know they're going to, probably graduate. 00:45:18.735 --> 00:45:19.599 Right, right. 00:45:19.599 --> 00:45:47.965 And then the one at TU was in Dr. George Mauerman's name. He was a team doctor at Memorial High School with his partner, Dr. White at Edison, and that's how I got to know both of them. And they started Eastern Oklahoma Orthopedic Center, which is now Advanced Orthopedics, and he became the team doctor at TU for 44 years, traveled with the basketball and the football team. 00:45:47.965 --> 00:45:48.744 Wow! 00:45:48.744 --> 00:46:03.505 And was on the sidelines for all of them. And we did it in his name. And it goes to a junior who is entering into sports medicine to become a trainer or or, you know, so they can apply for the scholarship. 00:46:03.505 --> 00:46:24.849 Well, that's cool. Well, I want to talk a little bit about your local accomplishments,too. I know you mentioned you were president of the Bristow Historical Society for three years. And, I know I asked about the depot in your early memories. What about your, your memories during that time at the depot? 00:46:24.849 --> 00:46:34.795 You know, we were just in the beginning, and it was just organizing the meetings. 00:46:34.795 --> 00:46:37.320 Trying to get everything set up? 00:46:37.320 --> 00:46:48.780 You know, and people agreeing to do this. We had a great committee. I mean, Mrs. Chadderdon was on it. Dang, here I go. I don't want to start giving names I can't remember. 00:46:48.780 --> 00:46:49.440 No, it's okay. 00:46:49.440 --> 00:46:54.719 We had a really good group of people who, honestly, love Bristow. 00:46:54.719 --> 00:46:59.099 Yes, Mrs. Chadderdon was definitely one that was a supporter of the depot. 00:46:59.099 --> 00:47:13.905 Yeah, and and I would bring in some speakers, and we'd do it out at the high school in the big open foyer. And it was just so much fun watching how we did the bricks. 00:47:13.905 --> 00:47:14.300 Right. 00:47:14.300 --> 00:47:51.364 Selling bricks out there and and just trying to grow the interest and try to bring in money to the group. And that was just reaching out in the community and and doing things that they could come to the depot and see. When we first started, the museum, you know, had a picture of Gene Autry and just, it was just the beginning and then the Chamber moved to the Historical Society. I don't know if they're still part of it there now, but that was, you know, is this a good deal. 00:47:51.364 --> 00:47:52.264 Right, right. 00:47:52.264 --> 00:47:54.724 And, yeah, it was fun times. 00:47:54.724 --> 00:48:13.909 Well, you also told me that after your heart attack, that within six months you had run the Tulsa Run, and then tell me about your, you got into running, and then tell me about your friendship, running here and the Wildflower Run, and how all that came about. 00:48:13.909 --> 00:48:40.474 I had a heart attack in '84 and went through Saint Francis Cardiac Care Unit, where the you had people that were trainers that knew, and it was treadmill or bicycle, and then you had class on how to change your diet and just easy things to get you involved to make a change. 00:48:40.474 --> 00:48:42.599 A positive change. 00:48:42.599 --> 00:49:48.869 And I remember, when I first got out of the hospital, I went home, and I was told to walk three minutes away, you know, at home. And, so, I would go out, and I'd walk a minute and a half to this one piece of wooden fence and turn around, and I had a mark on it, and I'd walk back home, get there in another minute. And every day, I increased three or four lumber pitches, until I was on a treadmill going through the rehab and and six months later, I ran the full Tulsa Run with a good friend of mine. It was Dr. Earl Bachenberg, is a dermatologist, and he paced me. We did a 10 minute mile, and we moved to Bristow, and I just started jogging and met Kell Kelly and Chip Cooper and said, you guys need to start running with me. And the furthest either one of them could run was one mile. I got him to do three miles, and we ran together. 00:49:48.869 --> 00:49:50.369 You were a good influence on them. 00:49:50.369 --> 00:49:52.275 We ran together for 17 years. 00:49:52.275 --> 00:49:53.295 That's crazy. 00:49:53.295 --> 00:49:54.599 Just and, and 00:49:54.599 --> 00:49:57.659 You said that every, every week you ran together, right? 00:49:57.659 --> 00:50:15.659 Yeah, there's some nights that one of us couldn't go and most of it was at night, and some of the best memories are sitting out on Kell's driveway when he lived over on east Sixth Street and just laying there on the driveway and visit. 00:50:15.659 --> 00:50:16.199 Right. 00:50:16.199 --> 00:50:33.525 And then when he moved over at the end of Main by the bank and the Kelly home, finish over there and have a beer, and then we'd stop at my house and have a beer after we ran, but talked all the way that we ran and sit down and talk about. It was just 00:50:33.525 --> 00:50:34.440 Well, good. 00:50:34.440 --> 00:51:13.184 And, one of the things I asked him that first year was I know that a friend of mine was assistant principal at Edison Middle School, and he came and ran in a race in Bristow and won a pair of shoes. And I said, y'all, we remembered it, and I but it wasn't very well organized. And I said, well, let's start at 5k and Cooper said if we're going to do it, we're going to do it first class. And, you know how Chip is. At the time, he didn't know I was the same way. We started it, Bristow Wildflower Run in 1988. 00:51:13.184 --> 00:51:14.625 1988. 00:51:14.625 --> 00:51:15.465 It's still going. 00:51:15.465 --> 00:51:16.664 Still going strong, 00:51:16.664 --> 00:51:21.210 Yeah. And lot of kids ended up doing well. 00:51:21.210 --> 00:51:37.000 Yeah, and then you had also mentioned, I wanted you to tell me, just touch on the Bristow Education Foundation, and I know we talked about, like the free throw contest, Cadet Lawman. Can you tell me about those few things? 00:51:37.000 --> 00:52:52.795 There's two things that I was really proud of is, number one, is the Bristow Education Foundation. I was a counselor to high school, and you get a monthly newsletter from the technology centers, and I got one from Tulsa Tech, and there was, going up there, was going to have a seminar on how to start an Education Foundation. And I went in and talked to Bill Stephens, the principal, about going to that. And I said, you know, I think the best person I can think of right now that would be a good to help me with it would be Jim Masters. So, we got permission from Dr. Carmichael to look at the possibility. That's the way it started. Jim and I got it started, and before that, the other thing I was really proud of, is the dressing facilities out at the football field were still the same as when I was there back and, I mean, it was almost like a place where you put POWs. I mean, that's how, 00:52:52.795 --> 00:52:53.659 Yeah, right. 00:52:53.659 --> 00:53:26.704 The facilities had degraded and, and I got Tom Alexander to help me, and he gave me a box, two boxes, of his information on who played football at Bristow High School, and I wrote letters to as many of the families that had sons play football at Bristow, and asked for $100 donation. And we raised about $50,000. 00:53:26.704 --> 00:53:27.005 Oh, wow! 00:53:27.005 --> 00:54:16.894 But some people, we'd get a $5,000 check from one and $1000, and we started a Ring of Honor, and all the people that donated would put their son, or, you know, their names up there, and the school was able through much, I want to say, argument, but they were able to put the maximum amount they could put into it was $39,000, and then from that point on, the whole air conditioning system was given to us by a company out of Tulsa, heating and air. And we bought, I mean, the whole thing was done, heated and air and had bigger dressing room, a bigger weight room, a nicer place for the visitors. 00:54:16.894 --> 00:54:18.000 A definite upgrade. 00:54:18.000 --> 00:55:17.670 And Calvin Gentry and Tommy Herman and myself, we more or less organized it. Calvin knew how to build and Tommy, I mean, he's like a Swiss pocket knife. He can do anything. And, me, I can follow directions and do anything that I'm told to do. And we had volunteers come up [unknown caller], oh, I had potential spam. And I mean, one night we're roofing the whole facility. Dr Carmichael is there with Bill Stephens is there, Bobby Ledbetter and his crew that roofed and Herman and Gentry, and I can't tell you how many others. I mean, there must have been a dozen of us out here. We worked till 11:00 throwing shingles. 00:55:17.670 --> 00:55:18.090 Wow! 00:55:18.090 --> 00:55:21.989 I mean that the whole community got behind it. 00:55:21.989 --> 00:55:23.130 I love it! 00:55:23.130 --> 00:55:41.594 And it, now it, they built that new facility, and they said everything is still good. Ring of Honor, I think they might have moved it, but now it's a dressing facility for the girls track. They have a place to go, that's nice. 00:55:41.594 --> 00:55:42.195 Right, right. 00:55:42.195 --> 00:55:44.719 You know, it's still kept up and clean. 00:55:44.719 --> 00:55:47.719 Right. So that's a huge accomplishment. 00:55:47.719 --> 00:55:52.519 Well, the well, we also we raise money from doing a dinner for Chuck West. 00:55:52.519 --> 00:55:57.440 Is this going to be the story about naming the chuck West Field House? 00:55:57.440 --> 00:55:57.800 Yes. 00:55:57.800 --> 00:55:59.980 Because that's gonna, okay, so I was gonna ask you about that. 00:55:59.980 --> 00:57:10.994 Well, the field house had already been named Chuck West, and we got together Larry Parish and Tommy Parish and Tommy Herman and Eddie Weiberdink and I, and got that approved by the board. And, so, when we, one of the things we did was have a banquet for him to raise money for the facility, football dressing room, and I got Barry Switzer to come. And he said, I'll do it, but you have to write the speech. And, so, I put together a nice outline for him. Ken McCormick talked. Switzer talked. And I think, oh, another wrestling coach for years in Tulsa, because was had the Chuck West wrestling tournament came and spoke and Onions Martin spoke. Onion was a wrestling referee. And in there, I put a little deal about Onions. My favorite memory of Onions Martin, I was a senior in high school and couldn't have basketball practice because they had wrestling tournament going on, and I'm sitting on like the bottom bleacher in the LeForce Field House on the north end, Onions is refereeing, and all sudden, he slaps a mat, blows his whistle and screams, this kid is disqualified for biting. He got up and talked a little bit, but Switzer said, who would name your kid Onions? 00:57:10.994 --> 00:58:20.789 I got him to come to Bristow and speak. No! He did the Fosters. He did the Fosters. And I think, no, and then we, we did the Fosters and Farha. And both those dinners raised a lot of money. I mean, we had the whole Chuck West Field House Gymnasium down below was filled with round tables 00:58:20.789 --> 00:58:21.750 Right, packed out. 00:58:21.750 --> 00:58:23.010 Yeah. 00:58:23.010 --> 00:58:29.550 Well, tell me real quickly, too, about Cadet Lawman. Were you the one that got that? 00:58:29.550 --> 00:58:31.829 No, no, no. Jim Masters. 00:58:31.829 --> 00:58:31.880 Oh, okay. 00:58:31.880 --> 00:59:29.510 Jim was so active in the Elks Lodge here, and he did two things. He did the national free throw shooting contest, where all the Elks Lodge on a certain day, Saturday, had free throw shooting contest. I helped him with that, and he also worked with the counselor before me, Darold Ritchie, and you could send four kids or two kids, but we always ended up getting four, at least four kids, which most schools didn't. And what it was, it was a Cadet Law Academy out in Burns Flat, Oklahoma. It was a at an old Air Force Base, and there was plenty of housing, and the kids went through a similar training. Did you go to it? 00:59:29.510 --> 00:59:37.190 I was actually invited to go, and I had a car wreck that summer, so I didn't get to go. I know I was so disappointed, because I was really looking forward to it. 00:59:37.190 --> 00:59:41.269 And, I mean, they treat you like you're in the military. 00:59:41.269 --> 00:59:43.900 Yes, yes, but everybody ends up loving it. 00:59:43.900 --> 01:00:02.199 Oh, it's you get up early. You march in formation. You say a cadence, you know? And you get on an air boat on a lake, and you fly up in a plane, and Teresa Westhaver got sick and had to use a little bag. And she fell and hurt herself, and had to come home, bless her heart, but she was there when Heather went and Hayley went, but just seeing those kids, watching your daughters march in formation, doing, you know, saying cadence, like I did in basic training. 01:00:02.199 --> 01:00:29.769 say that they loved it. 01:00:29.769 --> 01:00:31.329 Yeah, oh, I know. I agree. 01:00:31.329 --> 01:00:36.429 And you Jim, would work with the school on recommendations. 01:00:36.429 --> 01:00:52.539 Yeah, okay, well, I'm going to switch gears just a little bit. Um, I would like to ask you, um, how do you feel the world is different now than when you were a kid or younger? 01:00:52.539 --> 01:01:05.940 It's not a good world right now. There's just too many, too much hate going on. It makes me sad. 01:01:05.940 --> 01:01:18.599 Well, even listening to you talk about the community getting involved in the activities of like, the what you did at the football field, like, I miss that. I miss the involvement. So I 01:01:18.599 --> 01:01:19.739 You're doing it right now. 01:01:19.739 --> 01:01:21.000 Well 01:01:21.000 --> 01:01:22.320 You're know part of it. 01:01:22.320 --> 01:01:23.460 Yeah, yeah. 01:01:23.460 --> 01:01:25.980 It's something, you know. 01:01:25.980 --> 01:01:35.460 How do you feel like that, would, do you have any ideas of how that could be corrected? 01:01:35.460 --> 01:02:39.690 Yeah, I don't know. You know, when I grew up, there was an old saying you never lock your doors. Kids played at night without worrying. But life changes. These things [holding up cell phone] have changed lives so much. I can't imagine having a computer or this over in Vietnam like they did in Afghanistan and Iraq. But the thing is, you go to dinner with your friends, and one of them starts talking really bad about another person who's in office, and you don't want to hear it right, because you're on the other side. It was just like when Trump gave the okay to bomb Iraq, you know, or, yeah, Iran. I'm kind of like old country singer, I don't know the difference between Iraq and Iran. 01:02:39.690 --> 01:02:40.170 Right. 01:02:40.170 --> 01:02:41.010 Jackson. 01:02:41.010 --> 01:02:42.380 Yeah. 01:02:42.380 --> 01:03:34.550 And, you know, somebody asked me as I was walking by them at Andee Cooper's son's Kan, yes, that musical. What a night. What a great story. And I come back from the restroom at one of the breaks and somebody said, did you hear about our idiot president bombing Iran? And I bit my tongue, and I didn't want to get, I mean, those are the things, yeah, that are happening today. The media is always pushing this and that, right? And it's pushed people to the point of being hateful. 01:03:34.550 --> 01:03:36.170 Major division for sure. 01:03:36.170 --> 01:03:55.219 The, you know, the border crisis, you know, I, it's just, you have one side saying the borders closed. You have the other side saying, no, it's not. And then, boom, boom, boom. You know? 01:03:55.219 --> 01:04:06.800 Well, I feel like for you, I feel like you're a great example of you lived, you've lived your life well to help in areas where you can help. 01:04:06.800 --> 01:04:17.000 Well, I mean this, and I'm not trying to pat myself on the back or brag, but obviously God put me on earth to help people, 01:04:17.000 --> 01:04:22.880 Right, I agree. I agree. And you've done that. 01:04:22.880 --> 01:05:38.739 You know, it's what I like to do. It's just, and you do good things for people. And here I'm, I shouldn't tell this story, but last week, Connie has a board meeting. She's the vice president of our homeowners association. When she goes to her meeting, well, I go to Fish Daddy's and have dinner. And Julie was, is the bartender there Fish Daddy's, and it's busy and she's pregnant and she's, and I said, Julie, I'm not going to come here to eat, but all I all I need to do is just get a go order of coleslaw before I go. I want an old fashioned and I was going to go home and eat some brisket. Oh, God, I love brisket. So, I went home and I took that little piece of brisket off and ate it, and took the whole thing to her. And because she has three or four boys, and she's pregnant with another one that was unexpected, and she just looked tired. And I took and took her that brisket and gave it to her. And last night, I, I'm back there. She's she's working the afternoon shift, getting ready to go home. Came over, gave me a big hug. 01:05:38.739 --> 01:05:41.500 And you know, that's the good stuff. That's the good stuff. 01:05:41.500 --> 01:05:42.699 You do things for people. 01:05:42.699 --> 01:05:57.039 Yeah, yeah, I agree. Well, so on that note, I'm going to ask you one final question. Is there any thing else that you would like to tell us about or share any wisdom that you would like to share with for future generations? 01:05:57.039 --> 01:06:10.284 Just listen to the song by Louis Armstrong. What a Wonderful World. You listen to that song. If you don't get goose bumps, if you don't get a tear in your eye, you know, that tells you everything. 01:06:10.284 --> 01:06:24.730 Right. You know, I like it. Well, you've given us a great interview. I appreciate it. Your interview will be an important part of the Oral History Archives for the museum. Thank you for taking the time to talk with us. We really appreciate it. 01:06:24.730 --> 01:06:25.570 Can I add one thing? 01:06:25.570 --> 01:06:26.469 Absolutely. 01:06:26.469 --> 01:06:46.074 I sure wish we could get a kiosk or a place for veterans. People could go to the kiosk and type in a name, see what their relative did in WWI or WWII, even as far back to the Civil War. 01:06:46.074 --> 01:06:47.019 That's a great idea! 01:06:47.019 --> 01:07:15.025 And I'd really love to see that for the veterans. One of the things that I got to do, well, I didn't have to do it. I did it because Ledbetter, Mr. Ledbetter, wanted to he's afraid he had missed veterans graves when he puts the flags out. So, I've gone through and researched every cemetery and came up with a pretty accurate list that had to get veterans that did not have a marked grave as a veteran. 01:07:15.025 --> 01:07:15.804 Wow. 01:07:15.804 --> 01:07:18.625 And you know, there's so many heroes. 01:07:18.625 --> 01:07:20.125 Oh, yeah, absolutely. 01:07:20.125 --> 01:07:31.885 In Bristow that, you know, if you'd like to know the story about Klingensmith Park that's named after the first Bristow person killed in WWI. 01:07:31.885 --> 01:07:34.045 Right, right. 01:07:34.045 --> 01:07:37.284 So, yeah, twist an arm and get that done. 01:07:37.284 --> 01:07:40.284 Okay, well, thank you very much. NOTE TRANSCRIPTION END ]]> video 0 https://bristoworalhistory.org/ohms/render.php?cachefile=OHP-0076_Tommy_Thompson.xml OHP-0076_Tommy_Thompson.xml
Dublin Core
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Title
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Tommy Thompson
Description
An account of the resource
Tommy Thompson recounts his life in Bristow, Oklahoma. Born January 20, 1948, Tommy discusses his family, including his mother Pauline Clowers and half-sister. He shares memories of growing up, including playing at the Silver Plunge swimming pool and attending Bristow Public Schools. Tommy details his involvement in sports, teaching, and community activities, such as being a founding member of the Bristow Wildflower Run and the Bristow Education Foundation. He also reflects on his military service, college education, and contributions to the community, including endowing scholarships and upgrading sports facilities.
Identifier
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OHP-0076
Date
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2025-08-19
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video
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https://bristoworalhistory.org/files/original/93a0f1c894d883de8f343477bdfff254.jpg
c2085042a2ef20602d2d599f0f7b44a0
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Family Histories
Type
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Oral History
Subject
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Oral accounts of various family histories
Source
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Bristow Historical Society, oral history collection
Oral History
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Interviewer
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Regan Siler
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Bill Gurley
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Viewer)
https://bristoworalhistory.org/ohms/render.php?cachefile=OHP-0075_Bill_Gurley.xml
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6.0 August 7, 2025 OHP-0075 Bill Gurley OHP-0075 00:43:20 Bristow Historical Society, Inc. bristowhistory Bill Gurley Regan Siler 0 https://bristoworalhistory.org/interviews/OHP-0075 Gurley, Bill.mp4 Other video 0 Birth Regan Siler 00:00
 ; This is Regan Siler with the Bristow Historical Society in Bristow, Oklahoma. This interview is part of the Historical Society's ongoing oral history project. The date is August 7, 2025 and I'm sitting here with Bill Gurley at the Bristow Library Annex. He's going to tell us a little bit about his life and what it's been like living in the Bristow area. Can you please state your full name? 
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 00:25
 ; William Ray Gurley.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 00:26
 ; Okay, but you go by Bill. 
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 00:28
 ; Go by Bill.
 ; William Ray Gurley was born on October 25, 1939. He was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Bristow Historical Society ; Bristow Library Annex ; Bristow (Okla.) ; William Ray Gurley ; Oklahoma City (Okla.) Birth 0 42 Parents Regan Siler 00:42
 ; Okay, and let's just start off by talking about your family. Can you tell me your parents full names?
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 00:51
 ; My mother was Neva Matilda [Carmen] Gurley. My dad was Arthur Eulus Gurley.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 00:57
 ; Okay, and I have your dad's birthday as 9/22/1897?
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 01:02
 ; Yes. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 01:03
 ; Okay, I have your mother as March 1, 1902?
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 01:07
 ; Yes.
 ; Bill's mother was Neva Matilda Carmen Gurley. His father was Arthur Eulus Gurley. Neva was a math teacher at Bristow Schools for 40 years. Bill's father, Arthur was a rancher. He raised cattle and hay. Neva Matilda Carmen Gurley ; Arthur Eulus Gurley ; Bristow Public School Parents 0 143 Siblings Regan Siler 02:23
 ; Right, right. I understand that. Do you have any siblings?
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 02:28
 ; Yes, I had a sister, Barbara Jean, who was, she was born in '42, but she died, and when she was about 40-some years old.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 02:44
 ; Okay, um, and so just the one sister?
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 02:48
 ; Yes. And then I have a half-sister and three half-brothers.
 ; Bill had one sister, Barbara Jean. Barbara passed away when she was in her 40s. Bill also has a half-sister and three half-brothers. Barbara Jean Gurley Siblings 0 182 Moving to Bristow Regan Siler 03:02
 ; Okay. And so did you grow up in Bristow? 
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 03:05
 ; Yes, I did.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 03:06
 ; Okay. So, you were born here?
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 03:06
 ; No. I was born in Oklahoma City.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 03:07
 ; Well, Oklahoma City.
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 03:07
 ; But then we moved here when I was six-years-old.
 ; Bill and his family moved to Bristow when he was six years old. Bill's mother owned land in Bristow. Also, Bill's grandparents lived in Bristow. Bristow (Okla.) ; Oklahoma City (Okla.) ; Neva Matilda Carmen Gurley ; Grandparents Bristow (Okla.) 0 221 Childhood Regan Siler 03:41
 ; Okay, Okay, gotcha, um, well, let's talk a little bit about your childhood. We'll we'll touch on that a little bit and ask some some kind of fun questions to see if you remember. Do you remember any of your favorite toys or games as you were growing up?
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 04:02
 ; No, mostly I, out in the country, we had horses and cattle, dogs and, you know.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 04:08
 ; And you probably had to work a lot on your farm, I'm guessing?
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 04:11
 ; Oh yes, all the time. We had a dairy, up at four o'clock in the morning and four o'clock in the afternoon.
 ; Bill spent much of his childhood outdoors. He helped with the dairy cows, milking at four o'clock in the morning and four o'clock in the afternoon. They had cattle, horses and dogs on their family farm. Bill helped maintain the farm by fixing fence, cutting trees and cutting hay. He also enjoyed hunting. Bill also took piano lessons. He was involved in band at school. Neva Matilda Carmen Gurley ; Arthur Eulus Gurley ; Band ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Depew (Okla.) Childhood 0 420 School Regan Siler 07:00
 ; Not really, okay. Well, let's talk a little bit about your school life. I know when we visited on the phone, you said you attended Bristow Public Schools for 12 years. Do you remember having any particularly influential teachers in your life?
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 07:17
 ; Bristow, we were very fortunate to have four doctoral degree people teaching, and I think there's Covey [Lola Effie Best Covey]. She taught a lot of Spanish and English. We had Corey [Kate Broad Baldridge Corey], my mother. She didn't have the PhD, but she had, she could have had.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 07:41
 ; Yes.
 ; Bill attended Bristow Public Schools for 12 years. Bill remembers some influential teachers, Kate Corey and also Lola Covey. He rode to school with his mother, who was a teacher. Bill enjoyed school and his favorite subject was math. Bristow Public Schools (Bristow, Okla.) ; Lola Effie Best Covey ; Kate Broad Baldridge Corey ; Neva Matilda Carmen Gurley ; Bristow Band School 0 557 Childhood Home Regan Siler 09:17
 ; Okay, okay. Um, well, let's talk a little bit about the house you grew up in, whenever you moved back to Bristow, when you said you were six, and you had this big farm, is that where you lived in your entire 12 years of school? 
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 09:31
 ; Yeah. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 09:31
 ; Can you tell us about that house? Was it like a farmhouse or?
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 09:34
 ; Yeah, it was pretty, I'll use the word crude to start with. We had outdoor plumbing, both water and sewage. So we had outhouse and a pump on the outside. But when I was about 10 years old, I helped my dad remodel our house, completely remodeled it, and put indoor plumbing and everything. Yeah, that would have been in what, '49.
 ; Bill and his family lived in a farmhouse. Bill said it was pretty crude, with outdoor plumbing. When Bill was ten, he helped his dad completely remodel the house. It had been an old oil field shack until they remodeled, even adding a second story. Bristow (Okla.) ; Arthur Eulus Gurley Home 0 644 Mealtimes Regan Siler 10:44
 ; Right, right, okay. Well, can you remember what meal times were like with your with your family? Did everybody sit down to eat?
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 10:53
 ; Yes, mother cooks the meal and we sit down and ate.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 10:57
 ; Okay and do you remember, maybe, a favorite meal that she cooked whenever you were younger? Did you have a favorite one? 
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 11:07
 ; Not really. We just ate everything.
 ; Bill said his mother did the cooking. He says they all sat down and ate meals together. Neva Matilda Carmen Gurley Mealtimes 0 669 Community Activities Regan Siler 11:09
 ; Anything that she provided. Okay, well, thinking back to town life and growing up, do you remember any favorite community activities? And when I say that, I mean, like a lot of people talk about Western Heritage Days or county fairs, stuff like that. Can you remember as a young person enjoying any of those activities in Bristow?
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 11:36
 ; Well, we, Bristow hosted the Creek County, the Creek County Fair every year, which is out here, that's near the where the pool is now. And that was always a big event. My dad was president of the Fair Board, so he was active. He'd always give me tickets to the from the rides. I'd have plenty of those, share with my friend. We had two movie theaters back then, Walmur and Princess Theaters. That was a big event. Go 10 cents to go a movie on Saturday afternoon. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 12:11
 ; Yeah, yeah, I've heard about those. I wish we had one now.
 ; Bill recalls the Creek County Fair being a big deal when he was young. He says his father was the president of the fair board. His father always gave Bill tickets to the rides, which Bill would share with his friends. Bill also remembers going to the movies on Saturday afternoons. Bill also enjoyed playing pool at the pool hall and the pinball machine at the drugstore. Creek County Fair ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Walmur movie theater ; Princess Theaters ; Pool Hall ; Drugstore ; Arthur Eulus Gurley Community Activities 0 760 Bristow Businesses Regan Siler 12:40
 ; Okay, um, do you remember any of the, I guess, biggest or most popular businesses around town growing up? Or an yone that sticks out to you? 
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 12:52
 ; We had, Bristow was a really nice community back in the old days, as far as commercial, we had two men's clothing stores. We had, you know, really good, like Safeway Grocery Store. We had, we had Penneys. We had 5 and 10. We had women's clothing stores. We had
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 13:14
 ; It was booming back in the day, wasn't it?
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 13:16
 ; I mean, we had a lot of good things that have been taken away from us now.
 ; Bill remembers some of the businesses in Bristow when he was young. He says Bristow had two men's clothing stores. It also had a Safeway Grocery Store, 5 and 10 store and JCPenney's. Bill says Bristow had a lot of good things that have been taken away from us now. Bristow (Okla.) ; Safeway Stores, Inc. ; JCPenney's ; 5 and 10 store ; Wal-Mart (Firm) ; Turner Turnpike Bristow (Okla.) ; Business 0 823 Teen Life Regan Siler 13:43
 ; Yeah, yeah, exactly. Did you have a favorite hangout as a teenager? 
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 13:55
 ; Home.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 13:58
 ; Home?
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 13:59
 ; Farm.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 13:59
 ; Yeah, you were always at the farm, huh? 
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 14:01
 ; There was plenty to do there.
 ; Bill says he spent most of his time as teenager at home on the farm. He says there was plenty to do. Bill enjoyed horseback riding and fishing in his free time. Farm ; Horseback riding ; Fishing Teenage Life 0 860 Automobiles Regan Siler 14:20
 ; Right, right, okay, um, well, let's see, do you remember, do you happen to remember your family's first car? 
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 14:29
 ; I don't know whether it was the first one or not. I can remember like a '49 Ford.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 14:39
 ; Okay, okay. Do you remember your first car?
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 14:42
 ; 1955 Ford.
 ; Bill remembers his family having a '49 Ford. He says his first car was a 1955 Ford. He learned how to drive on the farm, starting out on a tractor when he was eight or ten years old. Ford automobile Automobiles 0 901 Entertainment Regan Siler 15:01
 ; Yes, yes. Okay, so did you have or what sort of entertainment did you have growing up? Did you have a TV at some point?
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 15:15
 ; I think about 1950 we got a TV for the first time.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 15:19
 ; Okay, and do you remember any particular programs you enjoyed watching?
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 15:24
 ; Not really. I can't think of anybody, any that we really watched. It's kind of wasn't too many to choose from.
 ; Bill believes his family got their first television set around 1950. Bill listened to the popular music at the time, such as Frank Sinatra. Entertainment ; Television ; John F. Kennedy ; Radio ; Frank Sinatra Entertainment 0 993 Medical Care Regan Siler 16:33
 ; Right. Okay, what was medical care like for you growing up? Did you have a family doctor or did you mainly take care of, did your mom take care of stuff at home? Or how did that work?
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 16:46
 ; Probably most of it was at home. I remember cut my hand one time, and, you know, we just looked at it and put a band aid on it.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 16:56
 ; Patched it up as best as possible.
 ; Bill says most of the medical care during his childhood was taken care of at home. He remembers cutting his hand and patching it up as best as possible. He also remembers his father cutting a splinter out from under his fingernail. Bill recalls there being a clinic on Eighth Street that he visited to have his tonsils removed. Medical care ; Neva Matilda Carmen Gurley ; Arthur Eulus Gurley ; Bristow (Okla.) Medical care 0 1085 Church Regan Siler 18:05
 ; Okay, okay. Did you attend church growing up? 
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 18:11
 ; Yes.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 18:12
 ; You did. Okay. Where did you attend?
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 18:14
 ; First Christian Church here in Bristow.
 ; Bill attended the First Christian Church in Bristow. He was baptized in the church when he was 12. He rededicated his life to the Lord when he was 34. Church ; First Christian Church ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Lord Church 0 1141 Holidays Regan Siler 19:01
 ; Well, that's neat. Alright, well, let's talk about holidays in your family. Were holidays a big deal?
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 19:11
 ; I guess you'd say somewhat. You know, birthdays, Christmas, Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving was always a big thing, because have big dinners.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 19:19
 ; Did all the family come to your house? Or did you go somewhere?
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 19:22
 ; Pretty much, my mother had four, three sisters, and they'd show up their families. We just had to get togethers most of the time.
 ; Holidays were a big deal in Bill's family. Bill remembers Thanksgiving and always having a big dinner. He recalls receiving a bicycle for Christmas when he was six years old. Bill's mother had several sisters, and they would bring their families for the holidays. Holidays ; Christmas ; Thanksgiving ; Neva Matilda Carmen Gurley Holidays 0 1198 Childhood Dreams Regan Siler 19:58
 ; So, that was a big deal. As a child, do you remember what you wanted to be when you grew up?
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 20:07
 ; Yeah, really, I wanted to be a rancher.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 20:09
 ; Really? Okay, and you still do that now, correct? 
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 20:13
 ; Well, not now I'm retired. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 20:14
 ; Well, okay.
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 20:15
 ; I sold all the land then.
 ; Bill wanted to be a rancher when he grew up. He went on to fulfill that dream and has now sold the land and retired. Ranch Childhood Dreams 0 1227 College Regan Siler 20:27
 ; So, that was still in your family? Wow! Okay, um, all right, well, let's talk about college. When we visited on the phone, tell me where you went and what degrees you achieved, and tell me a little bit about your college experience.
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 20:27
 ; Yes.
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 20:50
 ; I went to OU, University of Oklahoma for 1957 to '60, and I got my undergraduate degree in mathematics. Then I went to OSU in 1960 and I got my masters and PhD, finally, in 1964.
 ; Bill attended college at the University of Oklahoma. He attended there from 1957 to 1960 and received his undergraduate degree in mathematics. Bill then attended Oklahoma State University in 1960 and received his masters, and then his PhD in 1964. Bill received his degree in mathematical statistics. College ; University of Oklahoma ; Oklahoma State University College 0 1304 Jobs Regan Siler 21:44
 ; Yeah, you're trying to achieve it. Okay, so for the man that has worn many hats, let's talk about your work life. So, say whenever you got out of college, tell me, like, what was your first major job that you had?
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 22:03
 ; Well, I started working 1964 with Sunray DX Oil Company in operations research analyst.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 22:10
 ; And it was Sunray?
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 22:12
 ; Sunray DX Oil Company.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 22:14
 ; Okay. 
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 22:14
 ; They were in Tulsa.
 ; Bill's first major job was in 1964 when he started working at Sunray DX Oil Company as an operations research analyst. A couple years later, a coworker and Bill formed a company called Petroleum Marketing Research Company. Bill later programmed the first computer at the Amercian National Bank, which is now SpiritBank. Sunray DX Oil Co. ; Petroleum Marketing Research Company ; SpiritBank ; American National Bank ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Stroud (Okla.) ; Tulsa (Okla.) ; Tracy Kelly ; Levan Kelly ; Royce Kelly ; Oklahoma City (Okla.) ; State Representative Jobs 0 1569 State Representative Bill Gurley 26:09
 ; Oh, I was the first Republican elected in Creek County. Which is it was totally democratic back in those days. Of course, now it's completely turned around the opposite direction.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 26:19
 ; Right, right. So, how would you describe your experience being a representative?
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 26:28
 ; Well, it's very, it's a lot more demanding than you think, because people are always calling you, asking you to do this and do that and help them do that. You know, it get a lot of problems solved. But it's also a, it's a good, interesting job to be involved with. You're helping make laws for the whole state.
 ; In 1987, Bill ran for office as a state representative. He was elected and served as the state representative for the next four years. Bill was the first Republican elected in Creek County. He says being a representative is more demanding than you think, with people always calling you. State Representative ; Republican ; Creek County (Okla.) ; Democratic Party State Representative 0 1642 Teaching Bill Gurley 27:22
 ; Now that the computer stuff dried up in about '86. In '87 I ran for office, got in for four years and went back, you know, back to the ranch after that. At '97 then I think it was that first started teaching at Depew. Taught there two years. Then I came over to Bristow in '99 and then I was technology director here for the Bristow Schools for two years. We had about 550 computers that we had to deal with, maintain that fiber optic network. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 27:56
 ; So, in all the hats you've worn, did you have a favorite hat?
 ; In 1997, Bill started teaching in Depew and taught there for two years. He went to Bristow in 1999 and was the technology director at the Bristow Schools for two. He had about 550 computers to deal with and maintain the fiber optic network. Teaching ; Depew Public Schools ; Bristow Public Schools (Bristow, Okla.) ; Paul Montgomery ; Slick (Okla.) Teaching 0 1733 Activation Outreach Regan Siler 28:53
 ; Well, then you also mentioned to me, when we had visited about Activation Outreach. Can you tell me about that?
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 29:02
 ; Well, we started, Majel Wisotsky. She was, she headed it up, and we started a group called Activation Outreach, just a small church group. We met Methodist Church Annex a couple of years. And she got married, moved to Texas.
 ; With Majel Wisotsky heading it up, a church group called Activation Outreach was started. Bill has been a huge part of this group. They met at the Methodist Church Annex for a couple of years. Their goal is to witness and help people, particularly the elderly and homeless. Majel has since married and relocated to Texas, but the group still meets in homes on Wednesdays. Activation Outreach ; Majel Wisotsky ; Methodist Church ; Texas Activation Outreach 0 1841 Wife, Peggy Ann Gurley Regan Siler 30:41
 ; Not large, okay, okay. Well, let's talk a little bit about your immediate family. Can you tell me your spouse's full name?
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 30:52
 ; Peggy Ann Gurley.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 30:54
 ; Okay, and I have her birth date is February 22, 1942.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 30:58
 ; Correct.
 ; Bill and Peggy met in Stroud at the Full Gospel Businessmen Association. Peggy's husband and Bill were both directors. Peggy's husband was a veterinarian in Stroud. He tragically died in a small plane crash, leaving Peggy as a widow with four children. The Lord told Bill that he was going to marry Peggy Robertson. They were married on March 5, 1977, at the First Assembly of God Church in Stroud. They have now been married for 48 years. Peggy Ann Gurley ; Stroud (Okla.) ; Full Gospel Businessman Association ; Veterinarians ; Tulsa (Okla.) ; First Assembly of God Church ; Depew (Okla.) Wife 0 2019 Children and Grandchildren Regan Siler 33:39
 ; Okay. Um, so how many children do you have?
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 33:46
 ; Total, we have seven. I had two. Peggy had four, and then she and I had one.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 33:51
 ; Okay, do you want to tell me their names so we can have that on the recording?
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 33:56
 ; Well, there's Mark Steven Gurley. There's Ambra Leigh Gurley [Maxon]. Then there's Deborah Ann Gurley. There's Kim Roberta, well, her name's Shepherd now but and then there's Heather Lynn Spencer. There's Kip Robertson Gurley, and then there's Jennifer Kay Alexander. She's our youngest.
 ; Together Bill and Peggy have seven children. Previous to their marriage, Bill had two children and Peggy had four children. Bill and Peggy had one child together. They now have sixteen grandchildren and seventeen great grandchildren. Peggy Ann Gurley ; Mark Steven Gurley ; Ambra Leigh Gurley Maxon ; Deborah Ann Gurley ; Kim Roberta Shepherd ; Heather Lynn Spencer ; Kip Robertson Gurley ; Jennifer Kay Alexander ; Highway 66 Children ; Grandchildren 0 2174 Retirement Regan Siler 36:14
 ; Fun times! I guess that's probably why the heat doesn't bother you, huh? Well, so I know now you said you retired. Have you enjoyed being retired? And do you have any hobbies now that you enjoy?
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 36:28
 ; Well, after I retired, I think it was maybe 2009, I got involved with one of my best friends from high school and Frank Groom. We had a Bristow handyman business, so we remodeled out all over town. Had that for several years.
 ; After Bill retired, he started working some with Frank Groom and they started a handyman business. They did a lot of remodeling around Bristow, even at the Bristow Social Services. He even helped with Cornerstone Church, remodeling their building. Retirement ; Frank Groom ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Bristow Social Services ; Cornerstone Church Retirement 0 2285 Most Important Invention Regan Siler 38:05
 ; Okay, okay, well, what would you consider to be the most important invention during your lifetime?
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 38:15
 ; Invention? Probably would be the computer.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 38:24
 ; I kind of,
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 38:26
 ; You know, on into the, cell phones and tablets and everything we got now, laptop.
 ; Bill believes the most important invention is the computer. Invention ; Computer Invention 0 2313 How the World is Different Regan Siler 38:33
 ; Somehow, I kind of figured you might say, the computer. How do you feel the world is different now than when you were a child?
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 38:43
 ; Well, we've really gone, we've lost a lot of the, I'll use the word innocence, that we used to have, which it all goes back to the truth of the matter is, everything has gone anti Bible. If you want to call it that. God's Word, the left, you got the right and left in politics. But the left has taken an anti everything that the Bible believes. they take the opposite, whether it's, you know, sexual situations, don't speak, you know, cussing and all that sort of thing. You got your, the homosexual, all that thing is just the opposite of what God said we should do, and that's how the worst thing it has done is that changed. I don't we're still having wars all over the place. Doesn't seem to be getting any better.
 ; Bill says the world is different than when he was a child, he says we have lost a lot of innocence. He says everything is now the opposite of what the Bible says. Bible ; Politics World 0 2381 Nation's Biggest Problem Regan Siler 39:41
 ; As you see it, what do you feel is our nation's biggest problem and how do you think it could be solved?
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 39:50
 ; I don't know what the biggest problem is. Biggest problem is our national debt. That's the biggest problem. I don't think it can be solved. There's so many trillion dollars in debt, that can't ever be solved.
 ; Bill says that the nation's biggest problem is our national debt. He does not feel that it can be solved. Bill also talks about how bad drugs are in this country. Nation Nation 0 2439 Historic Events Regan Siler 40:39
 ; Okay, how have historic events say, like maybe the Oklahoma City bombing, 9/11, natural disasters, world wars, even covid, affected you, and you can pick one or several, or have any of the natural have any natural disasters affected your life, personally, or historic events? I'm sorry, not natural disasters?
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 41:10
 ; Well, one natural disaster was a tornado went across our farm in 1960. Had a lot of rebuilding that took place as a result of that.
 ; Bill recalls a tornado that went across their farm in 1960. He says they had a lot of rebuilding to do as a result. Tornado Tornado 0 2526 Wisdom Regan Siler 42:06
 ; Okay, well, is there anything else that you would like to tell us or share any wisdom for future generations?
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 42:18
 ; I can't say anything offhand, really.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 42:23
 ; I know you have, I know you have some kind of wisdom to share in there. 
 ; 
 ; Bill Gurley 42:29
 ; The biggest wisdom you can give anybody is that get have a relationship with the Lord. Be born again, because everything hinges on that as far as to have a He promises an abundant life, prosperous life, and that that's the solution to it, is to start there. Beyond that, I mean, it's it'll take care of itself once you get started.
 ; Bill finishes the interview with some words of wisdom. He says the best advice that he could give a person is to have a relationship with the Lord. He says to be born again, because that is the key to an abundant and prosperous life. Wisdom ; Lord Wisdom 0 MP4 Bill Gurley, born October 25, 1939, in Oklahoma City, shared his life story with Regan Siler. Bill's parents, Neva Matilda Carmen Gurley and Arthur Eulus Gurley, were educators. Bill helped his father on their 500-acre farm. He attended Bristow Public Schools, where he was influenced by several doctoral degree teachers. Bill pursued a career in mathematics, earning degrees from the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University. He worked in operations research, founded Petroleum Marketing Research Company, and later became a state representative. Bill and his wife, Peggy, have seven children and many grandchildren. He retired in 2009 and enjoys remodeling projects. NOTE TRANSCRIPTION BEGIN 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:25.065 This is Regan Siler with the Bristow Historical Society in Bristow, Oklahoma. This interview is part of the Historical Society's ongoing oral history project. The date is August 7, 2025 and I'm sitting here with Bill Gurley at the Bristow Library Annex. He's going to tell us a little bit about his life and what it's been like living in the Bristow area. Can you please state your full name? 00:00:25.065 --> 00:00:26.984 William Ray Gurley. 00:00:26.984 --> 00:00:28.664 Okay, but you go by Bill. 00:00:28.664 --> 00:00:29.385 Go by Bill. 00:00:29.385 --> 00:00:32.145 Okay, and do I have permission to record this interview? 00:00:32.145 --> 00:00:32.960 Yes, you do. 00:00:32.960 --> 00:00:36.979 Okay. Please tell me when and where you were born. 00:00:36.979 --> 00:00:42.200 Born in Oklahoma City, October the 25th 1939. 00:00:42.200 --> 00:00:51.960 Okay, and let's just start off by talking about your family. Can you tell me your parents full names? 00:00:51.960 --> 00:00:57.479 My mother was Neva Matilda [Carmen] Gurley. My dad was Arthur Eulus Gurley. 00:00:57.479 --> 00:01:02.700 Okay, and I have your dad's birthday as 9/22/1897? 00:01:02.700 --> 00:01:03.119 Yes. 00:01:03.119 --> 00:01:07.980 Okay, I have your mother as March 1, 1902? 00:01:07.980 --> 00:01:08.700 Yes. 00:01:08.700 --> 00:01:12.420 Okay, um, what type of work did your parents do? 00:01:12.420 --> 00:01:20.504 My mother was a math teacher at Bristow for 40 years. And my dad was just a rancher and raised cattle, hay. 00:01:20.504 --> 00:01:22.200 Okay. 00:01:22.200 --> 00:01:23.140 Pretty much that. 00:01:23.140 --> 00:01:36.519 So, I've heard a lot, I've heard your mom's name a lot. I was never blessed to get to meet her, but it sounds like she worked with a whole lot of kids during her time here. 00:01:36.519 --> 00:01:42.819 She died in '97 [9/16/1997] but even after she retired, she tutored a lot of kids. 00:01:42.819 --> 00:02:09.370 My husband being one of them. Yeah, yeah. Well, it sounds like she had a very long and fulfilled career here in Bristow. Did that, and I know you told me when we visited on the phone that you have worn many hats in your time teaching, being one of them, and we'll get to that. But did she inspire you at all to become a teacher, or? 00:02:09.370 --> 00:02:18.129 No, that just as a result of, I needed to work and I had the degree. 00:02:18.129 --> 00:02:19.000 Worked out that way. 00:02:19.000 --> 00:02:23.680 When you live, when you live on a farm, you got to have something to help support it. 00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:28.560 Right, right. I understand that. Do you have any siblings? 00:02:28.560 --> 00:02:44.520 Yes, I had a sister, Barbara Jean, who was, she was born in '42, but she died, and when she was about 40-some years old. 00:02:44.520 --> 00:02:48.900 Okay, um, and so just the one sister? 00:02:48.900 --> 00:02:54.284 Yes. And then I have a half-sister and three half-brothers. 00:02:54.284 --> 00:02:59.025 Okay, okay. And do the, did you grow up with family around you or? 00:02:59.025 --> 00:03:02.000 Not them, no. They were off somewhere else. 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:05.520 Okay. And so did you grow up in Bristow? 00:03:05.520 --> 00:03:06.000 Yes, I did. 00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:06.479 Okay. So, you were born here? 00:03:06.479 --> 00:03:07.039 No. I was born in Oklahoma City. 00:03:07.039 --> 00:03:07.280 Well, Oklahoma City. 00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:11.939 But then we moved here when I was six-years-old. 00:03:11.939 --> 00:03:14.759 Six, okay, okay, gotcha. 00:03:14.759 --> 00:03:22.199 That's when she started teaching school for a second time was in that year when we came here. 00:03:22.199 --> 00:03:28.439 And so whenever you guys moved here, where was your family rooted, like your extended family? 00:03:28.439 --> 00:03:28.860 Here. 00:03:28.860 --> 00:03:33.080 Here, okay. Was that the reason why that you guys moved back here? 00:03:33.080 --> 00:03:41.180 Well, my mother owned land here, and my grandparents lived here, and they owned land, so they were rooted here. 00:03:41.180 --> 00:04:02.044 Okay, Okay, gotcha, um, well, let's talk a little bit about your childhood. We'll we'll touch on that a little bit and ask some some kind of fun questions to see if you remember. Do you remember any of your favorite toys or games as you were growing up? 00:04:02.044 --> 00:04:08.944 No, mostly I, out in the country, we had horses and cattle, dogs and, you know. 00:04:08.944 --> 00:04:11.580 And you probably had to work a lot on your farm, I'm guessing? 00:04:11.580 --> 00:04:18.139 Oh yes, all the time. We had a dairy, up at four o'clock in the morning and four o'clock in the afternoon. 00:04:18.139 --> 00:04:26.899 Oh, my goodness, okay. Well, that was going to be my next question is, did you have chores that you were expected to do? So, obviously, that's yes. 00:04:26.899 --> 00:04:31.220 That, plus had took piano lessons, so I have to always practice that. 00:04:31.220 --> 00:04:35.839 Really? Okay, and so is that something you enjoyed? 00:04:35.839 --> 00:04:40.865 Well, to be honest with you, not really. Mother kind of forced me into that. 00:04:40.865 --> 00:04:43.324 Well, so can you still play today? 00:04:43.324 --> 00:04:43.745 Oh, yeah. 00:04:43.745 --> 00:04:44.720 Okay. 00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:48.079 Problem is, I don't have an ear for music, and that's a big difference. 00:04:48.079 --> 00:04:49.100 Oh, okay. 00:04:49.100 --> 00:04:54.000 Well, I can sight read, but not play by ear. 00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:54.699 Well, there's just a lot of work maintaining a place where you got, you know, constantly fixing fence, cutting trees, and, you know, had to cut hay and mow. And I remember when I was kid, we had a big silo and had to feed the cattle in the winter with that silage, and they're just constant work. 00:04:54.699 --> 00:05:26.985 Right, right. Okay, well, what were some of the things that you did, like on your farm? Tell us about some of the chores that you had to do, other than your, I'm sure, getting up and milking cows first thing in the morning. 00:05:26.985 --> 00:05:34.485 Right, right. Did you enjoy it? Or did you know any different? 00:05:34.485 --> 00:05:39.660 I guess I enjoyed it, because that's why I wanted to come back to and be a farmer, rancher. 00:05:39.660 --> 00:05:51.139 Farmer, rancher today. Okay, um, so did you living in the country, did you have any friends that would come over and play with you or? 00:05:51.139 --> 00:05:58.879 Yeah, we had kids that come out. We'd ride horses together and just do what, fish down in the pond and go swimming down in the creek. 00:05:58.879 --> 00:06:01.160 See to me, that's the good old days, that's, that's. 00:06:01.160 --> 00:06:01.699 Very much so. 00:06:01.699 --> 00:06:11.899 Yes, I like that. Did you have any favorite activities or hobbies as a child? 00:06:11.899 --> 00:06:23.524 Other than, you know, dealing with horses, of course, I was in the band, that sort of thing, I liked to hunt. 00:06:23.524 --> 00:06:28.865 Hunt, okay. Did you have, like, how much acreage did you guys own? 00:06:28.865 --> 00:06:32.225 Oh, about 500 acres. 00:06:32.225 --> 00:06:36.785 Oh, my goodness. So, did you farm all of that, or? 00:06:36.785 --> 00:06:37.000 Mmm hmm. 00:06:37.000 --> 00:06:37.024 250 at Depew and we had 90 here at Bristow. That much, at least. 00:06:37.024 --> 00:06:45.639 Oh man. 00:06:45.639 --> 00:06:49.899 So, was it just mainly you and your dad that worked it, all of it? 00:06:49.899 --> 00:06:50.319 Oh, yeah. 00:06:50.319 --> 00:06:59.379 Oh, my goodness, that's a lot of work. Do you remember if you collected anything as a child? 00:06:59.379 --> 00:07:00.000 Not really. 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:17.079 Not really, okay. Well, let's talk a little bit about your school life. I know when we visited on the phone, you said you attended Bristow Public Schools for 12 years. Do you remember having any particularly influential teachers in your life? 00:07:17.079 --> 00:07:41.245 Bristow, we were very fortunate to have four doctoral degree people teaching, and I think there's Covey [Lola Effie Best Covey]. She taught a lot of Spanish and English. We had Corey [Kate Broad Baldridge Corey], my mother. She didn't have the PhD, but she had, she could have had. 00:07:41.245 --> 00:07:42.264 Yes. 00:07:42.264 --> 00:07:55.764 Because she was an excellent teacher. And we had a excellent history teacher. Anyway, we just had some excellent teachers, I think, in the 50s. 00:07:55.764 --> 00:08:00.504 So, whenever you said, you said Corey, the last name was Corey. 00:08:00.504 --> 00:08:02.115 Kate Corey. 00:08:02.115 --> 00:08:05.170 And how do you spell, do you remember how to spell her last name? 00:08:05.170 --> 00:08:06.420 C O R E Y. 00:08:06.420 --> 00:08:07.000 Okay. And then the other teacher? 00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:09.939 Covey. C O V E Y. 00:08:09.939 --> 00:08:12.160 And what was that teacher's first name? Do you remember? 00:08:12.160 --> 00:08:13.480 No. 00:08:13.480 --> 00:08:15.160 No? Male or female? 00:08:15.160 --> 00:08:15.699 Female. 00:08:15.699 --> 00:08:23.079 Okay, so Ms Covey, okay, um. Do you remember how you got to school? 00:08:23.079 --> 00:08:24.339 I was in the car with my mother. 00:08:24.339 --> 00:08:25.240 Okay, so your mom 00:08:25.240 --> 00:08:25.420 So you rode, yeah, well, that makes sense. Um, was o was your mom ever your teacher? 00:08:25.420 --> 00:08:30.699 She taught school. 00:08:30.699 --> 00:08:31.839 Oh, yes. 00:08:31.839 --> 00:08:32.500 Okay. 00:08:32.500 --> 00:08:36.259 All through, you know, high school, when you had to take math. All the math courses. 00:08:36.259 --> 00:08:39.899 Oh, okay, so that's probably why you're good at math, huh? 00:08:39.899 --> 00:08:43.019 Yeah, she even talked physics, so I took that, too. 00:08:43.019 --> 00:08:49.500 Okay, okay, um, were you a member of any clubs or organizations? I know you said you were in band. 00:08:49.500 --> 00:09:04.080 Right. Bristow Band. I think we were in a can't even remember the other clubs we were in. There was, there were several that were involved with. 00:09:04.080 --> 00:09:10.125 Okay, um, so did you enjoy school overall? 00:09:10.125 --> 00:09:11.024 Yes, I enjoyed it. 00:09:11.024 --> 00:09:14.144 You did, okay. Did you have a favorite subject? 00:09:14.144 --> 00:09:17.600 Math, obviously. That's what I got my degrees in. 00:09:17.600 --> 00:09:31.460 Okay, okay. Um, well, let's talk a little bit about the house you grew up in, whenever you moved back to Bristow, when you said you were six, and you had this big farm, is that where you lived in your entire 12 years of school? 00:09:31.460 --> 00:09:31.759 Yeah. 00:09:31.759 --> 00:09:34.820 Can you tell us about that house? Was it like a farmhouse or? 00:09:34.820 --> 00:09:39.379 Yeah, it was pretty, I'll use the word crude to start with. We had outdoor plumbing, both water and sewage. So we had outhouse and a pump on the outside. But when I was about 10 years old, I helped my dad remodel our house, completely remodeled it, and put indoor plumbing and everything. Yeah, that would have been in what, '49. 00:09:39.379 --> 00:10:03.044 Yes. 00:10:03.044 --> 00:10:03.840 Okay. 00:10:03.840 --> 00:10:07.679 It was just an old oil field shack, basically. 00:10:07.679 --> 00:10:10.220 Okay. 00:10:10.220 --> 00:10:28.279 And dad remodeled it and turned it into a two story house. 00:10:28.279 --> 00:10:29.419 Wow! 00:10:29.419 --> 00:10:30.980 Had several bedrooms. 00:10:30.980 --> 00:10:38.225 So, you just learned as you went. Your dad taught you how to do things as you went, huh, as far as helping. 00:10:38.225 --> 00:10:44.164 We just, you know, learn do everything from carpentry to welding to plumbing and electrical. We did it all. 00:10:44.164 --> 00:10:53.585 Right, right, okay. Well, can you remember what meal times were like with your with your family? Did everybody sit down to eat? 00:10:53.585 --> 00:10:57.049 Yes, mother cooks the meal and we sit down and ate. 00:10:57.049 --> 00:11:07.019 Okay and do you remember, maybe, a favorite meal that she cooked whenever you were younger? Did you have a favorite one? 00:11:07.019 --> 00:11:09.899 Not really. We just ate everything. 00:11:09.899 --> 00:11:36.585 Anything that she provided. Okay, well, thinking back to town life and growing up, do you remember any favorite community activities? And when I say that, I mean, like a lot of people talk about Western Heritage Days or county fairs, stuff like that. Can you remember as a young person enjoying any of those activities in Bristow? 00:11:36.585 --> 00:12:11.000 Well, we, Bristow hosted the Creek County, the Creek County Fair every year, which is out here, that's near the where the pool is now. And that was always a big event. My dad was president of the Fair Board, so he was active. He'd always give me tickets to the from the rides. I'd have plenty of those, share with my friend. We had two movie theaters back then, Walmur and Princess Theaters. That was a big event. Go 10 cents to go a movie on Saturday afternoon. 00:12:11.000 --> 00:12:15.000 Yeah, yeah, I've heard about those. I wish we had one now. 00:12:15.000 --> 00:12:30.000 Had a pool hall, you go in play pool. Had another, I guess you'd call it, I don't know if you'd call it drugstore or what it was. But anyway, we went, they had a pinball machine. We loved to play pinball. 00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:34.259 So, did, was the pool around at that time? Did you enjoy the pool? 00:12:34.259 --> 00:12:34.679 Yeah. 00:12:34.679 --> 00:12:39.240 Yeah, did you get to go, did you get to go there much at all? 00:12:39.240 --> 00:12:40.440 Yeah, some. 00:12:40.440 --> 00:12:52.000 Okay, um, do you remember any of the, I guess, biggest or most popular businesses around town growing up? Or an yone that sticks out to you? 00:12:52.000 --> 00:13:14.679 We had, Bristow was a really nice community back in the old days, as far as commercial, we had two men's clothing stores. We had, you know, really good, like Safeway Grocery Store. We had, we had Penneys. We had 5 and 10. We had women's clothing stores. We had 00:13:14.679 --> 00:13:16.524 It was booming back in the day, wasn't it? 00:13:16.524 --> 00:13:19.000 I mean, we had a lot of good things that have been taken away from us now. 00:13:19.000 --> 00:13:27.940 Yeah, well, I kind of feel like, hopefully, we're maybe trending back in the right direction of an upswing in town, hopefully. 00:13:27.940 --> 00:13:31.159 We are growing, but, you know, Walmart is taking everything away. 00:13:31.159 --> 00:13:32.019 Yeah, that's kind of been the general consensus whenever I have done these interviews, is that when Walmart came and the turnpike came, it really kind of changed the landscape of Bristow and the, you know, the smaller stores closed, and it kind of kind of changed everything. 00:13:32.019 --> 00:13:43.960 Just can't compete. 00:13:43.960 --> 00:13:55.284 Yeah, yeah, exactly. Did you have a favorite hangout as a teenager? 00:13:55.284 --> 00:13:58.404 Home. 00:13:58.404 --> 00:13:59.245 Home? 00:13:59.245 --> 00:13:59.664 Farm. 00:13:59.664 --> 00:14:01.585 Yeah, you were always at the farm, huh? 00:14:01.585 --> 00:14:03.745 There was plenty to do there. 00:14:03.745 --> 00:14:04.825 Oh, I can imagine. 00:14:04.825 --> 00:14:08.000 Horseback riding, yeah, fishing, you know, just anything you wanted to do. 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:15.860 Right. Do you have any particular memories of the train depot? 00:14:15.860 --> 00:14:20.840 Not really other than just seeing trains come through. 00:14:20.840 --> 00:14:29.539 Right, right, okay, um, well, let's see, do you remember, do you happen to remember your family's first car? 00:14:29.539 --> 00:14:39.184 I don't know whether it was the first one or not. I can remember like a '49 Ford. 00:14:39.184 --> 00:14:42.784 Okay, okay. Do you remember your first car? 00:14:42.784 --> 00:14:45.544 1955 Ford. 00:14:45.544 --> 00:14:48.965 Ford. And who taught you how to drive? 00:14:48.965 --> 00:14:52.024 Well, myself, I guess. 00:14:52.024 --> 00:14:56.345 I'm guessing you were probably driving long before you had a license, since you were on the farm. 00:14:56.345 --> 00:15:01.000 I started driving a tractor, you know, when I was eight or ten years old. From then on, It's just natural. 00:15:01.000 --> 00:15:15.340 Yes, yes. Okay, so did you have or what sort of entertainment did you have growing up? Did you have a TV at some point? 00:15:15.340 --> 00:15:19.299 I think about 1950 we got a TV for the first time. 00:15:19.299 --> 00:15:24.924 Okay, and do you remember any particular programs you enjoyed watching? 00:15:24.924 --> 00:15:33.000 Not really. I can't think of anybody, any that we really watched. It's kind of wasn't too many to choose from. 00:15:33.000 --> 00:15:38.519 Right, and I'm sure you were probably always outside and, you know, it 00:15:38.519 --> 00:15:41.519 Well of an evening, you always did that sort of thing. 00:15:41.519 --> 00:15:56.580 Right, right. So, do you remember seeing any pivotal moments on TV, like newsworthy moments? I've had some people tell me that they remember like when JFK was shot or 00:15:56.580 --> 00:16:00.345 Well, I remember that very vividly, but, of course, I was in college, but then. 00:16:00.345 --> 00:16:01.304 Right, right. 00:16:01.304 --> 00:16:02.924 That was momentous event, 00:16:02.924 --> 00:16:06.720 Yeah, yeah, yeah, but nothing else that you can. 00:16:06.720 --> 00:16:13.620 I just remember hearing stuff about World War II on the radio. You didn't have TV, then. 00:16:13.620 --> 00:16:26.340 Did you, was music, I know you said you you played piano, but did you frequently, like listen to music like the radio or and what type of music did you like? 00:16:26.340 --> 00:16:33.105 Just the popular music at that time. You know, you just had good singers like Frank Sinatra and all those good singers, 00:16:33.105 --> 00:16:46.605 Right. Okay, what was medical care like for you growing up? Did you have a family doctor or did you mainly take care of, did your mom take care of stuff at home? Or how did that work? 00:16:46.605 --> 00:16:56.788 Probably most of it was at home. I remember cut my hand one time, and, you know, we just looked at it and put a band aid on it. 00:16:56.788 --> 00:16:57.000 Patched it up as best as possible. 00:16:57.000 --> 00:17:20.039 I remember one time I stuck a big splinter under my thumbnail, and it went way deep, and Dad took his pocket knife and literally cut a little square out of the center of it and pulled it out through that little hole. I can't imagine that being done today, or even surviging it. But yeah, that's the way it was back then. Of course, we had the 00:17:20.039 --> 00:17:23.900 I think you guys were a lot tougher than what we are these days. 00:17:23.900 --> 00:17:41.000 We had, I just remember we had there on Eighth Street, there, just west of Main Street, there was a clinic, and when I was six years old, had my tonsils out there. But it was just in the clinic that we had it done. Put you under ether anesthetic, and took your tonsils out, ate ice cream for a week. 00:17:41.000 --> 00:17:43.940 So, it wasn't all bad, huh? 00:17:43.940 --> 00:17:49.460 But that's the way it was. You didn't, didn't do much in the way of doctors. 00:17:49.460 --> 00:17:57.859 Right, right. So, and I forgot to ask you, as far as, like, where your house and your farm was, where was that located at roughly? 00:17:57.859 --> 00:18:05.579 It's a mile south of town, about a quarter of a mile west of 48 on Airport Road. 00:18:05.579 --> 00:18:11.759 Okay, okay. Did you attend church growing up? 00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:12.299 Yes. 00:18:12.299 --> 00:18:14.039 You did. Okay. Where did you attend? 00:18:14.039 --> 00:18:15.900 First Christian Church here in Bristow. 00:18:15.900 --> 00:18:19.559 Okay. So, where is that one located? 00:18:19.559 --> 00:18:20.900 Just right down the street. 00:18:20.900 --> 00:18:33.259 Okay, okay, um, and then I know you told me you were a born again Christian in 1974, so around 21 ish. Were you 21 I guess, maybe? 00:18:33.259 --> 00:18:36.019 What, 25? No, 34. 00:18:36.019 --> 00:18:37.880 Oh, I must have had 00:18:37.880 --> 00:18:39.559 '49 to '74. 00:18:39.559 --> 00:18:40.880 I had bad math there. 00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:42.200 Thirty-four. 00:18:42.200 --> 00:18:44.000 And I'm saying that in front of a math teacher. 00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:57.920 I was, I was baptized when I was 12 there in that First Christian Church, but it, the Lord looked after me from that point on, but I did, wouldn't, didn't give him too much time until I was 34 and 00:18:57.920 --> 00:18:59.839 Then rededicated. 00:18:59.839 --> 00:19:01.880 Yeah, I had the real experience with the Lord. 00:19:01.880 --> 00:19:11.400 Well, that's neat. Alright, well, let's talk about holidays in your family. Were holidays a big deal? 00:19:11.400 --> 00:19:19.319 I guess you'd say somewhat. You know, birthdays, Christmas, Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving was always a big thing, because have big dinners. 00:19:19.319 --> 00:19:22.420 Did all the family come to your house? Or did you go somewhere? 00:19:22.420 --> 00:19:32.740 Pretty much, my mother had four, three sisters, and they'd show up their families. We just had to get togethers most of the time. 00:19:32.740 --> 00:19:41.440 So, is Christmas more about, I guess, maybe being together and having a good meal, versus, say, like presents, or what? 00:19:41.440 --> 00:19:46.525 There was always presents associated with Christmas alonw with a meal. 00:19:46.525 --> 00:19:51.744 Can you remember any, any particular thing you got that stuck out in your memory for Christmas? 00:19:51.744 --> 00:19:58.345 Just remember a bicycle when I was six years old. Primarily, other than that, I can't remember too much. 00:19:58.345 --> 00:20:07.380 So, that was a big deal. As a child, do you remember what you wanted to be when you grew up? 00:20:07.380 --> 00:20:09.960 Yeah, really, I wanted to be a rancher. 00:20:09.960 --> 00:20:13.359 Really? Okay, and you still do that now, correct? 00:20:13.359 --> 00:20:14.619 Well, not now I'm retired. 00:20:14.619 --> 00:20:15.819 Well, okay. 00:20:15.819 --> 00:20:17.019 I sold all the land then. 00:20:17.019 --> 00:20:19.539 Oh, okay, okay. 00:20:19.539 --> 00:20:22.599 It's just too much work to maintain all that stuff. 00:20:22.599 --> 00:20:27.319 So, did you have your, so did, were you still working your family ranch? 00:20:27.319 --> 00:20:27.460 So, that was still in your family? Wow! Okay, um, all right, well, let's talk about college. When we visited on the phone, tell me where you went and what degrees you achieved, and tell me a little bit about your college experience. 00:20:27.460 --> 00:20:50.025 Yes. 00:20:50.025 --> 00:21:07.904 I went to OU, University of Oklahoma for 1957 to '60, and I got my undergraduate degree in mathematics. Then I went to OSU in 1960 and I got my masters and PhD, finally, in 1964. 00:21:07.904 --> 00:21:09.704 And you said that was in math statistics? 00:21:09.704 --> 00:21:11.299 That was mathematical statistics. 00:21:11.299 --> 00:21:15.019 Okay, okay. And did you enjoy your college experience? 00:21:15.019 --> 00:21:15.859 Very much. 00:21:15.859 --> 00:21:17.059 Okay. 00:21:17.059 --> 00:21:18.799 What free time you have. 00:21:18.799 --> 00:21:36.125 Yeah, well, and I think it's so much different whenever you go to college versus maybe, like high school, you're going for something that you want to do, that you're wanting to pursue. So, it has a little bit of, I feel like it feels a little different whenever you're doing it for yourself and something that you want to do. 00:21:36.125 --> 00:21:41.704 You've got an objective, you got kind of go for it. It's not, it's not a chore so much is just . 00:21:41.704 --> 00:21:43.325 Yes. 00:21:43.325 --> 00:21:44.285 Working to get that job. 00:21:44.285 --> 00:22:03.000 Yeah, you're trying to achieve it. Okay, so for the man that has worn many hats, let's talk about your work life. So, say whenever you got out of college, tell me, like, what was your first major job that you had? 00:22:03.000 --> 00:22:10.000 Well, I started working 1964 with Sunray DX Oil Company in operations research analyst. 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:12.460 And it was Sunray? 00:22:12.460 --> 00:22:14.200 Sunray DX Oil Company. 00:22:14.200 --> 00:22:14.559 Okay. 00:22:14.559 --> 00:22:15.519 They were in Tulsa. 00:22:15.519 --> 00:22:16.440 Okay. 00:22:16.440 --> 00:22:23.640 And then a couple of years later, another gentleman worked there and I, formed a company called Petroleum Marketing Research Company. 00:22:23.640 --> 00:22:24.420 Okay. 00:22:24.420 --> 00:22:46.619 We had designed a computer program that would basically tell you how many gallons of gasoline a service station would produce wherever it's located in the city. We were successful to sell it to four major oil companies. Then we got this throughout all the cities that they can do survey work to supply the monster that we created. 00:22:46.619 --> 00:22:56.000 So, would you say that that was that technology was ahead of its time at that time? That sounds like a pretty big accomplishment. 00:22:56.000 --> 00:23:10.039 Well, it was just using what you call it, the intuition, or to figure out how to make it work. And we did. 00:23:10.039 --> 00:23:11.539 You did and it was successful. 00:23:11.539 --> 00:23:21.365 And then we programmed it back then we had big 360 IBM computers. My cell phone probably got more capability than that did. 00:23:21.365 --> 00:23:22.444 Right, right. 00:23:22.444 --> 00:23:30.299 Yeah, it had a million bytes of worth of storage, where today we're talking gigabytes and terabytes. 00:23:30.299 --> 00:23:42.680 Right. Yeah, the technology advancements have been crazy in a relatively short period of time. Um, okay, so what was your, where did you go from there? 00:23:42.680 --> 00:25:00.275 Okay, from there that finally dried up. I moved back to Bristow and started ranching for a while, and then after that, opportunity opened up, where I started programming a guy's computer that was over at Stroud, and from that, led into programming computers for all of these Oklahoma. Primarily because I got involved, because people didn't want to leave Tulsa to go out in the small town. So, I didn't mind doing that, and I'm getting decent wage for programming the old Wang computers back then. They were pretty, pretty good computer. In fact, I helped put one of the first computers, it's a American National Bank, which is now Spirit Bank. I programmed it. It was, they had a big mainframe that did their main checking account. But I was dealing with the loan applications. Had a little computer for that, so I programmed that. That was the first one they had in house. Tracy Kelly and Levan Kelly and Royce Kelly were all people that I was involved with. 00:25:00.275 --> 00:25:09.335 I actually grew up in the American National Bank because my mom worked there. So, around, do you remember around what year that would have been? 00:25:09.335 --> 00:25:14.839 Probably '79 through '80, '81, '82, '83. 00:25:14.839 --> 00:25:28.460 So, that's that's cool. You saw a need, because, honestly, it kind of seems like that now you can't get people to come out of Tulsa to come to the smaller towns, so that's neat that you saw the need and you you filled it. 00:25:28.460 --> 00:26:04.069 Yeah, and then as that expanded, and I started selling computers as well, and opened up an office in Tulsa and Oklahoma City, where we, I worked with this Wang salesman, too. I sold their computers and programmed them. It was fun, and that area kind of dried up. And about '86 something like that. And then '87 I ran for office, for state representative, and got elected for four years down there. 00:26:04.069 --> 00:26:09.289 And tell me what the you told me on the phone, a little detail about that, that you were the first. 00:26:09.289 --> 00:26:19.849 Oh, I was the first Republican elected in Creek County. Which is it was totally democratic back in those days. Of course, now it's completely turned around the opposite direction. 00:26:19.849 --> 00:26:28.640 Right, right. So, how would you describe your experience being a representative? 00:26:28.640 --> 00:26:52.085 Well, it's very, it's a lot more demanding than you think, because people are always calling you, asking you to do this and do that and help them do that. You know, it get a lot of problems solved. But it's also a, it's a good, interesting job to be involved with. You're helping make laws for the whole state. 00:26:52.085 --> 00:27:07.144 I can see where it would be a very rewarding, could be a very rewarding venture. So ,were you doing that while you were working, or were you just doing that? 00:27:07.144 --> 00:27:13.805 When you say working, I've always had the farm and ranch, but I was doing that was in addition to that. 00:27:13.805 --> 00:27:16.789 In addition to, okay, yeah. 00:27:16.789 --> 00:27:21.049 But what I was doing, I wasn't doing any computer work when I was doing that.' 00:27:21.049 --> 00:27:22.220 Right. That's kind of what I meant. 00:27:22.220 --> 00:27:56.005 Now that the computer stuff dried up in about '86. In '87 I ran for office, got in for four years and went back, you know, back to the ranch after that. At '97 then I think it was that first started teaching at Depew. Taught there two years. Then I came over to Bristow in '99 and then I was technology director here for the Bristow Schools for two years. We had about 550 computers that we had to deal with, maintain that fiber optic network. 00:27:56.005 --> 00:28:01.759 So, in all the hats you've worn, did you have a favorite hat? 00:28:01.759 --> 00:28:44.404 They're all enjoyable. Always loved ranching. I guess I loved programming computers too. I mean, that was good. That was a fun job. And I didn't mention it, but one other one in between there about '77 I guess it was. I helped Paul Montgomery over Slick for about a year. We tried, we were trying to build horse buggies for, you know, horse and buggy type situation. And turned out I wasn't that good at the carpentry, so I just let him have the whole thing. And that's when I got into the computer business. 00:28:44.404 --> 00:28:44.959 You went back to computers. 00:28:44.959 --> 00:28:53.450 And Paul went ahead and made some beautiful buggies, working with, I can't think of his first name, but Groom was his last name. Down there at Slick. 00:28:53.450 --> 00:29:02.089 Well, then you also mentioned to me, when we had visited about Activation Outreach. Can you tell me about that? 00:29:02.089 --> 00:29:22.055 Well, we started, Majel Wisotsky. She was, she headed it up, and we started a group called Activation Outreach, just a small church group. We met Methodist Church Annex a couple of years. And she got married, moved to Texas. 00:29:22.055 --> 00:29:30.634 So, what kinds of, what kind, tell me more about that, like, what, what did that program do? 00:29:30.634 --> 00:29:46.900 Well, mainly, we're trying to just help people, you know, that's, that's the main thing, is to get out and witness to people and also help people that need help, elderly. And we needed a lot of homeless work too, witnessing the homeless people. 00:29:46.900 --> 00:29:48.579 So, locally, or anywhere? 00:29:48.579 --> 00:29:48.940 Locally, 00:29:48.940 --> 00:29:50.200 okay. 00:29:50.200 --> 00:30:30.204 Primarily locally, So it's, you know, we're trying to get people to basically ideas, to bring people to life. Because the truth of the of the gospel is Jesus came that we could be free from all the junk that pollutes our lives. That's what He said. I came to set the captives free. So, we want, see those people are slaves to drugs and a lifestyle that's just drug 'em down. But if you really under, get a hold of the Lord, then he will set you free. And that was our whole objective, is to work in that realm. 00:30:30.204 --> 00:30:34.500 So, is that still going on even though she has moved? 00:30:34.500 --> 00:30:41.759 Well, we still meat in our home on Wednesdays, uh, small group of us, but it's not very, not very large at the moment. 00:30:41.759 --> 00:30:52.740 Not large, okay, okay. Well, let's talk a little bit about your immediate family. Can you tell me your spouse's full name? 00:30:52.740 --> 00:30:54.720 Peggy Ann Gurley. 00:30:54.720 --> 00:30:58.904 Okay, and I have her birth date is February 22, 1942. 00:30:58.904 --> 00:30:59.505 Correct. 00:30:59.505 --> 00:31:05.279 Okay. Um, When and where did you meet her? 00:31:05.279 --> 00:32:02.099 In Stroud [Oklahoma]. We were involved with the Full Gospel Businessmen Association there, and we'd meet once a month for a dinner meeting, and a speaker would speak. And her husband was, he and I were both directors for that organization. He was veterinarian over there at Stroud. And then in 1976, he had a terrible plane accident. He had a private plane that they were flying. It crashed behind his house, or at least about a mile north. But anyway, as a result, she was a widow with four children. I knew her through that we were part of that organization. [Indecipherable] the Lord said that you're gonna marry Peggy Robertson. And I thought it was four kids, you gotta be kidding. But it turns out, we've been married for 48 years now. 00:32:02.099 --> 00:32:05.819 Oh, my goodness. Well, congratulations. That's an accomplishment. 00:32:05.819 --> 00:32:07.660 Yes, it was good thing. 00:32:07.660 --> 00:32:18.619 Um, so did you just decide you wanted to get married? Or did you have an engagement period? Or, how did that, how did that work out? 00:32:18.619 --> 00:32:43.085 Well, we walked in, we went to a church in Tulsa in separate cars, and we happened to walk in the church together and sit down together, and then when the preacher said, everybody, hold hands. You know, how they do. We held hands, and they just felt electricity going up and down our arms. And that was kind of a confirmation that this is good. 00:32:43.085 --> 00:32:46.144 That was, that was your positive sign. 00:32:46.144 --> 00:32:57.184 We, we, what do you call it, courtship was going over to her house and eating supper with all with all the kids around you. Didn't go out too much. 00:32:57.184 --> 00:33:01.085 Okay, well, so, when and where did you marry? 00:33:01.085 --> 00:33:10.430 We were married at the First Assembly of God in Stroud in 1977. 00:33:10.430 --> 00:33:13.369 So, I have March 5, 1977? 00:33:13.369 --> 00:33:13.730 Yes. 00:33:13.730 --> 00:33:18.109 Okay, did you have a small wedding? Big wedding? 00:33:18.109 --> 00:33:22.670 Yes, I'd say small. Maybe 20 to 25, people, probably. 00:33:22.670 --> 00:33:25.910 And, so, were you living in Bristow and she was living in Stroud at the time? 00:33:25.910 --> 00:33:26.869 I was living in Depew. 00:33:26.869 --> 00:33:28.000 Oh, you were living in Depew? Okay. 00:33:28.000 --> 00:33:29.980 Had a farm over there. 00:33:29.980 --> 00:33:33.160 And then, so, then you all ended up. 00:33:33.160 --> 00:33:34.480 They all moved to Depew. 00:33:34.480 --> 00:33:34.900 Okay, gotcha. 00:33:34.900 --> 00:33:36.519 Kids all went to school at Depew. 00:33:36.519 --> 00:33:37.660 Okay, okay. 00:33:37.660 --> 00:33:39.460 They all graduated from Depew School. 00:33:39.460 --> 00:33:46.240 Okay. Um, so how many children do you have? 00:33:46.240 --> 00:33:51.924 Total, we have seven. I had two. Peggy had four, and then she and I had one. 00:33:51.924 --> 00:33:56.980 Okay, do you want to tell me their names so we can have that on the recording? 00:33:56.980 --> 00:34:25.164 Well, there's Mark Steven Gurley. There's Ambra Leigh Gurley [Maxon]. Then there's Deborah Ann Gurley. There's Kim Roberta, well, her name's Shepherd now but and then there's Heather Lynn Spencer. There's Kip Robertson Gurley, and then there's Jennifer Kay Alexander. She's our youngest. 00:34:25.164 --> 00:34:31.405 Okay, and how many do you, I'm guessing you probably have grandchildren, too? How many grandchildren? 00:34:31.405 --> 00:34:34.644 We've got like 16 grandchildren and 17 great grandchildren? 00:34:34.644 --> 00:34:46.179 Oh, my goodness! So, you have a huge family. Do you remember any particular challenges of being a dad when your kids were young? 00:34:46.179 --> 00:35:34.945 Well, there's always things you gotta deal with, like your daughter getting hit with she's riding her motorcycle and getting hit with a pickup truck out on Highway 66. You talk about a miracle. She pulled out in front of that pickup. He said he was going 54 miles an hour when he hit her. It literally caved in that motorcycle. She had not a scratch on her. She had a bump on her head where she stayed with the motorcycle and it laid over on the on the highway, and it bumped her head, and that was the only, and how she got her leg out away from when that pickup hit the side of that motorcycle. I don't know. 00:35:34.945 --> 00:35:36.385 How old was she? 00:35:36.385 --> 00:35:37.284 Fourteen. 00:35:37.284 --> 00:35:40.164 Oh, my goodness. So that's 00:35:40.164 --> 00:35:42.019 You know, that's just one example. 00:35:42.019 --> 00:35:43.179 Yeah, oh, yeah. 00:35:43.179 --> 00:36:07.164 And then you got the, I remember my son Mark, when it was with him. I was coaching Little League ball, baseball. That was a fun time. Of course, you got just think of kids hauling hay. When we first got married, we bailed 10,000 bales of hay every summer, and she and my wife and I and the four kids hauled all the hay, put it on the barn with maybe one one person's help that we'd hired. 00:36:07.164 --> 00:36:09.684 Oh my goodness! 00:36:09.684 --> 00:36:14.539 Fun times! 00:36:14.539 --> 00:36:28.820 I guess that's probably why the heat doesn't bother you, huh? Well, so I know now you said you retired. Have you enjoyed being retired? And do you have any hobbies now that you enjoy? 00:36:28.820 --> 00:36:48.605 Well, after I retired, I think it was maybe 2009, I got involved with one of my best friends from high school and Frank Groom. We had a Bristow handyman business, so we remodeled out all over town. Had that for several years. 00:36:48.605 --> 00:36:57.579 Frank Groom is actually the one that recommended you on being interviewed, so you can thank him for that. 00:36:57.579 --> 00:37:09.400 Well, he's a good friend, and we enjoy working with him. I mean, we, we are very compatible, and I don't, it's just fun to do that sort of thing is to create things. 00:37:09.400 --> 00:37:18.039 Now did you help with the renovation of the Bristow Social Services, the project that he worked on there? 00:37:18.039 --> 00:37:18.699 Yes. 00:37:18.699 --> 00:37:19.119 Okay. 00:37:19.119 --> 00:37:24.204 We did. We were, we were both involved in that. He kind of headed it up, but I helped. 00:37:24.204 --> 00:37:24.625 You helped? 00:37:24.625 --> 00:37:38.905 And then also I got involved with the Cornerstone Church here on Seventh Street. You know, down there by the alley. I have completely remodeled that 10,000 square foot building, two story, and we gutted it. 00:37:38.905 --> 00:37:42.909 It doesn't look like it's 10,000 square feet. It there's a lot of 00:37:42.909 --> 00:37:45.130 5000 down and 5000 up. 00:37:45.130 --> 00:37:45.360 Wow, okay. 00:37:45.360 --> 00:37:53.559 I mean, it used to be an old hotel, and all those old rooms. We totally gutted it made it into different rooms. 00:37:53.559 --> 00:37:53.659 So, do you still do handyman work? 00:37:53.659 --> 00:37:53.960 No. 00:37:53.960 --> 00:38:05.659 I might help somebody, or, you know, somebody wants a wheelchair ramp or something, Frank and I will put it in, but we don't advertise that we're available. 00:38:05.659 --> 00:38:15.800 Okay, okay, well, what would you consider to be the most important invention during your lifetime? 00:38:15.800 --> 00:38:24.920 Invention? Probably would be the computer. 00:38:24.920 --> 00:38:26.199 I kind of, 00:38:26.199 --> 00:38:33.400 You know, on into the, cell phones and tablets and everything we got now, laptop. 00:38:33.400 --> 00:38:43.059 Somehow, I kind of figured you might say, the computer. How do you feel the world is different now than when you were a child? 00:38:43.059 --> 00:39:41.875 Well, we've really gone, we've lost a lot of the, I'll use the word innocence, that we used to have, which it all goes back to the truth of the matter is, everything has gone anti Bible. If you want to call it that. God's Word, the left, you got the right and left in politics. But the left has taken an anti everything that the Bible believes. they take the opposite, whether it's, you know, sexual situations, don't speak, you know, cussing and all that sort of thing. You got your, the homosexual, all that thing is just the opposite of what God said we should do, and that's how the worst thing it has done is that changed. I don't we're still having wars all over the place. Doesn't seem to be getting any better. 00:39:41.875 --> 00:39:50.599 As you see it, what do you feel is our nation's biggest problem and how do you think it could be solved? 00:39:50.599 --> 00:40:06.260 I don't know what the biggest problem is. Biggest problem is our national debt. That's the biggest problem. I don't think it can be solved. There's so many trillion dollars in debt, that can't ever be solved. 00:40:06.260 --> 00:40:09.659 Yeah, fiscal responsibility has gone out the window. 00:40:09.659 --> 00:40:39.945 Yeah, that morality. There's two issues that, and another obvious one is the drug problem. I think most of our homeless people are causing drugs, and that whole thing is just, you know, it pulls weight down on society, because you have to take, take care of those people somewhere. I don't know if there is a solution, because nobody seems to want to truly tackle it and stop it coming into the country. 00:40:39.945 --> 00:41:10.409 Okay, how have historic events say, like maybe the Oklahoma City bombing, 9/11, natural disasters, world wars, even covid, affected you, and you can pick one or several, or have any of the natural have any natural disasters affected your life, personally, or historic events? I'm sorry, not natural disasters? 00:41:10.409 --> 00:41:20.534 Well, one natural disaster was a tornado went across our farm in 1960. Had a lot of rebuilding that took place as a result of that. 00:41:20.534 --> 00:41:22.000 Did it damage your home or just the barns? 00:41:22.000 --> 00:41:42.039 Took the barns out and a house that was sitting across the driveway from our house. We had an extra house sitting there, and it disappeared. It took the shingles off of the main house. Had a big, two story brick house. Took the shingles off and a few bricks off of one area, but basically left it standing. 00:41:42.039 --> 00:41:44.500 Did you have a cellar at the time? Where were you when it hit? 00:41:44.500 --> 00:41:53.244 I wasn't in it at the time, but the person living there, he said he was in the cellar, and it said bricks were hitting that cellar door like bullets. 00:41:53.244 --> 00:41:54.324 Oh my goodness. 00:41:54.324 --> 00:42:06.324 But the house survived. And then, of course, we, you know, remodeled it and brought it up to current standards. Because I had to remodel the inside, with the plumbing and all that had to be redone. 00:42:06.324 --> 00:42:18.429 Okay, well, is there anything else that you would like to tell us or share any wisdom for future generations? 00:42:18.429 --> 00:42:23.170 I can't say anything offhand, really. 00:42:23.170 --> 00:42:29.880 I know you have, I know you have some kind of wisdom to share in there. 00:42:29.880 --> 00:42:56.505 The biggest wisdom you can give anybody is that get have a relationship with the Lord. Be born again, because everything hinges on that as far as to have a He promises an abundant life, prosperous life, and that that's the solution to it, is to start there. Beyond that, I mean, it's it'll take care of itself once you get started. 00:42:56.505 --> 00:43:08.385 I like that answer. That's good wisdom to share. Is there anything else that we didn't cover that you would like to add to this interview? 00:43:08.385 --> 00:43:09.960 I can't think of anything at the moment. 00:43:09.960 --> 00:43:16.360 Can't think of anything? Okay, well, your interview will become an important part of the oral history archives for the museum. Thank you for taking the time to talk with us. We really appreciate it. 00:43:16.360 --> 00:43:17.360 Thank you. NOTE TRANSCRIPTION END ]]> video 0 https://bristoworalhistory.org/ohms/render.php?cachefile=OHP-0075_Bill_Gurley.xml OHP-0075_Bill_Gurley.xml
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Bill Gurley
Description
An account of the resource
Bill Gurley, born October 25, 1939, in Oklahoma City, shared his life story with Regan Siler. Bill's parents, Neva Matilda Carmen Gurley and Arthur Eulus Gurley, were educators. Bill helped his father on their 500-acre farm. He attended Bristow Public Schools, where he was influenced by several doctoral degree teachers. Bill pursued a career in mathematics, earning degrees from the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University. He worked in operations research, founded Petroleum Marketing Research Company, and later became a state representative. Bill and his wife, Peggy, have seven children and many grandchildren. He retired in 2009 and enjoys remodeling projects.
Identifier
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OHP-0075
Date
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2025/08/07
Format
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video
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https://bristoworalhistory.org/files/original/b14c56c09a7cfcbc92f5ee46fa4ac340.jpg
c9f78e8be95dacfaa261fba8f2905668
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Family Histories
Type
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Oral History
Subject
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Oral accounts of various family histories
Source
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Bristow Historical Society, oral history collection
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Regan Siler
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Linda Root
OHMS Object
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Viewer)
https://bristoworalhistory.org/ohms/render.php?cachefile=OHP-0074_Linda_Root.xml
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contents of the OHMS object searchable in Omeka
6.0 July 1, 2025 OHP-0074 Linda Root OHP-0074 00:38:27 Bristow Historical Society, Inc. bristowhistory Linda Root Regan Siler 0 https://bristoworalhistory.org/interviews/OHP-0074 Root, Linda.mp4 Other video 0 Birth Regan Siler 00:00
 ; This is Regan Siler with the Bristow Historical Society in Bristow, Oklahoma. This interview is part of the Historical Society's ongoing oral history project. The date is July 1, 2025 and I'm sitting here with Linda Root at the Bristow Library Annex. She's going to tell us a little bit about her life and her history living in the Bristow area. Can you please state your full name? 
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 00:24
 ; Linda Rose Root. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 00:26
 ; Okay. And do I have permission to do this interview? 
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 00:29
 ; Yes, you do.
 ; Linda Rose Root was born on June 3, 1953. She was born in Sapulpa, Oklahoma. Bristow Historical Society ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Bristow Library Annex ; Linda Rose Root ; Sapulpa (Okla.) Birth 0 38 Parents and Siblings Regan Siler 00:38
 ; Okay, um, let's talk about the people in your family. Let's start with your parents. What are your parents full names?
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 00:48
 ; Rosemary McGuire and Clifford James McGuire.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 00:53
 ; Okay, and I have, I have your mother as Rosemary Simmonds McGuire?
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 00:58
 ; Yes.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 00:58
 ; Okay. And her birthday is 1/29/1926 and then I have your dad as 9/24/1912. 
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 01:08
 ; Yes.
 ; Linda's parents were Rosemary Simmonds McGuire and Clifford James McGuire. Her mother's date of birth was January 1, 1926. Her father's date of birth was September 24, 1912. Linda's mother was a homemaker and later worked as a caretaker for the elderly. After getting out of the army, her father worked for the Corps of Engineers. Linda has five full siblings and two half siblings. Linda grew up in the Kellyville area. Rosemary Simmonds McGuire ; Clifford James McGuire ; army ; Corps of Engineers ; Kellyville (Okla.) ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Western Heritage Days Parents ; Siblings 0 154 Early Childhood Regan Siler 02:34
 ; Right, right. Okay, well, let's talk about your early childhood and your home life. I'm just going to ask you a few fun questions about that. Do you remember any of your favorite toys or games that you played when you were young?
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 02:49
 ; Oh, my goodness. I think one of my favorite things was listening to my mom talk about her life growing up in England. But also, we were, we played games constantly. I mean, kick the can, softball, baseball. We were country kids, so we were outside all the time.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 03:09
 ; Right, that's, that's the general consensus from people from that time period, is that you were outside all the time. So you, you mentioned your mom was from England?
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 03:18
 ; Yes.
 ; One of Linda's favorite things to do when she was younger was listen to her mother talk about growing up in England. Linda says that she was a country kid and was outside playing all of the time. She played kick the can, softball and baseball. England ; Rosemary Simmonds McGuire Childhood 0 202 Mother from England Linda Root 03:22
 ; Yeah, I didn't know she had an English accent until I started school and the kids told me.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 03:28
 ; Really?
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 03:29
 ; You just, 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 03:30
 ; That's what. 
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 03:30
 ; You don't pay attention. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 03:31
 ; That's just how mom sounded.
 ; Linda's mother grew up in England. Linda did not realize her mother had an accent until she started school and the kids told her. She came over after the war on the Queen Mary in 1947. She had met Linda's dad when he was stationed in England. Rosemary had worked for the RAF, the English Air Force making parachutes. Linda had a sister that was born in England. Rosemary Simmonds McGuire ; Queen Mary ; Air Force ; Staten Island ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Kellyville (Okla.) ; Oklahoma City (Okla.) Mother ; England 0 288 Chores and Hobbies as a Child Regan Siler 04:48
 ; Wow, that's cool. Um, well, kind of back to your childhood. Did you have any chores you were expected to do as a youngster?
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 04:58
 ; Oh, yes, we all had a chore. I did switch off with my brothers because I would rather be outside than doing the dishes. I was always an outside person, but I got drug back in.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 05:10
 ; So, since you had a big family, did you have friends that would come over and play, or did you just typically play with your siblings? 
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 05:17
 ; Well, both.
 ; Linda and her siblings were expected to help with chores around the house. Linds says she often tried to switch off with her brothers because she would rather work outside than do the dishes. Linda enjoyed horseback riding as a child. She grew up close to Heyburn Lake, so she also enjoyed swimming. Heyburn Lake (Okla.) Chores ; Hobbies 0 353 School Regan Siler 05:53
 ; That sounds fun. Okay, well, can you tell me a little bit about your school life? Where did you first attend school?
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 06:02
 ; Kellyville [Oklahoma].
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 06:03
 ; Kellyville.
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 06:04
 ; From the first grade through eleventh grade, and then we moved and was traveling after I married my husband. He got drafted, and so we were in the service. Moved eight times. Ended up in Germany and did a almost a year in Germany. And when we came back was when we came back to Bristow.
 ; Linda attended Kellyville Schools from the first grade through the eleventh grade. She then got married and was traveling around with her husband. Linda says that Jeff Holcomb was an influential teacher when she was in high school. She also thought the world of her first-grade teacher, Mrs. Williams. Kellyville (Okla.) ; Kellyville Public Schools ; Germany ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Clifford James McGuire ; Jeff Holcomb ; Tom Holcomb School 0 431 Clubs and Organizations Linda Root 07:11
 ; 4H, of course, Home Economics. I think I enjoyed 4H as much as anything, because it was kind of hands on. We did a lot of trips and stuff on that. Bristow didn't have a lot of extracurricular activity going, or not Bristow, Kellyville at that point. But, I was in, oh, let's see, I did speech. I was in a play. I was in a couple of plays. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 07:42
 ; So, it sounded like you probably enjoyed school.
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 07:45
 ; I did.
 ; Linda was involved in 4H while in school. She said it was very hands on, and they took a lot trips. She was also involved in Home Economics. Linda was in a couple plays while in school. Her favorite subject was English. Linda did not enjoy math and joked that she then ended up in real estate. 4-H clubs ; Home economics ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Kellyville (Okla.) ; Real Estate Clubs ; Organizations 0 489 Childhood Homes Regan Siler 08:09
 ; Well, can you tell me a little bit about the house that you grew up in? 
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 08:11
 ; Oh, I don't know what to say. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 08:12
 ; Did you, so in this house on your acreage, is that where you lived from the
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 08:18
 ; We lived in on a farm, a large farm, up until I was, like, in the third grade, and then we moved to the Heyburn Lake area because my dad worked there at the project office, and he bought a house and had put on that property. It's five acres and
 ; Linda says that she lived on a large farm until she was in the third grade. Then her family moved to the Heyburn Lake area. Her father worked there at the project office. He bought a house and had it put on that property. It was five acres of land. Linda lived here until she married. Heyburn Lake (Okla.) ; Clifford James McGuire Home 0 529 Mealtimes Regan Siler 08:49
 ; Too many, too many kids. Um, what were mealtimes like in your family? Did you guys eat together every night?
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 08:58
 ; Every night. My mother was a wonderful cook. My daughter would attest to that. You know, she, she was always baking, and of course, we milked cows. We had fresh milk and all of that. But, you know, when I came home from school, there was always cookies or something like that. She was just really into baking and cooking, and she was a wonderful cook.
 ; Linda says that her family ate together every night. She says her mother was a wonderful cook and was always baking. Linda says her mother made roast beef and Yorkshire pudding every Sunday. Linda still makes some of her mother's recipes. She says that her mother's stuffing recipe is always in great demand for the holidays. Rosemary Simmonds McGuire ; England ; Yorkshire pudding Mealtimes 0 623 Community Activities Regan Siler 10:23
 ; Well, that's neat. Well, I know you'd mentioned Western Heritage Days, so I wanted to ask what, I know that you were in Kellyville, but you were in Bristow a lot. So, what were some of your favorite activities in the Bristow area, for instance, like Western Heritage days and such?
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 10:40
 ; You know, Western Heritage Days was so fun when I was a kid. I mean, you got the cap guns, and they had the shootouts, and it was, it's a good memory that I have of Bristow. Also, we the movies. We had movie theaters here. I think there was at least two that I remember. And Kemp's Drugstore had the best sodas that I have ever drank. We always, that was our treat. That was our treat on Saturdays, when we came to shop, we would get to go to Kemps and get a soda or the Highway Cafe that was here.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 11:13
 ; I hear about that a lot.
 ; Linda says that Western Heritage Days was a big part of her childhood. She also enjoyed going to the movie theaters here in Bristow. She says Kemp's Drugstore had the best sodas that she ever drank. Linda and her family also came to Bristow for the county fair. Western Heritage Days ; Kemp's Drugstore ; Highway Cafe ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Kellyville (Okla.) ; County Fair Community Activities 0 716 Bristow Businesses Regan Siler 11:56
 ; Okay, um, well, do you remember some of the biggest or most popular businesses around Bristow when you were growing up?
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 12:04
 ; Woolworths.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 12:05
 ; Okay.
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 12:05
 ; Was here.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 12:06
 ; And tell me what Woolworths was. 
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 12:08
 ; It was like kind of variety store. It was in the area where I think the gym is at on between seventh and eighth. Let me think Safeway. I remember the manager at Safeway, because when I was little, but my parents were shopping, and I had gone over to where the comic books was at, and was looking through all of those. Well, with as big as our family was, they loaded up and took off and left me there, and I believe it was Norma Chadderdon's dad that was the manager, and he came over, and I realized they were gone, you know, I was starting to look for them. And, so, he picked me up and was walking around the store with me. Of course, they came right back.
 ; Linda remembers Woolworths being a popular store during her childhood. She says it was a variety store. She also remembers Safeway, the five and dime store, Shamas Dry Goods Store and JC Penney. She says the building that JC Penney was in is the building where she later put Root's Hometown Furniture. Woolworth's ; Safeway ; Norma Chadderton ; Kemp's Drugstore ; JC Penney ; Shamas Dry Goods Store ; Highway Cafe ; Bristow (Okla.) Businesses ; Bristow (Okla.) 0 858 First Job Regan Siler 14:18
 ; Right, right. Did you have a favorite hangout as a teenager?
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 14:25
 ; Oh, goodness. I went to work as soon as I could, because that was my goal was to work. I worked at Howard Johnson's on the turnpike while I was still in school. Worked summers there.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 14:40
 ; So, how old were you when you started working? Do you remember?
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 14:43
 ; Oh, goodness. I worked for an aunt that had a concession stand there at the lake. I worked for her when I was really young. We ran the firecracker stand. We were just active. We were always out and doing something.
 ; Linda worked at Howard Johnson's on the turnpike during the summer while she was still in school. She says she worked for an aunt that had a concession stand at the lake when she was really young. Linda and her family also ran the firecracker stand. Howard Johnson's ; Heyburn Lake (Okla.) Job 0 899 Train Depot and Bristow Businesses Regan Siler 14:59
 ; Right, right. Do you have any particular memories of the train depot, by chance?
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 15:09
 ; I remember going to it. It wasn't something that we went to all the time, you know, but we, I'm pretty sure there was, like, a large parking lot down in that area that we always parked at when we came to town. And, of course, we would spend the day in town when we came. I sound really old.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 15:30
 ; No, but it's really interesting to hear how Bristow used to be, and it was a very booming.
 ; Linda remembers occasionally visiting the train depot in Bristow when she was young. Linda says Bristow was booming and that it seemed like all of the families came to town on Saturdays. She remembers Rexall Drug, the shoe shop and Lyon's Cafe all being in Bristow. Train Depot ; Rexall Drug ; Anthony's ; Lyon's Cafe ; Bristow (Okla.) Bristow (Okla.) ; Train Depot 0 973 Clothing Regan Siler 16:13
 ; So, in a family, in a large family like yours, did you, did you get new clothes? Did your mom make your clothes?
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 16:22
 ; Both.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 16:23
 ; Hand me downs? I'm sure. 
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 16:24
 ; Yeah. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 16:25
 ; Okay. So, did you get them around, did you get to come to town and buy them, like before school or?
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 16:31
 ; Yes, like the JC Penney's and Shamas.
 ; Linda had both hand me downs and new clothing as a child. Her mom also made some of her clothing. New clothing was usually purchased at JC Penney's or Shamas Dry Goods Store. Rosemary Simmonds McGuire ; JC Penney ; Shamas Dry Goods Store Clothing 0 993 Family Car and Vacations Regan Siler 16:33
 ; Okay, okay, um, do you remember your family's first car? 
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 16:38
 ; No.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 16:41
 ; It must have not stood out to you. 
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 16:42
 ; I don't, I don't remember that. I mean, I can't even tell you what they drove, to be honest. Okay, have to sit and really think about it.
 ; Linda does not remember what her family's first car was. As far as family vacations went, Linda and her family always stayed pretty close to home. They would visit the lake. Linda's aunt had a really nice place by the lake that they would visit. Her aunt always had fireworks. Heyburn Lake (Okla.) ; Clifford James McGuire Car ; Vacations 0 1033 Learning to Drive Regan Siler 17:13
 ; Right, okay. Do you remember who taught you how to drive? 
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 17:19
 ; My dad.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 17:20
 ; Your dad did. And do you remember your first car?
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 17:24
 ; Yes, Fury III [Plymouth]. I learned to drive on in a pickup, a standard shift, and before I could drive, I had to learn how to change a tire and take care of all of that.
 ; Linda says that her father taught her how to drive. She learned to drive in a standard shift pickup. Linda says that her father made her learn how to change a tire before she could drive. Her first car was a Plymouth Fury III. Clifford James McGuire ; Plymouth Fury III Drive 0 1067 Entertainment Regan Siler 17:47
 ; Okay, what sort of entertainment did you enjoy growing up? Did you have a TV? Did you get to watch TV?
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 17:56
 ; Yes.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 17:56
 ; Okay. Do you remember any programs, specific programs you enjoyed?
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 18:00
 ; My goodness, of course, I watched what my parents said that we watched, and there wasn't that many.
 ; Linda says that her family did have a television when she was growing up. She remembers watching Lawrence Welk with her parents. Television ; Clifford James McGuire ; Rosemary Simmonds McGuire Entertainment 0 1101 Music Regan Siler 18:21
 ; So, did you listen to music much as a youngster? So, what was your favorite kind of music during that time? 
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 18:28
 ; Well, when I was younger, I listened. My siblings are talented. I mean, I had a brother that played the piano. I've got two brothers that played the guitar. I picked around on both. Never kept with them, but there was always music, my dad played. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 18:47
 ; So, you had your own music.
 ; Linda says that her family was big into playing music. She had a brother that played piano and two brothers that played guitar. Linda says music was always played at family get togethers. Music ; Guitar ; Piano Music 0 1134 Pivotal Moments in History Regan Siler 18:54
 ; That's cool. Do you remember witnessing any pivotal moments in history, like on TV?
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 19:04
 ; I remember when Kennedy was shot, President Kennedy, and that happened while I was I think it was in fifth grade, and everybody was just shocked. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 19:15
 ; Do you remember how you felt at that time? 
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 19:18
 ; However, I knew it was something that was very important that had happened, and of course, we all cried, you know, and went home my parents were very upset about it. That was probably one thing that stood out more so than anything when I was young.
 ; Linda remembers President Kennedy getting shot when she was in the fifth grade. She remembers everyone being shocked. Linda says her parents were very upset about it. History ; John F. Kennedy History 0 1181 Medical Care Regan Siler 19:41
 ; So, what was medical care like for you growing up? Did you have a family doctor? Did you try to handle things at home? How did, how did that work? 
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 19:49
 ; We had a family doctor. We didn't go real often. I think I was taken, I hurt my arm, and when I was, like, in the third grade, and Dr. Joseph out of Sapulpa was our doctor at that point. And then Dr. Gebetsburger [ph] later.
 ; Linda says that her family did use a doctor for medical care. She hurt her arm when she in the third grade and Dr. Joseph from Sapulpa was her doctor. They later used Dr. Gebetsburger as a family doctor. Medical care ; Dr. Joseph ; Sapulpa (Okla.) ; Dr. Gebetsburger Medical care 0 1206 Church Regan Siler 20:06
 ; Okay, did you attend church growing up? 
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 20:09
 ; Yes, Sunrise Baptist Church.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 20:11
 ; And was that in Kellyville?
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 20:12
 ; Over it's out in the country by Heyburn Lake.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 20:16
 ; Does it still exist? 
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 20:18
 ; Still there.
 ; Linda and her family attended church when she was growing up. They attended Sunrise Baptist Church which she says is out in the country by Heyburn Lake. Church ; Sunrise Baptist Church ; Heyburn Lake ; Heyburn Lake (Okla.) Church 0 1221 Holidays Regan Siler 20:21
 ; Oh, okay, alright. Well, tell me a little bit about the holidays in your family, for instance, like, tell me what a typical Christmas was like growing up when you were younger.
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 20:33
 ; Oh, my goodness, we always got a package from my grandmother in England, so that was always exciting. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 20:40
 ; Oh, I bet.
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 20:40
 ; It's different. My mom always tried to make a big deal out of it. She grew up during the war, so they were rationed and didn't have the ability to get a lot of presents. So, she always made a big deal out of holidays for us.
 ; Linda says her mother always made a big deal of the holidays for Linda and her siblings. She made a big meal, and they had a tree and stockings. Linda says they also received a package from their grandmother in England. That was always very exciting. Holidays ; Christmas ; England ; Grandmother ; Rosemary Simmonds McGuire Holidays 0 1301 Childhood Dreams Regan Siler 21:41
 ; Um, as a child, do you remember what you wanted to be when you grew up?
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 21:45
 ; Not really. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 21:48
 ; You didn't have any big dreams? 
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 21:51
 ; Well, I had goals of doing something.
 ; Linda says that she had big goals for when she grew up but didn't know what she would do. She says that she never would have dreamed of ending up in real estate and owning a furniture and appliance store. Dreams ; Real estate Dreams ; Goals 0 1327 College Regan Siler 22:07
 ; Okay, did you attend college?
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 22:10
 ; I went to Tulsa Junior College after we got back to the States. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 22:14
 ; Okay, and did you enjoy that experience? 
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 22:16
 ; Yes.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 22:16
 ; Okay, um, and I guess, did you receive an associate degree there?
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 22:21
 ; I didn't not. I just specialized in some some classes.
 ; Linda attended Tulsa Junior College. She specialized in some classes and even took some for real estate. Tulsa Junior College ; Real estate College 0 1353 Husband, Richard Allan Root Regan Siler 22:33
 ; Well, I remember you telling me you were flipping houses before flipping houses was cool. Okay, well, let's talk about your spouse. Can you tell me what his full name is?
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 22:46
 ; Richard Allan Root.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 22:47
 ; And his date of birth I have is 5/17/1948.
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 22:50
 ; Yes. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 22:51
 ; And then he passed away in 2019?
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 22:55
 ; Yes.
 ; Linda was married to Richard Allan Root. He was born on May 17, 1948, and passed away in 2019. They met while working together at Howard Johnson's. They dated for four months before they were married. Husband ; Richard Allan Root ; Howard Johnson's ; Oklahoma State University Husband 0 1428 Wedding Regan Siler 23:48
 ; Okay, okay. And I have down that you were, you got married on April, April 11, 1970 at the Blue Bell Church in Kellyville?
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 23:58
 ; Mmm-hmm.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 23:59
 ; Okay. What was your wedding like?
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 24:04
 ; It was nice. My mom did my wedding dress, and she was a seamstress, and my best friend was my maid of honor, and his best friend from college was his, his best man. But it was, it was everything's big in my family, because there's so many.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 24:23
 ; Right, right.
 ; Linda and Richard were married on April 11, 1970. They held the ceremony at the Blue Bell Church in Kellyville. Linda's mother made the dress. Her best friend was the maid of honor and Richard's best friend from college was his best man. Linda's cousin Preach McGuire performed the ceremony. Wedding ; Richard Allan Root ; Blue Bell Church ; Kellyville (Okla.) ; Rosemary Simmonds McGuire ; Preach McGuire Wedding 0 1472 Early Marriage Regan Siler 24:32
 ; So, I wanted to ask what your first years of marriage was like. But, obviously, yeah, you ended up going overseas, right?
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 24:41
 ; I never dreamed that I would be moving that much at that time.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 24:45
 ; So, were you nervous, because, I mean, you were young, or did you just, you just went?
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 24:49
 ; My husband went to work for City Service after he got out of college. We moved to Tulsa. He was transferred to Bartlesville, and we lived in Dewey, Oklahoma. We were only there a month when he got drafted. When he went to Oklahoma City, back then, they just put him on a bus and sent him to Fort Leonard Wood. So, I had to take care of packing, notifying his company, doing all of that. I had to grow up really fast at that point.
 ; Richard went to work for City Service after college. Linda and Richard moved to Tulsa before he was transferred to Bartlesville. They lived in Dewey, Oklahoma. They were only there for a month before Richard was drafted and sent to Fort Leonard Wood. After he got out of Fort Leonard Wood, Linda moved to New Jersey off base while he was stationed at Fort Dix. He was then transferred to Fort Hamilton, New York. Linda lived with an aunt in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. They then ended up in San Antonio, Texas before going to Germany. Richard Allan Root ; City Service ; Tulsa (Okla.) ; Bartlesville (Okla.) ; Dewey (Okla.) ; Oklahoma City (Okla.) ; Fort Leonard Wood ; Fort Dix, New Jersey ; Fort Hamilton (New York) ; Harrisburg (Pennsylvania) ; San Antonio (Texas) ; Frankfurt (Germany) Marriage 0 1589 Children Regan Siler 26:29
 ; Well, I know you told me that one of your children were was born and 
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 26:33
 ; Ricky was born in Frankfurt.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 26:35
 ; Well, tell me, tell me your children's names and their dates of birth.
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 26:39
 ; Michelle Ann Root Morquecho. And she was born October 3, 1970 and then Richard Allan Root, Jr., and he was born September 13, 1971 and he was two months premature.
 ; Linda has two children. Her daughter, Michelle Ann Root Morquecho was born on October 3, 1970. Her son, Richard Allan Root Jr. was born on September 13, 1971. He was born two months premature while they were living in Germany. Children ; Michelle Ann Root Morquecho ; Richard Allan Root Jr. ; Frankfurt (Germany) ; army ; Aschaffenburg (Germany) Children 0 1646 Grandchildren Regan Siler 27:26
 ; Well, that's good. And then you told me you have nine grandchildren and sixteen great-grandchildren. So, you're you're a busy, you're a busy great grandma, aren't you?
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 27:39
 ; And I never dreamed that I would even be around for great grandchildren, but I'm glad that I'm able to enjoy them and they are, they are a handful at times, but they're wonderful.
 ; 
 ; Linda has nine grandchildren. She also has sixteen great-grandchildren. Grandchildren ; Great-Grandchildren Grandchildren 0 1670 Tabouleh Festival Linda Root 27:50
 ; Well, so, your family, you and your family, have been instrumental in the, you know, Bristow area the whole time you've been here. So, let's talk a little bit about that. I know you said, obviously, you had the your Root Real Estate business for 20 years, and then we all know Root's Furniture was here for 20 years, and then you still have another location in Cushing at this time. But, I also would like for you to tell us about the Tabouleh Festival, because I think that's a really important part of Bristow's heritage. So, tell us, tell us how that got started.
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 28:32
 ; The Tabouleh Festival, it was generated, I think, they were doing away with the the Western Heritage Days and my husband, when he went to work in Bristow, he'd retired from Occidental. He was a human resources manager. He retired from there, and he hated retirement. I was still working real estate, and so he wanted to buy something. He bought Brace's Furniture Store. And right about that time was when all of that happened. And so, he said, we've got to think of something that will draw people to Bristow, because you have to have something that you identify with. And, so, he he brainstormed and talked about different stuff. Well, we love tabouleh and we loved Freddy's and that, and that just kind of came up and started growing. And we met with Tex and Sherian [Slyman].
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 29:23
 ; Well, the Lebanese heritage is a big, it runs deep in Bristow.
 ; Linda and her husband were instrumental in starting the Tabouleh Festival in Bristow. They wanted something that would draw people to Bristow. The first festival was in 2005 and has been happening every year since. Tabouleh Festival ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Richard Allan Root ; Root's Hometown Furniture ; Cushing (Okla.) ; Western Heritage Days ; Occidental ; human resources manager ; Brace's Furniture Store ; Freddy's ; Tex and Sherian Slyman ; Lebanese heritage ; Clifford Smith ; Edgar Spencer Tabouleh Festival 0 1866 Root Real Estate Regan Siler 31:06
 ; Right, right. Okay, well, then you also said you were involved with the Chamber. I know you said you've, like, coached T-ball and soccer and, like, you've done all kinds of things. But, I also want to talk about Root Real Estate was first.
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 31:24
 ; Yes.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 31:24
 ; Before the furniture store, correct? 
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 31:26
 ; Yes. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 31:27
 ; Okay.
 ; Linda worked for Donna Smith Real Estate. It then sold to Naomi Talent and Linda worked for her. She then got her broker's license and decided to open her own real estate business. She had Root Real Estate for 20 years before selling in 2004. Chamber of Commerce ; Dr. Richardson ; Venue 66 ; Donna Smith Real Estate ; Naomi Talent ; Root Real Estate Root Real Estate 0 1965 Root's Furniture Linda Root 32:45
 ; It was, let me see, I wrote that down. I opened that in July of '99.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 32:53
 ; Okay.
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 32:53
 ; My husband did. He was, he was the one that was behind that. We were trying to run two at once, and that was pretty difficult.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 33:01
 ; Yeah, oh I bet. And, then, so you closed that in 2017?
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 33:06
 ; Yes.
 ; Linda and her husband opened Root's Furniture in July of 1999. They closed the Bristow location in 2017 and kept the Cushing one open. Linda's son now owns the Cushing location. Root's Furniture ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Cushing (Okla.) ; Richard Allan Root ; Richard Allan Root Jr. Root's Furniture 0 2007 Promoting Bristow Linda Root 33:27
 ; Right, right. Was there any other Bristow related things that you would like to talk about that maybe we haven't touched on? I know you said you were involved with the Chamber for several years?
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 33:41
 ; The chamber. I mean, my philosophy is God, family and country. I mean, I love promoting Bristow. I think Bristow is a good town to grow up in. Our school system is great. Now I have great-grandchildren that are going to school here, and it's always been easy to promote Bristow to me. I think we're located in a great location between Oklahoma City and Tulsa. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 34:10
 ; Yes, I agree. I agree.
 ; Linda was involved with the Chamber of Commerce for several years. She loved promoting Bristow. She believes Bristow is a good town and has a great school system. Linda also feels the location of Bristow is great being between Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Linda's philosophy is God, family and country. Bristow (Okla.) ; Oklahoma City (Okla.) ; Chamber of Commerce ; God Bristow (Okla.) 0 2062 Important Invention Regan Siler 34:22
 ; Okay, well, let's change it up a little bit. What would you consider to be the most important invention during your lifetime?
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 34:32
 ; Goodness, probably computers and the internet.
 ; Linda feels like the most important invention during her lifetime would be computers and the internet. Invention ; Computer ; Internet Invention 0 2077 How the World is Different Regan Siler 34:37
 ; Okay, okay, and how do you feel the world is different now than when you were a child?
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 34:43
 ; Oh, drastically. It's drastically different. I mean, I of course, TVs, we had a TV from the time I can remember, so that's not a big deal. But going from party line phones to cell phones, that's another thing.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 35:00
 ; Right, right.
 ; Linda feels like the world is so different now than when she was a child. She talks about going from party line phones to cell phones. She also remembers her car phone that was in a bag. World ; Phone ; Real estate World 0 2124 Nation's Biggest Problem Regan Siler 35:24
 ; Which is probably important with the business that you're in. As you see it, what do you feel are our nation's biggest problems, and how do you think they could be solved?
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 35:36
 ; Oh, you're asking me a question I don't know the answer to, what solving it is.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 35:41
 ; Or maybe, what do you wish, we'll change it up. What do you wish, is there anything you wish was different? Or maybe that you, I don't know, miss from your childhood, that you wish was
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 35:54
 ; I'll tell you something that I I wish was different. I wish that the inflation and the cost of goods and houses being linked to real estate. You know, it was so affordable when I first got in and
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 36:09
 ; Yeah, you've seen a wild swing.
 ; Linda talks about how she wishes the cost of living was more affordable nowadays. She says inflation and the cost of real estate are a big problem. Nation ; Real estate Inflation (Finance) 0 2183 Historic Events Regan Siler 36:23
 ; I agree. I feel like the American Dream, say for my kids, it's not the same as it was whenever we were that age, for sure. How have, how have historic events such as, say, like the Oklahoma City Bombing, 9/11 maybe natural disasters, even COVID, have any of those affected you? And if so, how? 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 36:52
 ; Oh, yeah. Of course, 9/11 was such a tragedy, and I was watching TV that morning when it happened, and couldn't believe it. Couldn't believe it happened. The Oklahoma City Bombing, again, a tragedy. I hate to see that kind of evil be in our world, but I know that's a reality, and we've been fortunate living in the United States, not to have to deal with a lot of that, and traveling overseas, I saw a difference. I mean, I realized that we are so fortunate to live here.
 ; Linda remembers watching TV on the morning of 9/11. She also recalls the tragedy of the Oklahoma City Bombing. September 11 Terrorist Attacks, 2001 ; Oklahoma City Bombing Historic Events 0 2243 Wisdom Regan Siler 37:23
 ; Is there anything else that you would like to tell us, or would you like to leave any wisdom to share with future generations? Come on, Linda, I know you do.
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 37:29
 ; Oh, wisdom! My goodness.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 37:38
 ; You have a lot of, you have a lot of grandkids and great grandkids that you need to leave your wisdom for them. 
 ; 
 ; Linda Root 37:46
 ; I guess my wisdom for them would be to always be honest. Have God in your life. Treat people the way you want to be treated. What else?
 ; Linda finishes the interview with some words of wisdom. She says to always be honest, have God in your life and treat people the way you want to be treated. Wisdom ; God Wisdom 0 MP4 Linda Root was born June 3, 1953 in Sapulpa, Oklahoma. Linda's parents, Rosemary McGuire and Clifford James McGuire, had six children, including Linda. Linda grew up in Kellyville, moving to Bristow in 1972. She recounted her childhood, including her mother's English heritage, her love for horseback riding, and her involvement in school activities. Linda married Richard Allan Root in 1970 and moved frequently due to his military service. She owned Root Real Estate and Root’s Furniture for around 20 years. Linda also helped establish the Tabouleh Festival in Bristow to promote the town's Lebanese heritage. NOTE TRANSCRIPTION BEGIN 00:00:00.480 --> 00:00:24.120 This is Regan Siler with the Bristow Historical Society in Bristow, Oklahoma. This interview is part of the Historical Society's ongoing oral history project. The date is July 1, 2025 and I'm sitting here with Linda Root at the Bristow Library Annex. She's going to tell us a little bit about her life and her history living in the Bristow area. Can you please state your full name? 00:00:24.120 --> 00:00:26.504 Linda Rose Root. 00:00:26.504 --> 00:00:29.024 Okay. And do I have permission to do this interview? 00:00:29.024 --> 00:00:29.684 Yes, you do. 00:00:29.684 --> 00:00:33.524 Okay. Please tell me when and where you were born. 00:00:33.524 --> 00:00:38.804 I was born in Sapulpa, Oklahoma, June 3, 1953. 00:00:38.804 --> 00:00:48.225 Okay, um, let's talk about the people in your family. Let's start with your parents. What are your parents full names? 00:00:48.225 --> 00:00:53.539 Rosemary McGuire and Clifford James McGuire. 00:00:53.539 --> 00:00:58.759 Okay, and I have, I have your mother as Rosemary Simmonds McGuire? 00:00:58.759 --> 00:00:58.939 Yes. 00:00:58.939 --> 00:01:08.120 Okay. And her birthday is 1/29/1926 and then I have your dad as 9/24/1912. 00:01:08.120 --> 00:01:10.099 Yes. 00:01:10.099 --> 00:01:14.840 Okay, alright. What type of work did your parents do? 00:01:14.840 --> 00:01:27.125 My mother, there were six kids, so she was a homemaker, although she did work later as a caretaker for the elderly, and my dad worked for the Corps of Engineers after getting out of the army. 00:01:27.125 --> 00:01:28.745 Okay, so he was in the army? 00:01:28.745 --> 00:01:29.284 Yes. 00:01:29.284 --> 00:01:36.620 Okay. Do you have any, well, obviously, yeah, you have siblings. You have six siblings. How many 00:01:36.620 --> 00:01:43.299 There's there's actually eight of us. I have a half brother and half sister, and then six and my immediate family. 00:01:43.299 --> 00:01:51.159 Oh, wow. Okay, um, so did you, growing up here, did you or did you where? First of all, where did you grow up? 00:01:51.159 --> 00:01:52.659 I grew up in the Kellyville area. 00:01:52.659 --> 00:01:57.459 The Kellyville area, and then you told me you, your family moved here in 1972? 00:01:57.459 --> 00:02:01.900 Yes, that's when my husband got out of the service. We came back to Bristow. 00:02:01.900 --> 00:02:02.319 Okay. 00:02:02.319 --> 00:02:04.180 And have been here ever since. 00:02:04.180 --> 00:02:10.000 Okay, had your, where you grew up in Kellyville, had your family been in that area for a long time? 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:26.080 I guess so, I mean the McGuires I was, my maiden name was McGuire, and there's McGuire family there in Depew area but I went to school there. We were in Bristow, though. I mean, Kellyville didn't have hardly anything. Still doesn't. 00:02:26.080 --> 00:02:26.900 Right, right. 00:02:26.900 --> 00:02:34.159 But we always shopped in Bristow, and so I kind of grew up in this area. Did the Western Heritage Days and all that when I was a kid. 00:02:34.159 --> 00:02:49.620 Right, right. Okay, well, let's talk about your early childhood and your home life. I'm just going to ask you a few fun questions about that. Do you remember any of your favorite toys or games that you played when you were young? 00:02:49.620 --> 00:03:09.139 Oh, my goodness. I think one of my favorite things was listening to my mom talk about her life growing up in England. But also, we were, we played games constantly. I mean, kick the can, softball, baseball. We were country kids, so we were outside all the time. 00:03:09.139 --> 00:03:18.439 Right, that's, that's the general consensus from people from that time period, is that you were outside all the time. So you, you mentioned your mom was from England? 00:03:18.439 --> 00:03:18.860 Yes. 00:03:18.860 --> 00:03:22.180 Well, that's interesting. So, she probably had a lot of neat stories. 00:03:22.180 --> 00:03:28.479 Yeah, I didn't know she had an English accent until I started school and the kids told me. 00:03:28.479 --> 00:03:29.199 Really? 00:03:29.199 --> 00:03:30.039 You just, 00:03:30.039 --> 00:03:30.639 That's what. 00:03:30.639 --> 00:03:31.840 You don't pay attention. 00:03:31.840 --> 00:03:33.580 That's just how mom sounded. 00:03:33.580 --> 00:03:36.759 Yeah, I was very defensive. 00:03:36.759 --> 00:03:39.479 So, when did she, when did she come over? 00:03:39.479 --> 00:04:12.044 She came over in 1947 on the Queen Mary after the war. She and my dad met when he was stationed in England, and she worked as for the RAF, the English Air Force, making parachutes and stuff when she was very young. And they ended up meeting there, marrying. My sister was born in England, and then she rode the Queen Mary back to the states and went through Staten Island, came to Bristow on a train. 00:04:12.044 --> 00:04:16.725 Wow. So what brought, what brought her to Bristow? 00:04:16.725 --> 00:04:37.290 Well, there was, there was just stops that they made, and she was supposed to stop in Bristow. She didn't know that Bristow was as close to Kellyville as it was. So, the Red Cross did a special stop in Kellyville when she came over, but it was in the paper. My daughter's done research on it, and she found it in Oklahoma City. 00:04:37.290 --> 00:04:42.329 Well, how cool. So, I would imagine listening to your mom's stories were probably pretty, 00:04:42.329 --> 00:04:43.589 Very interesting. 00:04:43.589 --> 00:04:44.550 Really neat growing up. 00:04:44.550 --> 00:04:48.569 And I did get the opportunity to go over and visit all the areas. 00:04:48.569 --> 00:04:58.154 Wow, that's cool. Um, well, kind of back to your childhood. Did you have any chores you were expected to do as a youngster? 00:04:58.154 --> 00:05:10.680 Oh, yes, we all had a chore. I did switch off with my brothers because I would rather be outside than doing the dishes. I was always an outside person, but I got drug back in. 00:05:10.680 --> 00:05:17.100 So, since you had a big family, did you have friends that would come over and play, or did you just typically play with your siblings? 00:05:17.100 --> 00:05:18.180 Well, both. 00:05:18.180 --> 00:05:18.899 Both. 00:05:18.899 --> 00:05:26.160 I had neighbors, good friends that were neighbors, too. We lived in the country, so we weren't right up against each other, but we did play a lot. 00:05:26.160 --> 00:05:29.339 So, did you have any particular hobbies as a youngster? 00:05:29.339 --> 00:05:33.139 Horseback riding. I loved horseback riding. 00:05:33.139 --> 00:05:35.319 So, did you live on a farm? 00:05:35.319 --> 00:05:53.199 It wasn't a big farm. It was just acreage. And I had a horse. My neighbors that I ran around with had horses, so we did a lot of that. Grew up over by Heyburn Lake. So, we were always either swimming, riding horses, something like that. 00:05:53.199 --> 00:06:02.725 That sounds fun. Okay, well, can you tell me a little bit about your school life? Where did you first attend school? 00:06:02.725 --> 00:06:03.745 Kellyville [Oklahoma]. 00:06:03.745 --> 00:06:04.600 Kellyville. 00:06:04.600 --> 00:06:26.600 From the first grade through eleventh grade, and then we moved and was traveling after I married my husband. He got drafted, and so we were in the service. Moved eight times. Ended up in Germany and did a almost a year in Germany. And when we came back was when we came back to Bristow. 00:06:26.600 --> 00:06:32.899 Okay, okay. Did you have any influential teachers that you can remember, growing up? 00:06:32.899 --> 00:06:46.560 Yes, Jeff Holcomb [ph] was a high school teacher. He was just a very good person. I thought the world of him and my first grade teacher, Mrs. Williams. 00:06:46.560 --> 00:06:49.600 So, what did Mr. Holcomb teach? 00:06:49.600 --> 00:07:03.759 He taught history and different things that he had several classes. He was just a really impressive person. I think his son went on to teach over there, Tom Holcomb, too. 00:07:03.759 --> 00:07:11.319 Okay, okay. Were you a member of any clubs or organizations in school? 00:07:11.319 --> 00:07:42.009 4H, of course, Home Economics. I think I enjoyed 4H as much as anything, because it was kind of hands on. We did a lot of trips and stuff on that. Bristow didn't have a lot of extracurricular activity going, or not Bristow, Kellyville at that point. But, I was in, oh, let's see, I did speech. I was in a play. I was in a couple of plays. 00:07:42.009 --> 00:07:45.310 So, it sounded like you probably enjoyed school. 00:07:45.310 --> 00:07:45.610 I did. 00:07:45.610 --> 00:07:49.459 Did you have a favorite subject? 00:07:49.459 --> 00:08:08.071 Oh, goodness, let's think. I think probably English was one of my favorite. Math was probably my least. And then I ended up in real estate. 00:08:08.071 --> 00:08:08.932 Where you had to do math all the time. 00:08:08.932 --> 00:08:09.697 I had to do it all the time. 00:08:09.697 --> 00:08:11.324 Well, can you tell me a little bit about the house that you grew up in? 00:08:11.324 --> 00:08:12.088 Oh, I don't know what to say. 00:08:12.088 --> 00:08:18.545 Did you, so in this house on your acreage, is that where you lived from the 00:08:18.545 --> 00:08:37.250 We lived in on a farm, a large farm, up until I was, like, in the third grade, and then we moved to the Heyburn Lake area because my dad worked there at the project office, and he bought a house and had put on that property. It's five acres and 00:08:37.250 --> 00:08:40.100 And is that where you were the rest of your youth? 00:08:40.100 --> 00:08:40.429 Okay, did well, you I'm sure you probably didn't have your own room if you had to share 00:08:40.429 --> 00:08:41.539 Yes, up until I left. 00:08:41.539 --> 00:08:49.039 No, we had to share. There were too many kids. 00:08:49.039 --> 00:08:58.700 Too many, too many kids. Um, what were mealtimes like in your family? Did you guys eat together every night? 00:08:58.700 --> 00:09:23.105 Every night. My mother was a wonderful cook. My daughter would attest to that. You know, she, she was always baking, and of course, we milked cows. We had fresh milk and all of that. But, you know, when I came home from school, there was always cookies or something like that. She was just really into baking and cooking, and she was a wonderful cook. 00:09:23.105 --> 00:09:29.799 Did she have a, did she make a favorite meal that, like, was your favorite? 00:09:29.799 --> 00:09:44.019 Remember, she's from England, or she was from England. Every Sunday we had roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, and that's kind of a trend there with that. I just assumed everybody knew what that was. They don't. 00:09:44.019 --> 00:09:44.860 Yeah, I don't either. 00:09:44.860 --> 00:09:46.059 Now more familiar. 00:09:46.059 --> 00:09:47.860 Right, right. 00:09:47.860 --> 00:09:54.000 I ate a lot of stuff, I guess, growing up that she was influenced by, too. 00:09:54.000 --> 00:09:59.460 Right, so, did you have to help cook and clean up? 00:09:59.460 --> 00:09:59.879 Yes. 00:09:59.879 --> 00:10:06.419 Stuff like that. Did you inherit her, her cooking skills? 00:10:06.419 --> 00:10:11.399 Well, I like to cook. I don't know if I'm as good as her. I do have recipes of hers that I still use. 00:10:11.399 --> 00:10:13.200 Well, that seems special to have. 00:10:13.200 --> 00:10:23.504 Yeah, our stuffing during the holidays, that's in great demand in my family and and that's her recipe. I have several of her recipes that I do. 00:10:23.504 --> 00:10:40.019 Well, that's neat. Well, I know you'd mentioned Western Heritage Days, so I wanted to ask what, I know that you were in Kellyville, but you were in Bristow a lot. So, what were some of your favorite activities in the Bristow area, for instance, like Western Heritage days and such? 00:10:40.019 --> 00:11:13.784 You know, Western Heritage Days was so fun when I was a kid. I mean, you got the cap guns, and they had the shootouts, and it was, it's a good memory that I have of Bristow. Also, we the movies. We had movie theaters here. I think there was at least two that I remember. And Kemp's Drugstore had the best sodas that I have ever drank. We always, that was our treat. That was our treat on Saturdays, when we came to shop, we would get to go to Kemps and get a soda or the Highway Cafe that was here. 00:11:13.784 --> 00:11:14.865 I hear about that a lot. 00:11:14.865 --> 00:11:27.690 That was wonderful. My dad always took me there, and it had to had the jukebox, you know, that you could get the tunes and everything. There was a lot of fond memories. We had a lot of fun. 00:11:27.690 --> 00:11:38.970 So, were there other things other than Western Heritage days? Were there ever, like parades or county fairs or anything like that that you're maybe, did they have day camp at that time? 00:11:38.970 --> 00:11:44.009 Well, they used to have the fair here, and we always came to Bristow for the fair, the county fair. 00:11:44.009 --> 00:11:44.789 Okay. 00:11:44.789 --> 00:11:51.990 And that was always a good thing. There was no day camp. My mother probably would have loved that. 00:11:51.990 --> 00:11:53.720 Keep the kids busy during the summer. 00:11:53.720 --> 00:11:56.600 Camp for us was going to the lake and learning how to swim. 00:11:56.600 --> 00:12:04.159 Okay, um, well, do you remember some of the biggest or most popular businesses around Bristow when you were growing up? 00:12:04.159 --> 00:12:05.539 Woolworths. 00:12:05.539 --> 00:12:05.779 Okay. 00:12:05.779 --> 00:12:06.559 Was here. 00:12:06.559 --> 00:12:08.899 And tell me what Woolworths was. 00:12:08.899 --> 00:12:57.230 It was like kind of variety store. It was in the area where I think the gym is at on between seventh and eighth. Let me think Safeway. I remember the manager at Safeway, because when I was little, but my parents were shopping, and I had gone over to where the comic books was at, and was looking through all of those. Well, with as big as our family was, they loaded up and took off and left me there, and I believe it was Norma Chadderdon's dad that was the manager, and he came over, and I realized they were gone, you know, I was starting to look for them. And, so, he picked me up and was walking around the store with me. Of course, they came right back. 00:12:57.230 --> 00:12:57.518 Oh, my goodness! 00:12:57.518 --> 00:12:58.379 But that was a memory I had. There was a five and dime, and I don't remember the name of it. I know Woolworths was a big one. There was another one right next to it. Like I said, Kemps, the movie theaters, JC, Penney, that was one of my attractions to buying the building where we had Root's Hometown, because I grew up going to JC Penney's. 00:12:58.379 --> 00:13:22.725 Is that where it was? Was it in that building? 00:13:22.725 --> 00:13:23.264 Yes. 00:13:23.264 --> 00:13:24.465 Oh, how neat. 00:13:24.465 --> 00:13:28.725 On the south side where the stairways at, and you can go up to the upstairs. 00:13:28.725 --> 00:13:28.904 Yes. 00:13:28.904 --> 00:13:32.625 We used to have recliners there. That's where the dresses were at. 00:13:32.625 --> 00:13:34.659 Oh, how neat! 00:13:34.659 --> 00:13:36.519 Shamas 00:13:36.519 --> 00:13:38.379 The Dry Goods Store. 00:13:38.379 --> 00:13:42.039 I remember going in there a lot, and 00:13:42.039 --> 00:13:46.480 You've seen a lot of changes in Bristow from the time you young till now. 00:13:46.480 --> 00:14:01.465 Yeah, I have, I you know Bristow, I love living in Bristow. We had the opportunity to live a lot of other places, and this is home to me, and I'm only nine miles from where I grew up, too. 00:14:01.465 --> 00:14:06.684 Right, right. Did you have a favorite place to eat out? 00:14:06.684 --> 00:14:18.504 I think Kemps was where we went. Like I said, the Kemps and the Highway Cafe. As a family back then, you didn't just go out and eat all the time. My mother cooked most of our meals. 00:14:18.504 --> 00:14:25.279 Right, right. Did you have a favorite hangout as a teenager? 00:14:25.279 --> 00:14:40.480 Oh, goodness. I went to work as soon as I could, because that was my goal was to work. I worked at Howard Johnson's on the turnpike while I was still in school. Worked summers there. 00:14:40.480 --> 00:14:43.899 So, how old were you when you started working? Do you remember? 00:14:43.899 --> 00:14:59.919 Oh, goodness. I worked for an aunt that had a concession stand there at the lake. I worked for her when I was really young. We ran the firecracker stand. We were just active. We were always out and doing something. 00:14:59.919 --> 00:15:09.159 Right, right. Do you have any particular memories of the train depot, by chance? 00:15:09.159 --> 00:15:30.220 I remember going to it. It wasn't something that we went to all the time, you know, but we, I'm pretty sure there was, like, a large parking lot down in that area that we always parked at when we came to town. And, of course, we would spend the day in town when we came. I sound really old. 00:15:30.220 --> 00:15:38.065 No, but it's really interesting to hear how Bristow used to be, and it was a very booming. 00:15:38.065 --> 00:15:53.664 Very booming, very busy town. Rexall Drug was here. I'm trying to think of all the different things. Anthony's this, this shoe shop. What was the name of it back then, that Cecil's [ph] had? I can't think of it either. 00:15:53.664 --> 00:15:55.360 I know what you're talking about. 00:15:55.360 --> 00:16:01.419 Relapse here, yeah. But every storefront was, Lyon's Cafe. I forgot about that. 00:16:01.419 --> 00:16:01.659 Yes. 00:16:01.659 --> 00:16:02.259 They were here. 00:16:02.259 --> 00:16:05.139 That's another one that gets mentioned frequently. 00:16:05.139 --> 00:16:13.659 Oh yeah, it was exciting to come. And it was always so busy on Saturdays. It seemed like people all came to town to shop. 00:16:13.659 --> 00:16:22.705 So, in a family, in a large family like yours, did you, did you get new clothes? Did your mom make your clothes? 00:16:22.705 --> 00:16:23.184 Both. 00:16:23.184 --> 00:16:24.625 Hand me downs? I'm sure. 00:16:24.625 --> 00:16:25.620 Yeah. 00:16:25.620 --> 00:16:31.019 Okay. So, did you get them around, did you get to come to town and buy them, like before school or? 00:16:31.019 --> 00:16:33.299 Yes, like the JC Penney's and Shamas. 00:16:33.299 --> 00:16:38.460 Okay, okay, um, do you remember your family's first car? 00:16:38.460 --> 00:16:41.580 No. 00:16:41.580 --> 00:16:42.000 It must have not stood out to you. 00:16:42.000 --> 00:16:49.379 I don't, I don't remember that. I mean, I can't even tell you what they drove, to be honest. Okay, have to sit and really think about it. 00:16:49.379 --> 00:16:55.600 Did you get to go on any family vacations with having such a big family? I would imagine that was probably tough. 00:16:55.600 --> 00:17:13.119 Not really, not really. I mean, we, we lived in an area where people went on vacation around the lake, and my dad, you know, we always picnic'd and went down there. My aunt lived there, and she had a really nice place that we visited, and there was always fireworks and everything. 00:17:13.119 --> 00:17:19.644 Right, okay. Do you remember who taught you how to drive? 00:17:19.644 --> 00:17:20.305 My dad. 00:17:20.305 --> 00:17:24.920 Your dad did. And do you remember your first car? 00:17:24.920 --> 00:17:39.079 Yes, Fury III [Plymouth]. I learned to drive on in a pickup, a standard shift, and before I could drive, I had to learn how to change a tire and take care of all of that. 00:17:39.079 --> 00:17:42.559 See, I think that's kind of a lost art these days. 00:17:42.559 --> 00:17:47.839 He would put me on his lap and let me steer you know. 00:17:47.839 --> 00:17:56.404 Okay, what sort of entertainment did you enjoy growing up? Did you have a TV? Did you get to watch TV? 00:17:56.404 --> 00:17:56.585 Yes. 00:17:56.585 --> 00:18:00.065 Okay. Do you remember any programs, specific programs you enjoyed? 00:18:00.065 --> 00:18:06.845 My goodness, of course, I watched what my parents said that we watched, and there wasn't that many. 00:18:06.845 --> 00:18:07.744 Right, right. 00:18:07.744 --> 00:18:13.119 Which is why we played outside most the time. Let me think of some of the shows that we watched. 00:18:13.119 --> 00:18:17.319 And that's okay if you can't remember, yeah. 00:18:17.319 --> 00:18:21.960 Lawrence Welk. My parents watched that, you know, the music and stuff like that. 00:18:21.960 --> 00:18:28.000 So, did you listen to music much as a youngster? So, what was your favorite kind of music during that time? 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:47.740 Well, when I was younger, I listened. My siblings are talented. I mean, I had a brother that played the piano. I've got two brothers that played the guitar. I picked around on both. Never kept with them, but there was always music, my dad played. 00:18:47.740 --> 00:18:49.059 So, you had your own music. 00:18:49.059 --> 00:18:54.384 Yes, our family, when there was a family get together, there was always music being played. 00:18:54.384 --> 00:19:04.404 That's cool. Do you remember witnessing any pivotal moments in history, like on TV? 00:19:04.404 --> 00:19:15.684 I remember when Kennedy was shot, President Kennedy, and that happened while I was I think it was in fifth grade, and everybody was just shocked. 00:19:15.684 --> 00:19:18.119 Do you remember how you felt at that time? 00:19:18.119 --> 00:19:34.000 However, I knew it was something that was very important that had happened, and of course, we all cried, you know, and went home my parents were very upset about it. That was probably one thing that stood out more so than anything when I was young. 00:19:34.000 --> 00:19:38.920 Was it your parents, that your family was upset about it, or just the shooting itself? 00:19:38.920 --> 00:19:41.559 The news, the shooting, the whole thing. 00:19:41.559 --> 00:19:49.180 So, what was medical care like for you growing up? Did you have a family doctor? Did you try to handle things at home? How did, how did that work? 00:19:49.180 --> 00:20:06.984 We had a family doctor. We didn't go real often. I think I was taken, I hurt my arm, and when I was, like, in the third grade, and Dr. Joseph out of Sapulpa was our doctor at that point. And then Dr. Gebetsburger [ph] later. 00:20:06.984 --> 00:20:09.299 Okay, did you attend church growing up? 00:20:09.299 --> 00:20:11.220 Yes, Sunrise Baptist Church. 00:20:11.220 --> 00:20:12.900 And was that in Kellyville? 00:20:12.900 --> 00:20:16.960 Over it's out in the country by Heyburn Lake. 00:20:16.960 --> 00:20:18.279 Does it still exist? 00:20:18.279 --> 00:20:19.599 Still there. 00:20:19.599 --> 00:20:21.640 That's our voting precinct. 00:20:21.640 --> 00:20:33.940 Oh, okay, alright. Well, tell me a little bit about the holidays in your family, for instance, like, tell me what a typical Christmas was like growing up when you were younger. 00:20:33.940 --> 00:20:40.404 Oh, my goodness, we always got a package from my grandmother in England, so that was always exciting. 00:20:40.404 --> 00:20:40.900 Oh, I bet. 00:20:40.900 --> 00:20:46.940 It's different. My mom always tried to make a big deal out of it. She grew up during the war, so they were rationed and didn't have the ability to get a lot of presents. So, she always made a big deal out of holidays for us. 00:20:46.940 --> 00:21:03.000 So, did you have, like, the normal kind of decorations? Did you guys cut down a tree? Like, what was that like? 00:21:03.000 --> 00:21:03.420 Yeah, well, and I don't think it's always necessarily about maybe what you get, but it's how you spend the time the tradition, just like your grandma sending you a gift or whatever, how that's a core memory, you know. 00:21:03.420 --> 00:21:36.164 I think we cut down a tree a lot later. Of course, she had a tree that she put up that, yeah, we decorated. We we had the stockings. They weren't big and fantastic Christmases, but I have really warm memories of all of it. 00:21:36.164 --> 00:21:41.085 She always fixed big meals, you know, we we celebrated, we had a good time. 00:21:41.085 --> 00:21:45.525 Um, as a child, do you remember what you wanted to be when you grew up? 00:21:45.525 --> 00:21:48.105 Not really. 00:21:48.105 --> 00:21:51.450 You didn't have any big dreams? 00:21:51.450 --> 00:21:53.970 Well, I had goals of doing something. 00:21:53.970 --> 00:21:55.650 You just weren't sure what. 00:21:55.650 --> 00:22:03.140 You know, I just, I didn't know. I could not have told you that I would end up in real estate and owning the furniture and appliance store. 00:22:03.140 --> 00:22:06.740 Yeah, that that, I'm sure, that probably wasn't on your radar, was it? 00:22:06.740 --> 00:22:07.640 That came later. 00:22:07.640 --> 00:22:10.880 Okay, did you attend college? 00:22:10.880 --> 00:22:14.119 I went to Tulsa Junior College after we got back to the States. 00:22:14.119 --> 00:22:16.400 Okay, and did you enjoy that experience? 00:22:16.400 --> 00:22:16.819 Yes. 00:22:16.819 --> 00:22:21.559 Okay, um, and I guess, did you receive an associate degree there? 00:22:21.559 --> 00:22:24.680 I didn't not. I just specialized in some some classes. 00:22:24.680 --> 00:22:25.460 Different classes. 00:22:25.460 --> 00:22:33.660 And real estate was one of them that I took because we were getting into rental property. Loved it, and just went ahead and pursued that. 00:22:33.660 --> 00:22:46.380 Well, I remember you telling me you were flipping houses before flipping houses was cool. Okay, well, let's talk about your spouse. Can you tell me what his full name is? 00:22:46.380 --> 00:22:47.940 Richard Allan Root. 00:22:47.940 --> 00:22:50.640 And his date of birth I have is 5/17/1948. 00:22:50.640 --> 00:22:51.059 Yes. 00:22:51.059 --> 00:22:55.200 And then he passed away in 2019? 00:22:55.200 --> 00:22:55.440 Yes. 00:22:55.440 --> 00:23:03.704 Okay, so tell me what was your first impression of him whenever you saw him. 00:23:03.704 --> 00:23:14.025 Oh, my goodness, we worked together. And I, you know, I thought he was a snob, to be honest. But he was 00:23:14.025 --> 00:23:15.224 Where did you work together at? 00:23:15.224 --> 00:23:16.424 At Howard Johnson's. 00:23:16.424 --> 00:23:16.964 Oh, okay. 00:23:16.964 --> 00:23:33.440 And he had, he was going to OSU at that time. Rick was five years older than me, so you know, he was, he was going to OSU, and he was working there weekends, and we just ended up starting dating later, after we got to know each other. 00:23:33.440 --> 00:23:39.500 Okay, so did you have a long engagement period, or did you just decide, hey, we're getting married? 00:23:39.500 --> 00:23:45.900 No, we ended up getting married. We dated for about four months. 00:23:45.900 --> 00:23:47.880 So, you got married when you were in school? 00:23:47.880 --> 00:23:48.299 Yes. 00:23:48.299 --> 00:23:58.680 Okay, okay. And I have down that you were, you got married on April, April 11, 1970 at the Blue Bell Church in Kellyville? 00:23:58.680 --> 00:23:59.160 Mmm-hmm. 00:23:59.160 --> 00:24:04.759 Okay. What was your wedding like? 00:24:04.759 --> 00:24:23.240 It was nice. My mom did my wedding dress, and she was a seamstress, and my best friend was my maid of honor, and his best friend from college was his, his best man. But it was, it was everything's big in my family, because there's so many. 00:24:23.240 --> 00:24:24.200 Right, right. 00:24:24.200 --> 00:24:32.105 My cousin, Preach McGuire, a lot of people in this area knew him at that time, was the preacher there, and he he held the service. 00:24:32.105 --> 00:24:41.105 So, I wanted to ask what your first years of marriage was like. But, obviously, yeah, you ended up going overseas, right? 00:24:41.105 --> 00:24:45.065 I never dreamed that I would be moving that much at that time. 00:24:45.065 --> 00:24:49.000 So, were you nervous, because, I mean, you were young, or did you just, you just went? 00:24:49.000 --> 00:25:21.325 My husband went to work for City Service after he got out of college. We moved to Tulsa. He was transferred to Bartlesville, and we lived in Dewey, Oklahoma. We were only there a month when he got drafted. When he went to Oklahoma City, back then, they just put him on a bus and sent him to Fort Leonard Wood. So, I had to take care of packing, notifying his company, doing all of that. I had to grow up really fast at that point. 00:25:21.325 --> 00:25:25.045 Yeah, because what were you probably maybe 18 or 19 at the time? 00:25:25.045 --> 00:25:26.184 Seventeen. 00:25:26.184 --> 00:25:26.785 Yes. 00:25:26.785 --> 00:25:28.819 My gosh, oh my gosh. 00:25:28.819 --> 00:25:54.000 I ended up moving to New Jersey after he got out of Fort Leonard Wood. I drove there. We lived in, I lived in Fort or Fort Dix, New Jersey is where he was stationed, and I lived off base. He was then transferred to Fort Hamilton, New York. I lived with an aunt in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, while he did that, and it was, he could go by train back. 00:25:54.000 --> 00:25:54.599 Well, that's what I was going to say, it seems like being so young, you would be lonesome. 00:25:54.599 --> 00:25:57.160 No. 00:25:57.160 --> 00:26:04.240 You weren't? You just, I guess you were social and just made friends everywhere you went? 00:26:04.240 --> 00:26:10.539 I guess. We ended up in in, well, San Antonio, Texas. 00:26:10.539 --> 00:26:13.960 I feel like our kids are so different. 00:26:13.960 --> 00:26:29.740 I was young and dumb and wasn't scared of anything. From San Antonio, Texas then we ended up in Frankfurt, Germany, just outside of Frankfurt, it's [indecipherable] Germany and 00:26:29.740 --> 00:26:33.460 Well, I know you told me that one of your children were was born and 00:26:33.460 --> 00:26:35.200 Ricky was born in Frankfurt. 00:26:35.200 --> 00:26:39.700 Well, tell me, tell me your children's names and their dates of birth. 00:26:39.700 --> 00:26:58.285 Michelle Ann Root Morquecho. And she was born October 3, 1970 and then Richard Allan Root, Jr., and he was born September 13, 1971 and he was two months premature. 00:26:58.285 --> 00:27:00.325 Oh, my goodness. And you were in another country. 00:27:00.325 --> 00:27:01.765 And I was in another country. 00:27:01.765 --> 00:27:06.744 And you didn't have any family there with you during that. 00:27:06.744 --> 00:27:10.980 So was, was your husband even able to be there for? 00:27:10.980 --> 00:27:26.000 Yes, okay, he was a chaplain's assistant in the army, and he was assigned to three chaplains that were in a Schaffenburg, Germany, and they just took me in as family. They, they were just wonderful. 00:27:26.000 --> 00:27:39.619 Well, that's good. And then you told me you have nine grandchildren and sixteen great-grandchildren. So, you're you're a busy, you're a busy great grandma, aren't you? 00:27:39.619 --> 00:27:50.180 And I never dreamed that I would even be around for great grandchildren, but I'm glad that I'm able to enjoy them and they are, they are a handful at times, but they're wonderful. 00:27:50.180 --> 00:28:32.660 Well, so, your family, you and your family, have been instrumental in the, you know, Bristow area the whole time you've been here. So, let's talk a little bit about that. I know you said, obviously, you had the your Root Real Estate business for 20 years, and then we all know Root's Furniture was here for 20 years, and then you still have another location in Cushing at this time. But, I also would like for you to tell us about the Tabouleh Festival, because I think that's a really important part of Bristow's heritage. So, tell us, tell us how that got started. 00:28:32.660 --> 00:29:23.029 The Tabouleh Fesitval, it was generated, I think, they were doing away with the the Western Heritage Days and my husband, when he went to work in Bristow, he'd retired from Occidental. He was a human resources manager. He retired from there, and he hated retirement. I was still working real estate, and so he wanted to buy something. He bought Brace's Furniture Store. And right about that time was when all of that happened. And so, he said, we've got to think of something that will draw people to Bristow, because you have to have something that you identify with. And, so, he he brainstormed and talked about different stuff. Well, we love tabouleh and we loved Freddy's and that, and that just kind of came up and started growing. And we met with Tex and Sherian [Slyman]. 00:29:23.029 --> 00:29:31.019 Well, the Lebanese heritage is a big, it runs deep in Bristow. 00:29:31.019 --> 00:29:52.799 In real estate, when I was trying to sell people on Bristow, which I've always tried to do, you know, since doing that. But if you look at the buildings, there's, you know, the Abrahams and the McSouds and all of that boils back to the Lebanese heritage. And they did help establish Bristow. So, the Shamases, I mean, there's a lot of them. 00:29:52.799 --> 00:29:56.144 It seemed like a natural a natural direction to go. 00:29:56.144 --> 00:30:19.529 Yes, yeah. And we had two tabouleh factories here. We had the Bishops and we had the one that Tex Slyman had, and, so, started talking. We ended up meeting with them, Clifford Smith, and Deanna and Nancy and her husband, Edgar [Spencer], and those families just kind of got together and started brainstorming. 00:30:19.529 --> 00:30:22.289 And when was the first Tabouleh Festival? 00:30:22.289 --> 00:30:26.250 Oh, my goodness, I don't remember. 2005? 00:30:26.250 --> 00:30:27.569 2005 that's what I 00:30:27.569 --> 00:30:28.049 Okay. 00:30:28.049 --> 00:30:31.890 That's what I had down. And it's been every year. 00:30:31.890 --> 00:30:33.869 Well, it was 20 years this year. 00:30:33.869 --> 00:30:36.269 It's been every year since then, right? 00:30:36.269 --> 00:31:01.275 And different degrees. I mean, the first year was really nice. And I think we had all kinds of tabouleh. We did the contest. There was just a lot when, when you're in my family, everyone works. So, I mean, the whole family worked. My daughter was involved very heavily in it. And we had the store, even our employees. I mean, we'd haul tables, and 00:31:01.275 --> 00:31:02.355 It takes a lot of work. 00:31:02.355 --> 00:31:06.779 There's a lot of work, and I admire the people that are still doing it. 00:31:06.779 --> 00:31:24.660 Right, right. Okay, well, then you also said you were involved with the Chamber. I know you said you've, like, coached T-ball and soccer and, like, you've done all kinds of things. But, I also want to talk about Root Real Estate was first. 00:31:24.660 --> 00:31:24.839 Yes. 00:31:24.839 --> 00:31:26.924 Before the furniture store, correct? 00:31:26.924 --> 00:31:27.404 Yes. 00:31:27.404 --> 00:31:28.184 Okay. 00:31:28.184 --> 00:32:03.150 When, when I got back, of course, I was raising children, but I went to work with Dr. Richardson. He was a chiropractic doctor that had an office where the 66 Venue is at. Worked for them shortly. They were friends. I went to church with them. Then I ended up getting into the real estate. Went to work for Donna Smith Real Estate. Naomi Talent bought her out, and I worked for her for a while, and then I, when I got my broker's license, I decided to open up my own and 00:32:03.150 --> 00:32:05.910 The rest is history. 00:32:05.910 --> 00:32:10.529 I was young when it happened, and it, it was really interesting. I loved it. 00:32:10.529 --> 00:32:14.714 And that was for 20 years you did that. You sold that in 2004? 00:32:14.714 --> 00:32:28.815 Yes, yeah. And it's, you know, it's just something that gives you the opportunity to meet everyone in town. I mean, all different varieties. You're you're working with people that are new to the city. 00:32:28.815 --> 00:32:33.315 Like you say, it's a great opportunity to promote Bristow, too. 00:32:33.315 --> 00:32:39.000 It is. And it helped me meet more people than I would have ever met. You know? 00:32:39.000 --> 00:32:45.660 Right? And then it was around, well, kind of around that time that you opened Roots Furniture. 00:32:45.660 --> 00:32:53.220 It was, let me see, I wrote that down. I opened that in July of '99. 00:32:53.220 --> 00:32:53.759 Okay. 00:32:53.759 --> 00:33:01.539 My husband did. He was, he was the one that was behind that. We were trying to run two at once, and that was pretty difficult. 00:33:01.539 --> 00:33:06.220 Yeah, oh I bet. And, then, so you closed that in 2017? 00:33:06.220 --> 00:33:06.700 Yes. 00:33:06.700 --> 00:33:09.519 But you still have the one location in Cushing, right? 00:33:09.519 --> 00:33:13.960 Yes, and my son runs that. He's, he's the one that owns that now. 00:33:13.960 --> 00:33:16.480 Okay. 00:33:16.480 --> 00:33:22.960 You know, as far as real estate goes, now, I still have properties that I manage and take care of. 00:33:22.960 --> 00:33:24.002 So, you're you're still in that game. 00:33:24.002 --> 00:33:27.420 I'm thinning out, though. 00:33:27.420 --> 00:33:41.500 Right, right. Was there any other Bristow related things that you would like to talk about that maybe we haven't touched on? I know you said you were involved with the Chamber for several years? 00:33:41.500 --> 00:34:10.625 The chamber. I mean, my philosophy is God, family and country. I mean, I love promoting Bristow. I think Bristow is a good town to grow up in. Our school system is great. Now I have great-grandchildren that are going to school here, and it's always been easy to promote Bristow to me. I think we're located in a great location between Oklahoma City and Tulsa. 00:34:10.625 --> 00:34:12.664 Yes, I agree. I agree. 00:34:12.664 --> 00:34:14.824 I look for great things to happen, hopefully. 00:34:14.824 --> 00:34:20.465 I feel like we're definitely on an upturn right now for great things to start happening here. 00:34:20.465 --> 00:34:22.445 I do, too. I do, too. 00:34:22.445 --> 00:34:32.360 Okay, well, let's change it up a little bit. What would you consider to be the most important invention during your lifetime? 00:34:32.360 --> 00:34:37.599 Goodness, probably computers and the internet. 00:34:37.599 --> 00:34:43.599 Okay, okay, and how do you feel the world is different now than when you were a child? 00:34:43.599 --> 00:35:00.880 Oh, drastically. It's drastically different. I mean, I of course, TVs, we had a TV from the time I can remember, so that's not a big deal. But going from party line phones to cell phones, that's another thing. 00:35:00.880 --> 00:35:01.900 Right, right. 00:35:01.900 --> 00:35:15.025 I had a car phone when I was in real estate, and it was like a bag. I thought, man, that is really neat. 00:35:15.025 --> 00:35:19.164 Yeah, now we have the little pocket computer. 00:35:19.164 --> 00:35:24.445 I still have the same number. I've had the same number for years and years and years. 00:35:24.445 --> 00:35:36.369 Which is probably important with the business that you're in. As you see it, what do you feel are our nation's biggest problems, and how do you think they could be solved? 00:35:36.369 --> 00:35:41.500 Oh, you're asking me a question I don't know the answer to, what solving it is. 00:35:41.500 --> 00:35:54.159 Or maybe, what do you wish, we'll change it up. What do you wish, is there anything you wish was different? Or maybe that you, I don't know, miss from your childhood, that you wish was 00:35:54.159 --> 00:36:09.804 I'll tell you something that I I wish was different. I wish that the inflation and the cost of goods and houses being linked to real estate. You know, it was so affordable when I first got in and 00:36:09.804 --> 00:36:12.204 Yeah, you've seen a wild swing. 00:36:12.204 --> 00:36:23.719 You know, helping people to qualify for loans and things like that, and finding the right properties for them. I'm saying my grandkids have to go through that and things are so expensive. 00:36:23.719 --> 00:36:52.079 I agree. I feel like the American Dream, say for my kids, it's not the same as it was whenever we were that age, for sure. How have, how have historic events such as, say, like the Oklahoma City Bombing, 9/11 maybe natural disasters, even COVID, have any of those affected you? And if so, how? 00:36:52.079 --> 00:37:23.840 Oh, yeah. Of course, 9/11 was such a tragedy, and I was watching TV that morning when it happened, and couldn't believe it. Couldn't believe it happened. The Oklahoma City Bombing, again, a tragedy. I hate to see that kind of evil be in our world, but I know that's a reality, and we've been fortunate living in the United States, not to have to deal with a lot of that, and traveling overseas, I saw a difference. I mean, I realized that we are so fortunate to live here. 00:37:23.840 --> 00:37:29.519 Is there anything else that you would like to tell us, or would you like to leave any wisdom to share with future generations? Come on, Linda, I know you do. 00:37:29.519 --> 00:37:38.820 Oh, wisdom! My goodness. 00:37:38.820 --> 00:37:46.260 You have a lot of, you have a lot of grandkids and great grandkids that you need to leave your wisdom for them. 00:37:46.260 --> 00:38:01.244 I guess my wisdom for them would be to always be honest. Have God in your life. Treat people the way you want to be treated. What else? 00:38:01.244 --> 00:38:11.909 I think those are, I think those are great. Was there anything else that you, that maybe we didn't touch on, that you would like to add to this interview? 00:38:11.909 --> 00:38:13.000 No, I've stumbled through this. 00:38:13.000 --> 00:38:26.679 No! You've done great, you've done great! Well, your interview will become an important part of the Oral History Archives for the museum. Thank you for taking the time to talk with us. We really appreciate it. 00:38:26.679 --> 00:38:28.179 Thank you, Regan. NOTE TRANSCRIPTION END ]]> video 0 https://bristoworalhistory.org/ohms/render.php?cachefile=OHP-0074_Linda_Root.xml OHP-0074_Linda_Root.xml
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Linda Root
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Linda Root was born June 3, 1953 in Sapulpa, Oklahoma. Linda's parents, Rosemary McGuire and Clifford James McGuire, had six children, including Linda. Linda grew up in Kellyville, moving to Bristow in 1972. She recounted her childhood, including her mother's English heritage, her love for horseback riding, and her involvement in school activities. Linda married Richard Allan Root in 1970 and moved frequently due to his military service. She owned Root Real Estate and Root’s Furniture for around 20 years. Linda also helped establish the Tabouleh Festival in Bristow to promote the town's Lebanese heritage.
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OHP-0074
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2025-07-01
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52e620207f3e17109b6d7aadd45f08bd
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Video Histories
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Regan Siler
Interviewee
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Albert "Kell" Kelly
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https://bristoworalhistory.org/ohms/render.php?cachefile=OHP-0073_Kell_Kelly.xml
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6.0 June 20, 2025 OHP-0073 Albert "Kell" Kelly OHP-0073 00:31:41 Bristow Historical Society, Inc. bristowhistory Albert "Kell" Kelly Regan Siler 0 https://bristoworalhistory.org/interviews/OHP-0073 Kelly, Kell.mp4 Other video 0 Background/Birth Regan Siler 00:00
 ; This is Regan Siler with the Bristow Historical Society in Bristow, Oklahoma. This interview is part of the Historical Society's ongoing oral history project. The date is June 20, 2025 and I'm sitting here with Kell Kelly at the Bristow Library Annex. He's going to tell us about how he helped save the Bristow Train Depot. Can you please state your full name? 
 ; 
 ; Kell Kelly 00:21
 ; Sure. My full name is Albert Charles Kelly, Jr.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 00:25
 ; Okay, and you go by Kell, right? 
 ; 
 ; Kell Kelly 00:26
 ; Everyone goes, calls me Kell.
 ; Albert Charles Kelly, Jr. was born on November 21, 1954. He was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He lived north of Bristow on a ranch called the Wild Horse Prairie. Bristow Historical Society ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Kell Kelly ; Bristow Library Annex ; Albert Charles Kelly, Jr. ; Tulsa (Okla.) ; Wild Horse Prairie Birth 0 51 Parents and Grandparents Regan Siler 00:51
 ; Okay, and I want to ask, I know today we mainly want to focus on saving the depot, but I would also like to touch on your family. Can you tell me their full names and dates of birth, if you have that.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 01:04
 ; How many family members would you like me to tell you about? 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 01:05
 ; Well, just your parents, sorry!
 ; 
 ; Kell Kelly 01:08
 ; Well, I'll go back one generation before that, if possible. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 01:11
 ; Oh, sure.
 ; Kell's parents were Albert Charles Kelly, Sr. and Katherine McGee Rewerts. Kell's grandfather came to Bristow in 1902 to farm. He met a lady (Dorcas) who treated him for something at the hospital that she had started. Kell's grandfather married Dorcas, and they had five sons. Kell's father was the oldest of the boys. Kell's mother, Katherine was from western Kansas. Katherine's father started the first hospital in Golden City, Kansas. Albert Kelly ; Kansas ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Dorcas B. Kelly ; Katherine McGee Rewerts ; Garden City (Kan.) ; Harvard College ; Boston (Mass.) ; World War II ; Navy ; Joe Ihle ; Albert Charles Kelly, Sr. Parents ; Grandparents 0 301 Bob Chadderdon Regan Siler 05:01
 ; Oh yeah, okay, all right. Well, let's talk about the depot. We want to, we know you were instrumental in helping save the depot, and I would kind of like to hear your perspective on that, so you just, I guess, start from the beginning.
 ; 
 ; Kell Kelly 05:23
 ; Well, the beginning of the depot can't begin without involving the late Bob Chadderdon. Bob was a remarkable fellow. He'd been a fighter pilot in World War II in Europe, and had left Bristow at some point after that with $50 in his pocket that his friend Paul Joseph had loaned him, and he made his way to New York and became successful in the international trade of heavy oil and gas machinery at a time when they were discovering that the Middle East and other places had lots of stores of oil. And so Bob and his determined manner jumped right in. He was proud of the fact that he had the address on on in Washington, excuse me, in New York, that was One Carnegie Center. So, he was, he was right on the, he was right in the middle of New York and Times Square and every place else. Along about 1980, Bob and his wealth transferred back to Bristow. He wanted to always come back to Bristow, and he became almost a one man philanthropy store. However, he was never satisfied with with doing it by himself, and so he drug everybody into it that he possibly can. My father had already passed away, and so somehow he focused on on me to be his kind of his his guy, his monkey boy, to do whatever he would tell me to do. I'd come back to Bristow when I was practicing law with Joe Sam Vassar and Harry McMillan. And Bob had asked me to speak to the Class of 40 that was having its 40th reunion in 1980, and so I did. And from that point on, he would involve me in all of his many, many ventures that he wanted to give back to Bristow.
 ; 
 ; Bob Chadderdon, a wealthy philanthropist led efforts to preserve the depot. Bob had been a fighter pilot in Europe during World War II. He left Bristow and went to New York sometime after the war with $50 that his friend had loaned him. He became successful in the international trade of heavy oil and gas machinery. Around 1980, Bob transferred back to Bristow with his wealth. Bristow Train Depot ; Bob Chadderdon ; World War II ; Europe ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Paul Joseph ; New York ; Middle East ; Times Square (New York, N.Y.) ; Albert Charles Kelly, Sr. ; Joe Sam Vassar ; Harry McMillan Bob Chadderdon 0 459 Saving the Depot Regan Siler 07:39
 ; Do you know how, what, where he came up with the, I mean, like, where, where did it, how did the idea come up that he wanted to save the depot and preserve it for Bristow?
 ; 
 ; Kell Kelly 07:50
 ; Well, I think the idea came up that when you would drive down the streets in Bristow, why Bob would, Bob would be able to tell you who lived there in 1930. And, so, those he had the, he had the great desire to try and convey to the next generations what Bristow had been, what Bristow had evolved to, but at the same time, with an eye to what, what, who those that came before. He used to talk about one gentleman, as he said, he met every train, because his brother had gone to World War I, and he was this was a gentleman that had had some mental deficiency, but his brother had gone to World War I, and he left on the train. And Bob could Bob when the trains were running, this gentleman would meet every train, thinking that his brother would be there. This was the way that they went to Tulsa. This was the train, the train was the lifeline for towns and towns that received trains, and train access grew. Those that didn't, really, pretty well failed, or at least were minimized. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 08:59
 ; So, who owned the depot at the time?
 ; Kell was practicing law with Joe Sam Vassar and Harry McMillan in Bristow. Bob asked Kell to speak to the Class of 1940 during their 40th reunion. After that, Bob involved Kell in his many ventures to give back to the Bristow community. Bob started The Bristow Historical Society and designated Kell as the president. The train depot was owned by Burlington Northern. They were tearing down depots across the state. Bob put up a fight and eventually with the help of Kell's neighbor, Bill Farha, Sr. the depot was purchased for $1. Bob Chadderdon ; Joe Sam Vassar ; Harry McMillan ; World War I ; Tulsa (Okla.) ; Burlington Northern Inc. ; Joe Ihle ; Francis Hayhurst ; Main Street ; Bristow Historical Society ; Bill Farha, Sr. ; Senator ; Mary Farha ; Governor ; David Boren Saving the Depot 0 1180 Renovating the Depot Kell Kelly 19:40
 ; And, so, after that, why, it was no holds barred, Bob went full bore into the campaign to sell bricks with people's names on them. They and raised money in all kinds of different ways.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 19:56
 ; Do you remember what year that was that the depot the actual renovation of the depot began?
 ; 
 ; Kell Kelly 20:02
 ; I don't really remember, you know, it was in the early 80s.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 20:05
 ; Okay.
 ; 
 ; Kell Kelly 20:07
 ; But working for Bob was a full time job. Once in a while, I'd get to practice law, but he had great vision. And if you go look at it today, it's beautiful. His his idea of doing many of the things that that have been done down there are somewhat elaborate, I think, and sometimes maybe a little difficult for a little town to afford. But, through the good work of the, continued work of the Bristow Historical Society, why, they've been able to renovate that and do that as as you most people know, that there is a an area that, not sure exactly what to call it, but it comes off of Main Street and it's open. It's an area that 
 ; After the train depot was purchased, the big job of renovating began. It began in the early 1980's. Bob had a vision and was even later honored at a ceremony when Mayor Washington was serving. Others have helped preserve Bristow history over the years. Kell mentions the great work that the Trigalets now do for the Historical Society. Bob Chadderdon ; Bristow Historical Society ; Town Square ; Mayor Washington ; Christmas ; Francis Hayhurst ; Chrysler Tower ; Main Street ; Joe Trigalet ; Linda Trigalet ; Route 66 ; Tulsa (Okla.) ; Yale College ; Tommy Thompson ; Calvin Foster ; Navy Renovating the Depot 0 1679 Wisdom Regan Siler 27:59
 ; Well, I know just in the time that I've been managing the oral histories, whether it's been working on old ones or the new ones that I've done, I have learned so much about Bristow's rich history, and it has a very interesting history, and it's really gotten me excited to be more involved with the Historical Society. And you know, we always hope that by doing this, and you know, getting it out to the public, that it'll get them excited and to appreciate and to give back also. And you know, we have so many people from all over the country that visit the depot, and you really just want your even your hometown people to appreciate it and love it as much as we do.
 ; 
 ; Kell Kelly 28:48
 ; Well, I agree with that. And any time that you lose, in this case, the depot, I mean, once it's gone, stories are gone. Once it's gone, there's not the place that has the ingrained history to to locate all of the historical documents and and items that that the Historical Society has has put in place. You know, you had so many different people that came through that depot. You know, you had Gene Autry was, was the station master for a while. And you have, you know, Woody Guthrie, just down the road in Okemah, who obviously passed through this area regularly. All of those things, I think, are, are small, small bits of heritage for this area. And you know, one of the things that I have always found to be very accurate, and that is my late uncle, Tracy had on his desk a painted rock and it said, bloom where you're planted. And you'll see that that is also a slogan that's over my desk, because I believe we never know really. Life gives you twists and turns, and you're never really quite sure where you're going to be or what you're going to be responsible for, but whatever that may be, bloom where you're planted. And I think if people can take that as a, as a, as really a watch word phrase, as opposed to just just ignoring it, I think there'll be a lot, lot better, because sometimes where you're planted is where you're supposed to prosper and where you're supposed to contribute. And that, I think, is one of the most important things we can take from, from everything here. I mean, Bristow, the center of the country. It's not New York, it's not Rockefeller Center, and and, you know, that's where, where Bob was. If I said it is Rockefeller Center. I hope I said that, but he took great pride in that address, by the way.
 ; Kell finishes the interview with some words of wisdom. He says to do your work well and to try to make a place better for others. Kell says that you can't control what happens to you, but you can control how you respond. He says to try to make the most of setbacks because everyone has them. Wisdom ; Gene Autry ; Woody Guthrie ; Okemah (Okla.) ; Tracy Kelly ; New York ; Rockefeller Center ; Bob Chadderdon ; Bristow (Okla.) Wisdom 0 MP4 Kell Kelly talks about his role in saving the Bristow Train Depot. Kell, born in Tulsa on November 21, 1954, shares his family history, including his grandfather Albert Kelly's arrival in Bristow in 1902 and his father's service in World War II. Kell recounts how Bob Chadderdon, a wealthy philanthropist, led efforts to preserve the depot, which was owned by Burlington Northern and in disrepair. Despite initial resistance, they acquired the depot for $1 and raised funds for its renovation. The depot now serves as a historical centerpiece, reflecting Bristow's heritage and the vision of the Greatest Generation. NOTE TRANSCRIPTION BEGIN 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:21.660 This is Regan Siler with the Bristow Historical Society in Bristow, Oklahoma. This interview is part of the Historical Society's ongoing oral history project. The date is June 20, 2025 and I'm sitting here with Kell Kelly at the Bristow Library Annex. He's going to tell us about how he helped save the Bristow Train Depot. Can you please state your full name? 00:00:21.660 --> 00:00:25.484 Sure. My full name is Albert Charles Kelly, Jr. 00:00:25.484 --> 00:00:26.864 Okay, and you go by Kell, right? 00:00:26.864 --> 00:00:28.239 Everyone goes, calls me Kell. 00:00:28.239 --> 00:00:31.300 Okay. And do I have permission to record this interview? 00:00:31.300 --> 00:00:32.259 You do. 00:00:32.259 --> 00:00:36.840 Okay, um, can you tell me when and where you were born? 00:00:36.840 --> 00:00:51.479 Yes. I was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in November the 21st of 1954. I was brought back to a house out in the country that was Wild Horse Prairie, still known as Wild Horse Prairie, which is north of Bristow. 00:00:51.479 --> 00:01:04.000 Okay, and I want to ask, I know today we mainly want to focus on saving the depot, but I would also like to touch on your family. Can you tell me their full names and dates of birth, if you have that. 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:05.079 How many family members would you like me to tell you about? 00:01:05.079 --> 00:01:08.799 Well, just your parents, sorry! 00:01:08.799 --> 00:01:11.319 Well, I'll go back one generation before that, if possible. 00:01:11.319 --> 00:01:11.840 Oh, sure. 00:01:11.840 --> 00:02:47.060 My grandfather, Albert Kelly, came to Bristow in 1902. He came in a wagon and brought two of his sisters from Kansas. He had a third grade education, and he came here to farm. He was a farmer. So, he started his his agricultural effort out near the where the airport is now, and began his farming career. Over the years, why he prospered and did pretty well. And somewhere around the early 1920s, why, a lady came to Bristow to start a hospital. And that was my grandmother, whose name was Dorcas [Dorcas B. Kelly]. And Dorcas did start a hospital and, ultimately, ended up treating my grandfather for something. And these people who had neither ever been married, but had a 25 year age difference between them, got married my grandfather at at 47 and my grandmother at 25 or 22, if I'm doing math correctly. They had five sons over 19 years, and my dad was the oldest one. So, that kind of gives you a brief background of of the family. I could go into a lot more detail than that, if you'd like. I, also, will address since you asked my name, my my name, everyone called me Albert, but then they called me Little Albert. And my mother was so concerned that I would be this age and people would be looking for Little Albert, so she came up with a nickname, Kell, and it just stuck. And as much as you try to get away from it, wherever you travel, that's where it sticks. 00:02:47.060 --> 00:02:52.060 How interesting! And then, so tell me about your parents. What their names are. 00:02:52.060 --> 00:03:39.669 My mother was from western Kansas. Her name was Katherine, and she, her father, Charles, started the first hospital in Garden City, Kansas. And so she was in and around Garden City, Kansas through her teenage years. My father was a, graduated from Bristow High School and the Class of 1940, which I'll get to in a minute. And he attended Harvard College in in Boston, in Cambridge, and through, he attended that, obviously, in the fall of 1940 because World War II fell in at that time, they graduated him early. So, his class graduated in 1943 and he went into the Navy and, ultimately, into the submarines. And was very emotional for him the rest of his life, because I think he had survivor's guilt from all of his friends that never came back. 00:03:39.669 --> 00:03:41.120 Greatest Generation. 00:03:41.120 --> 00:03:56.900 Oh yeah, Lots of great stories about them. And really, 1940 the Class of 1940 was pretty much the greatest class. 00:03:56.900 --> 00:04:05.719 I read somewhere though they were the most philanthropic or generous class for the community of Bristow. 00:04:05.719 --> 00:04:27.125 As far as I know, there could be someone else, but as far as I know, the last member of the Class of 1940 still living is Joe Ihle. So, Joe is a pecan producer here, and he's 102 years old, and he and my father were great friends and and, so I really regard Joe highly and and amazed at him. 00:04:27.125 --> 00:04:29.870 Yes. So, your dad's name was 00:04:29.870 --> 00:04:31.660 Albert Charles Kelly, Sr. 00:04:31.660 --> 00:04:35.680 Okay, and I have his birth date as 12/28/1922. Does that sound? 00:04:35.680 --> 00:04:36.699 That is correct? 00:04:36.699 --> 00:04:39.480 Okay. And then what was your mother's name? 00:04:39.480 --> 00:04:44.579 Katherine McGee Rewerts. R, E, W, E, R, T, S. 00:04:44.579 --> 00:04:48.660 Okay, and I have her birth date 11/17/1918. 00:04:48.660 --> 00:04:49.199 That's correct. 00:04:49.199 --> 00:04:58.199 Okay, alright, um, so then your family has been in the Bristow area for since the what the 20? 00:04:58.199 --> 00:04:59.339 Since 1902. 00:04:59.339 --> 00:05:00.060 1902. 00:05:00.060 --> 00:05:01.379 When my grandfather got here. 00:05:01.379 --> 00:05:23.620 Oh yeah, okay, all right. Well, let's talk about the depot. We want to, we know you were instrumental in helping save the depot, and I would kind of like to hear your perspective on that, so you just, I guess, start from the beginning. 00:05:23.620 --> 00:07:39.019 Well, the beginning of the depot can't begin without involving the late Bob Chadderdon. Bob was a remarkable fellow. He'd been a fighter pilot in World War II in Europe, and had left Bristow at some point after that with $50 in his pocket that his friend Paul Joseph had loaned him, and he made his way to New York and became successful in the international trade of heavy oil and gas machinery at a time when they were discovering that the Middle East and other places had lots of stores of oil. And so Bob and his determined manner jumped right in. He was proud of the fact that he had the address on on in Washington, excuse me, in New York, that was One Carnegie Center. So, he was, he was right on the, he was right in the middle of New York and Times Square and every place else. Along about 1980, Bob and his wealth transferred back to Bristow. He wanted to always come back to Bristow, and he became almost a one man philanthropy store. However, he was never satisfied with with doing it by himself, and so he drug everybody into it that he possibly can. My father had already passed away, and so somehow he focused on on me to be his kind of his his guy, his monkey boy, to do whatever he would tell me to do. I'd come back to Bristow when I was practicing law with Joe Sam Vassar and Harry McMillan. And Bob had asked me to speak to the Class of 40 that was having its 40th reunion in 1980, and so I did. And from that point on, he would involve me in all of his many, many ventures that he wanted to give back to Bristow. 00:07:39.019 --> 00:07:50.500 Do you know how, what, where he came up with the, I mean, like, where, where did it, how did the idea come up that he wanted to save the depot and preserve it for Bristow? 00:07:50.500 --> 00:08:59.514 Well, I think the idea came up that when you would drive down the streets in Bristow, why Bob would, Bob would be able to tell you who lived there in 1930. And, so, those he had the, he had the great desire to try and convey to the next generations what Bristow had been, what Bristow had evolved to, but at the same time, with an eye to what, what, who those that came before. He used to talk about one gentleman, as he said, he met every train, because his brother had gone to World War I, and he was this was a gentleman that had had some mental deficiency, but his brother had gone to World War I, and he left on the train. And Bob could Bob when the trains were running, this gentleman would meet every train, thinking that his brother would be there. This was the way that they went to Tulsa. This was the train, the train was the lifeline for towns and towns that received trains, and train access grew. Those that didn't, really, pretty well failed, or at least were minimized. 00:08:59.514 --> 00:09:01.899 So, who owned the depot at the time? 00:09:01.899 --> 00:10:11.575 At the time the depot, at the time that we embarked upon this, why, the depot was owned by Burlington, Northern. And Bob had a tenacity that all of those Greatest Generation people had. My dad, Joe Ihle, Bob, really any of those people that you have ever encountered, they had already gone through the worst that they could go through. They'd already gone through watching their friends pass away. They'd already gone through loss. They'd already gone through leaving their Bristow and never thinking they'd come back. And, so, their friends images were very much in there, very much with them all the time, but also what they result, what that resulted in is nothing really scared him. They'd seen the worst of the worst, and it didn't matter what it was. Nothing scared them. They were willing to take any venture. And, so, when Bob would come tell you that he had some great idea, you would tell, you would say, tell it to yourself, well, I can't be a part of that. And while your head was was shaking, no, why, you'd go, of course, Bob, I'll do whatever you want me to do. And that happened more times than I can tell you. 00:10:11.575 --> 00:10:11.899 Right. 00:10:11.899 --> 00:11:13.000 But he embarked on the park. He put it in four stages. Joe Ihle was the was the principal person on that. You know, Bob would bring in the his Class of '40 classmates as often as he could, Francis Hayhurst, he always reminded me, was president of the class, and Francis was a gracious man. But Bob built a pretty good amount of money that he put together both for the park, and we did it in four stages, and it's still remarkably beautiful. It's been remarkably well done. He had the class of 1940 Scholarship Fund, which he would interview kids and, invariably, give away a lot more money than, probably, was in the fund that day. But, he believed in in the youth, and he believed in in heritage. He looked both ways. He looked back and said, people need to know why these things happen and how this was, and people need to look ahead. And, so, one of the things that he wanted to have was not just a main street renovation, but he wanted to have the the depot as a centerpiece. 00:11:13.000 --> 00:11:13.051 Yes ma'am. 00:11:13.051 --> 00:11:13.360 Was it, was it in, was there a threat of it being torn down? Do I remember that correctly? 00:11:13.360 --> 00:11:14.559 Okay. 00:11:14.559 --> 00:11:26.860 Burlington Northern, there had been an appeal by 00:11:26.860 --> 00:11:28.960 And I may be jumping ahead in the story, I don't know. 00:11:28.960 --> 00:11:45.000 No, you're not. There had been an appeal by some folks in the city. I don't, I don't recall exactly who, to try and preserve the depot. The Burlington Northern was tearing down depots at that time across the, across the state. 00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:48.120 Just because they didn't want them anymore or were they in disrepair? 00:11:48.120 --> 00:11:55.080 They had no use for them. They weren't, they were not in the passenger train business. 00:11:55.080 --> 00:11:55.539 Okay. 00:11:55.539 --> 00:16:31.000 And they had no use for those. So, Bristow's was allowed to become very dilapidated. Had a good, a good population of pigeons and other birds. It was not, it was not well taken care of at all. It wasn't taken care of period. And, so, that was their plan of letting it get to a place where it wasn't really going to be too much of a loss to lose this supposed eyesore. They, the idea was that, at one time, just as I talked about the fellow that met all the trains, why, the depot was the place you departed from. The depot was a place that you came back from, or came back to. And, so, you know, there, there were, immediately people would gravitate up to Main Street, which is a block away. And that was how a lot of commerce, a lot of citizens, a lot of people came. There were, there were some modest hotels that surrounded that area. And, so, lots of lots of memories and lots of commerce. Bob felt like you could make the depot something that would be historically very good, and so he started the Historical Society on his own and designated me as the president, which, of course, I was saying, no, Bob, I don't think I'll do that, but I couldn't get those words up. So, I said, yes, of course. And, so, that's kind of how the Historical Society was, was started. And then we had a lot of, we had a lot of ladies that were vintage 1940 Class of '40, Class of '35, Class of '44 all that really took, took to a lot of the work trying to trying to make Bob's dream a reality. So, as he worked on the park, why, he also worked on the on the depot. And the one problem we had with the depot was that we didn't own it. One day, a backhoe showed up and took out half of the half of the platform. And, so, that was, again, the idea of gradual, gradual deterioration and ultimate knocking it down. So, Bob and his in it in a way, found out, inevitable way, found out that there was a gentleman in Tulsa who somewhat ran the the depot, depot decisions or whatever. And, so, he got a got us meeting with that and with that gentleman. And, once again, I accompanied, accompanied him up there. And I learned that day of a Chadderdon strategy that I violated, which was, you stay in the room until you get your way. But, this guy was really, he was a big fellow, and he was really fairly obnoxious, saying there's no, no way you're going to get this thing. We're going to tear it down. And he would be very explicit in the fact that he wanted to, us to understand that we lost by just by being involved, we've lost. And so, you know, I eventually, in my youth, got angry and told Bob, let's get out of here. And Bob would, would, would continue to defer. And, eventually, he left with me and, and the lesson that he gave me that day, he says, you stay long enough you're going to win this argument. Which I thought was fairly absurd, but I accepted it. And, so, we were, we were faced with the only thing we could do, which was to file an injunction, or ask for an injunction so that they not tear down the depot. So, the city approved that we could file it in my, in my youth of lawyering, why, I actually filed that, I think I filed it on behalf of the city, if I'm remembering correctly. But I was the only one that, you know, I was only operative, so to speak, once again, doing what Bob had suggested. And, so, we kept that, we preserved the depot because they couldn't get around the injunction. However, that injunction was not going to ripen into a permanent injunction. It was a temporary injunction, and because it was Burlington Northern's property, and because we could not show a true interest, other than a an interest of preserving heritage, that didn't that did not counter the ownership interest that Burlington Northern had. So, we while we preserved it for quite some time, as the city attorney then told me, he said, you know, you're going to run out of time. You're, you're, you're not going to be able to do this and keep this forever. 00:16:31.000 --> 00:16:40.080 Do you think the guy was just being obstinate? Because it seems like if there was an interested party and wanting to buy it, that they would be willing to sell it. 00:16:40.080 --> 00:19:19.410 His mission was to get rid of the depots that were not functional anymore, which were most of them. And he was a good company man, and that was what he is, that's what he was going to do. They didn't want the liability that they thought might attach to that. And that was a decision that, I assume, was made at the company board level. Um, so we sort of knew we were backed up against the wall, and we didn't know that we had too much leeway left. At the time, I was living on Sixth Street, and one of my neighbors was a guy by the name of Bill Farha, Sr. Bill was a was a character known far and wide by by many. I would regularly see the either the governor's car or the governor's, a governor wannabes car or the Senator's car, or Senator wannabes car sitting next door because they wanted to come, they wanted to come visit Bill and and Mary and see you know what wisdom they could could give him, and what support and this sort of thing. And, so, he was a generally wonderful man, wonderful person to live next to. Was always a character. Gave my children money for me to take him to to the ice cream store even when it was dinner time. And he enjoyed that, that sort of, that sort of jocularity. But one of the, one of the frequent stops that was there was a was Senator Boren, and when Bob heard about this, because, excuse me, when Bill heard about it from talking with Bob, why, Bill went to a little bit of back channeling and work, which, of course, worked in those days and still works in these days. But, David Boren either served on the board of Burlington Northern or was very close to the people that served on the board. I really never went back and researched that. But once Bill got Senator Boren involved, while nothing outwardly happened, I got a call from the big guy that we had met with one afternoon, and I could tell his teeth were clenched. I could tell he was, he was less than happy, and in his clenched teeth, he said, I'll sell you that depot for $1 and get the paperwork ready. And, so, we cut a check for $1 and we got the paperwork ready, and that's how we got the depot. 00:19:19.410 --> 00:19:20.000 Wow! 00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:40.339 And, so, of course, Bob claimed victory because he knew we were going to win all the time. He just didn't know how. But that was how we were able to get the depot. We delayed it with the litigation. We did about everything but lay down the old fashioned logs in the road to stop the train, 00:19:40.339 --> 00:19:40.759 Right. 00:19:40.759 --> 00:19:56.404 And, so, after that, why, it was no holds barred, Bob went full bore into the campaign to sell bricks with people's names on them. They and raised money in all kinds of different ways. 00:19:56.404 --> 00:20:02.525 Do you remember what year that was that the depot the actual renovation of the depot began? 00:20:02.525 --> 00:20:05.285 I don't really remember, you know, it was in the early 80s. 00:20:05.285 --> 00:20:07.400 Okay. 00:20:07.400 --> 00:20:51.424 But working for Bob was a full time job. Once in a while, I'd get to practice law, but he had great vision. And if you go look at it today, it's beautiful. His his idea of doing many of the things that that have been done down there are somewhat elaborate, I think, and sometimes maybe a little difficult for a little town to afford. But, through the good work of the, continued work of the Bristow Historical Society, why, they've been able to renovate that and do that as as you most people know, that there is a an area that, not sure exactly what to call it, but it comes off of Main Street and it's open. It's an area that 00:20:51.424 --> 00:20:52.240 The town square? 00:20:52.240 --> 00:22:33.519 Yes, it's the town square, but you come off of Main Street, walk through what was a building, Bob had, has a very elaborate roof on that. And then you come down and overlook the, overlook the depot, and there are steps there. Bob used to call those the steps to nowhere, meaning that it was going to be up to another generation to build from the steps to the depot. And under Mayor Washington, why, that was done, and they had a ceremony that honored Bob that night, which was a night of, it was around Christmas time. And there was a nice, it was a nice tribute to the fact that his vision, and I'm sure that many others had, had become a reality. And so, today, the depot is used by the historical society. It is a place of a lot of activity and a lot of things that reflect on Bristow's history. So, were he able to communicate with us, he would be pleased about that, and he would, also, obviously say, I told you, so if you just stay in that meeting long enough, why, you're going to be just fine. So, but anyway, lots of fond memories, and lots of fond memories of of that class, especially since my dad was in that, why, working with Joe and working with Bob and Francis Hayhurst and others, really was enriching to me and gave me something that I wouldn't otherwise have. And, and those, those, all those gentlemen and ladies, became very, very dear to me. And, so, I'm glad that I was able to function a little bit to to achieve their dream. 00:22:33.519 --> 00:22:33.900 Right. 00:22:33.900 --> 00:23:39.200 And leave something for the next generations to come, and certainly, the Historical Society today that's preserving that just as they tried, just as they're moving the Chrysler Tower to Main Street and other things. I mean, they're, they're well, they're very well, well administered, and just doing a super job. And other places in town, such as Bristow, I think would would do anything to have that type of an administrator over, not just the depot, but over the history of the town, and trying to continually bring that back. The Trigalets do great work. They've been, Joe's been involved in Route 66, which is the anniversary, 100th anniversary, of Highway 66, and I think that's helped Bristow greatly. I want to note that my contribution has been that my half of the class made Joe Trigalet, who went to high school with me, made his top half of the class possible. 00:23:39.200 --> 00:23:51.799 Well, you know, I love the Trigalets, and I think they've done a fantastic job, and I've enjoyed working with them, and very thankful that they have preserved the depot and moved it forward. 00:23:51.799 --> 00:23:53.299 Sure. It's great. 00:23:53.299 --> 00:24:08.319 So, I had also heard that there, and this was coming from Joe, that there was in the midst of all of this, that there was a Yale educated attorney, maybe, that said he'd gotten "hometowned". I don't know. Do you recall that? 00:24:08.319 --> 00:24:38.484 I really don't, but it was possible we did. We, I mean, we, we were able to take every favorable disposition that we might have, we might have encountered, as far as the depot is concerned, and when we did that in the court of law, we certainly never objected to a judge that sided with us and gave gave us more time. 00:24:38.484 --> 00:24:38.845 Yeah. 00:24:38.845 --> 00:24:59.920 The problem is, we got the short term. We couldn't have gotten the long term through, the through the court. And I don't want it to seem that we, in any way, or doing anything where the judges were doing anything that was incorrect. They just have to rule one way or the other. And you know, sometimes those Tulsa attorneys don't think they should lose in small towns. Matters not if you lose. You always say you're hometowned. 00:24:59.920 --> 00:25:17.000 Right, right, right. Well, is there anything else that you can think of that would be an interesting add to, I guess, you know, the contributions from Bob or some of the other Class of '40, or even you and your family? 00:25:17.000 --> 00:27:59.140 Oh, well, I mean, I think you always try to put back. And I think that the the efforts that culminated in the Class of '40, which were, which received wide support from other classes, I think that that was predicated upon generosity and also predicated upon a view of the future. If you, if you hold these folks up to be reflective of what happens historically, oftentimes that gets you in a situation where you you can understand the future, maybe, a little bit better. I know that, I know that we had, Bristow is fortunate at this time to have another, what I would call Bob Chadderdon aficionado, and in Tommy Thompson. And Tommy was a counselor at the school for a number of years, and really worked hand in glove trying to promote the same thing that Bob tried to promote, which was education. Get out of Bristow, go get your good education. If you come back, come back. And he was instrumental, I know, in pushing several kids into the service academies, one of whom, Calvin Foster is an admiral today in the Navy in charge of an enormous cadre of ships and people. They've, I think, you could go down the list of people from Bristow that have had the opportunity to go out and make something of themselves and of the world. And some of them may have have done nothing more than go be very successful welders or be very successful truck drivers. Those are everything is just as important as anything else. And it's not a matter of, it's not a matter of a particular position or affluence. It's a matter of contribution and and living a life that contributes to your to the to the good of the whole. And I think that's what that's what was recognized. That's one of the things that if you look back through those, those that 1940 class log, you'll see people that that were highly regarded, that didn't survive the war. But yet their friends did, and their friends took a special meaning in trying to take that spark that had been their friend forward in in by what's reflected in the works that they did. And I think that was part of what was trying to be passed on, hopefully, was passed on, that your work as an individual, whatever it is, do your work well and try to try to make a place better for others. And that's that's the I think that was reflected in everything that was done at that time. 00:27:59.140 --> 00:28:48.740 Well, I know just in the time that I've been managing the oral histories, whether it's been working on old ones or the new ones that I've done, I have learned so much about Bristow's rich history, and it has a very interesting history, and it's really gotten me excited to be more involved with the Historical Society. And you know, we always hope that by doing this, and you know, getting it out to the public, that it'll get them excited and to appreciate and to give back also. And you know, we have so many people from all over the country that visit the depot, and you really just want your even your hometown people to appreciate it and love it as much as we do. 00:28:48.740 --> 00:30:47.345 Well, I agree with that. And any time that you lose, in this case, the depot, I mean, once it's gone, stories are gone. Once it's gone, there's not the place that has the ingrained history to to locate all of the historical documents and and items that that the Historical Society has has put in place. You know, you had so many different people that came through that depot. You know, you had Gene Autry was, was the station master for a while. And you have, you know, Woody Guthrie, just down the road in Okemah, who obviously passed through this area regularly. All of those things, I think, are, are small, small bits of heritage for this area. And you know, one of the things that I have always found to be very accurate, and that is my late uncle, Tracy had on his desk a painted rock and it said, bloom where you're planted. And you'll see that that is also a slogan that's over my desk, because I believe we never know really. Life gives you twists and turns, and you're never really quite sure where you're going to be or what you're going to be responsible for, but whatever that may be, bloom where you're planted. And I think if people can take that as a, as a, as really a watch word phrase, as opposed to just just ignoring it, I think there'll be a lot, lot better, because sometimes where you're planted is where you're supposed to prosper and where you're supposed to contribute. And that, I think, is one of the most important things we can take from, from everything here. I mean, Bristow, the center of the country. It's not New York, it's not Rockefeller Center, and and, you know, that's where, where Bob was. If I said it is Rockefeller Center. I hope I said that, but he took great pride in that address, by the way. 00:30:47.345 --> 00:30:58.565 Well, it's funny, because I was gonna, my final question I was gonna ask you was, if you had any wisdom you would like to leave or share for future generations, but I think you've kind of just answered that. I like that. 00:30:58.565 --> 00:31:24.650 Yeah, I think that's what I would say, you know you you can't control, necessarily, what happens to you, and you can't control, necessarily, the environment that it happens to you in, but you can control how you respond and how you, how you try to make the most out of, out of a setback or an unexpected relocation, or things such as that. Everybody's going to have those. 00:31:24.650 --> 00:31:36.275 Yes, well, your interview will become an important part of our oral history Archives for the museum. Thank you for your time talking with us and thank you for sharing your recollection of saving the depot. 00:31:36.275 --> 00:31:38.275 You're welcome. Thank you. NOTE TRANSCRIPTION END ]]> video 0 https://bristoworalhistory.org/ohms/render.php?cachefile=OHP-0073_Kell_Kelly.xml OHP-0073_Kell_Kelly.xml
Dublin Core
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Title
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Albert "Kell" Kelly
Description
An account of the resource
Kell Kelly talks about his role in saving the Bristow Train Depot. Kell, born in Tulsa on November 21, 1954, shares his family history, including his grandfather Albert Kelly's arrival in Bristow in 1902 and his father's service in World War II. Kell recounts how Bob Chadderdon, a wealthy philanthropist, led efforts to preserve the depot, which was owned by Burlington Northern and in disrepair. Despite initial resistance, they acquired the depot for $1 and raised funds for its renovation. The depot now serves as a historical centerpiece, reflecting Bristow's heritage and the vision of the Greatest Generation.
Identifier
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OHP-0073
Date
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2025-06-20
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video
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https://bristoworalhistory.org/files/original/aba9334e477e11cbf031fb5b286c73ba.jpg
750f9eed895274b3528283c1738891c2
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The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Family Histories
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Oral History
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Oral accounts of various family histories
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Bristow Historical Society, oral history collection
Oral History
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Interviewer
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Regan Siler
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Mary Franks
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https://bristoworalhistory.org/ohms/render.php?cachefile=OHP-0072_Mary_Franks.xml
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6.0 June 11, 2025 OHP-0072 Mary Franks OHP-0072 00:49:56 Bristow Historical Society - Oral History Archive Bristow Historical Society, Inc. bristowhistory Mary Franks Regan Siler 0 https://bristoworalhistory.org/interviews/OHP-0072 Franks, Mary.mp4 Other video 0 Background/Birth Regan Siler 00:00
 ; This is Regan Siler with the Bristow Historical Society in Bristow, Oklahoma. This interview is part of the Historical Society's ongoing oral history project. The date is June 11, 2025 and I'm sitting here with Mary Franks at the Bristow Library Annex. She is going to tell us a little bit about her life and her history living in the Bristow area. Can you please state your full name?
 ; 
 ; Mary Franks 00:24
 ; My name is Mary Evelyn Franks.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 00:27
 ; Okay, and do I have permission to do this interview? 
 ; 
 ; Mary Franks 00:29
 ; Yes, ma'am.
 ; Mary Evelyn Franks was born on August 6, 1943. She was born in Bristow, Oklahoma at her home. Her family's doctor, Dr. Coppedge delivered her. Bristow Historical Society ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Bristow Library Annex ; Mary Evelyn Franks ; Dr. Coppedge Birth 0 70 Parents Regan Siler 01:10
 ; Okay, um, and let's talk about the people in your family. Let's start with your parents. What are your parents full names, and I have their dates of birth, I think. But we can, we can, I can verify that with you. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 01:25
 ; Alright. At the time I was born, I had one older sister. I am one of eight children. All eight of which are still living.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 01:28
 ; My goodness. 
 ; 
 ; Mary Franks 01:32
 ; And I knew early on, I did not want a large family.
 ; Mary's mother was Norma May Henderson Graham. Her father was William Eliga Graham. Mary's mother was a homemaker. Her father worked in the oil field. He was a pumper and a truck driver. He worked for the Krumme Oil Company for about 50 years. William Eliga Gramm ; Norma Mae Henderson Gramm ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Kellyville (Okla.) ; Slick (Okla.) ; Lebanon (Mo.) ; Krumme Oil Company Parents 0 320 Siblings Regan Siler 05:20
 ; And, then, you said you were number two of eight siblings or of eight children?
 ; 
 ; Mary Franks 05:26
 ; Number two of eight children. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 05:27
 ; Okay.
 ; 
 ; Mary Franks 05:28
 ; All eight of us are still alive. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 05:29
 ; That's amazing. 
 ; 
 ; Mary Franks 05:30
 ; Active, healthy, we've been blessed. I loved growing up in a large family. But I didn't want a large family.
 ; Mary was one of eight children. She was the second born child. Mary has a sister that is about a year and a half older than her. She says that all eight are still living. Mary says that she loved growing up in a large family but did not want a large family of her own. Norma May Henderson Graham Siblings 0 418 Home and School Regan Siler 06:58
 ; That's good. Did you, did you get to grow up around any other family, like extended family?
 ; 
 ; Mary Franks 07:04
 ; I told you I was born at home, two and a half miles south of Bristow. We moved to, I don't remember that. I was to young. I was a toddler. We moved half a mile down on the corner, right the corner of two mile corner. There was a big barn there and a frame house. And the property was owned by a Mr. Abraham, another Bristow person and Abraham Family. So, over the years, got to know who those folks were, especially back in time for rental payment, and, anyway, we lived there until I was in the eighth grade. Lived on that corner, two miles south of town. And went to school at a little country school.
 ; Mary grew up in a home a few miles out of town. It was owned by Mr. Abraham. She attended a country school, Central School. It was previously known as 48 School. Mr. Abraham ; Central School ; 48 School ; Highway 66 ; JL Darnell ; Gypsy (Okla.) ; Newby (Okla.) ; Tuskegee (Okla.) ; Iron Post School ; Wyatt School ; Missouri ; William Eliga Gramm ; Norma Mae Henderson Gramm Home ; School 0 618 Early Childhood Regan Siler 10:18
 ; Right, right. Well, let's talk a little bit about your early childhood and home life. Do you happen to remember any of your favorite toys or games that you played when you were young?
 ; 
 ; Mary Franks 10:29
 ; We played tin cans. We had jump ropes. We jump ropes, jacks. We did a lot of outdoor games. Being the older siblings, we took care of the smaller children. Played games with them, so one person was learning. I mean, our favorite thing to play was school. We loved our teacher. We played school. We were church going family, who played church. We had more church services in our backyard. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 11:05
 ; That's awesome.
 ; Mary says that her and her siblings played a lot of outdoor games. They played tin cans, jump rope and jacks. She helped take care of the younger children. They also played a lot of school and church. Childhood ; School ; Church Childhood 0 694 Healthcare Mary Franks 11:34
 ; All born at hom, so I knew early on all about pregnancies and babies and stuff like that, except the two younger boys, and they were both born in the hospital. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 11:42
 ; Okay.
 ; 
 ; Mary Franks 11:43
 ; Here in Bristow. Everybody was healthy. We we shared everything, like sniffles and colds, measles.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 11:55
 ; So, as far as healthcare, then, did the did you did the doctor come to your house if you were ever sick, or did you guys handle that at home, usually?
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 12:03
 ; Right.
 ; Mary says that her mother had six children at home and then the youngest two boys in the hospital. Dr. Coppedge was the family's doctor when Mary was born. Later they used Dr. Harrs, another physician in town. Mary says her family was pretty healthy, but they did share things like sniffles, colds and the measles. Bristow (Okla.) ; Measles ; Dr. Coppedge ; Dr. Harrs Healthcare 0 753 School Regan Siler 12:33
 ; Okay, okay, so you told me you first attended school at the 48 School, um, from there, where did you go after, after you left that school?
 ; 
 ; Mary Franks 12:48
 ; Seventh grade, when we moved, just out of the edge of Bristow here, going out by the the cemetery, out on the highway, you turned on that dirt road now by the cemetery and two miles west, we moved a larger house that had indoor, partial indoor plumbing. Still didn't have indoor plumbing. We had a well on our back porch. We had a big front porch and a big back porch, plus we had more living space. So, from a family living in a four room house for many years, well, seven years of my life, then we finally lived in a place where we could have more bedrooms. More things to do, a big barn and a, bigger barn. Had a place for us to have animals.
 ; Mary first attended school at 48 School/Central School. She then went to Bristow Schools from part of the eighth grade to graduation. Mary and all of her siblings graduated from Bristow Public Schools. Evalee Smith was an influential teacher in Mary's life. Mary loved school and dreamed of becoming a teacher someday. Central School ; 48 School ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Evalee Smith School 0 986 Mealtimes Regan Siler 16:26
 ; So, can you tell me what it was like at your house during meal times? What were meal times like at your house?
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 16:31
 ; Right.
 ; 
 ; Mary Franks 16:31
 ; You know, it wasn't just me, that was our family way of life. But my older sister and I helped in the kitchen.
 ; 
 ; Mary Franks 16:31
 ; We all sat down to the table at the same time. We had one meal. It was family style, and we always said grace before meals. We passed the food around or reached and, you know, you had to take turn, but, normally, we had to pass it around. Being one of the older ones, I helped prepare the meal, helped put it on the table, through the setting of the places and cleaned up afterwards. You know, whatever needed to be done. I helped cook it. I helped wash, I mean, we all did.
 ; Mary recalls mealtimes during her childhood ; she says they all ate together as a family. Her favorite meal growing up was probably beans and cornbread. Mary says as one of the older children that she helped prepare and cleanup from the meals. She remembers eating a lot of potatoes. Norma Mae Henderson Gramm Mealtimes 0 1104 Community Activities Regan Siler 18:24
 ; Yeah. Yeah, okay. Well, thinking back to town life and growing up in the Bristow area, do you remember any of your favorite community activities? Say, for instance, like Western Heritage Days, or maybe day camp, parades, county fairs? Is there anything like that that you can tell us about?
 ; 
 ; Mary Franks 18:43
 ; Well, school and all the activities involved with school, including distributive education, which is one of the things that led me to my first job.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 18:54
 ; Okay.
 ; Mary mainly remembers the activities that she participated in being with the school. She says the distribution education is one of the things that led to her first job. Bristow (Okla.) Community Activities 0 1135 Church Mary Franks 18:55
 ; But yes, I loved everything going on in Bristow as a child. I uh, my dad always had a car, and we went to church. That was big part of our life. Wednesdays, Sundays, Sunday evening.
 ; 
 ; Mary Franks 19:13
 ; Where did you attend church? Free Holiness Church on First Street. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 19:17
 ; Oh, okay, so the the same church, but that's been kind of renovated now, right? 
 ; 
 ; Mary Franks 19:22
 ; Oh, yes, through many, many I went to church there until I married, and then Larry and I were older when we married, then we chose Church of God, because he knew the folks there. He'd attended that church. It was a small church. It's a little different and it, it's where we made our commitment together to to be Christians and to do what we could and raising our family, living a lifestyle that we thought would be acceptable to God.
 ; Mary and her family attended the Free Holiness Church in Bristow. They had church services on Sunday mornings, Sunday evenings and Wednesday evenings. After Mary was married, her and her husband started attending the Church of God. Bristow (Okla.) ; Free Holiness Church ; Church of God ; God Church 0 1196 Bristow Businesses Regan Siler 19:56
 ; Right. Well, do you remember any of the particular popular businesses or restaurants around town? Do you have any memory of that? Things that places you shopped, or places you ate that were, stick out to you and your memories?
 ; 
 ; Mary Franks 20:13
 ; We didn't eat out a lot. There were eight of us.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 20:16
 ; Right, right.
 ; 
 ; Mary Franks 20:17
 ; Ten people, and I learned to cook for ten people. So, the things that we did as kids, we did a lot of family gatherings, picnics, and we always had lots of cousins and friends. So, our house always had at least two or other people that came to visit. Of course, when they came to visit with my sister, they were there with all of us. When they came for the boys, well, we were all together, so and then we were at home, the neighbors would come to our house. We'd go to their house.
 ; Mary says with growing up in a large family that they did not eat out a lot. Mary and her siblings mainly had homemade clothes or hand me downs from their cousins. Mary would visit the Bristow Library with her teacher, and she really enjoyed it. 48 School ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Bristow Public Library Businesses 0 1347 Vacation/Going to Tulsa Regan Siler 22:27
 ; So, you said your dad always had a car. Did you guys ever get to go on any type of vacations? I'm sure that was probably difficult having that many children in your family.
 ; 
 ; Mary Franks 22:36
 ; Weekends, like I said, we'd would always go to church and we would like go to Mowhawk Park as a family, go to Tulsa. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 22:45
 ; Okay, okay.
 ; 
 ; Mary Franks 22:46
 ; Vacation, I remember, we went to Kansas to visit some family, and that's little car.
 ; Mary says that besides church on the weekends, her family also visited Mowhawk Park in Tulsa. They also sometimes vacationed to Kansas to visit family. Church ; Mowhawk Park ; Tulsa (Okla.) ; Kansas Vacation 0 1375 Television Regan Siler 22:55
 ; Oh, I bet, I bet. So, did you ever, did you have a TV in your house growing up?
 ; 
 ; Mary Franks 23:02
 ; Not early on. I was probably 11-years-old.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 23:10
 ; Okay. Do you remember any favorite programs you watched? 
 ; 
 ; Mary Franks 23:14
 ; Well, they were when we'd visit relatives, they had TV. So, I loved watching TV in their homes. The story lines, I loved the family stories, and also the family shows, game shows. We had a telephone, so we were able to visit.
 ; Mary says her family did not have a television in the home until she was about 11 years old. She says she loved the family shows and the game shows. Television Television 0 1419 Holidays Regan Siler 23:39
 ; Right. What, excuse me, what were family holidays like at your house? For instance, say Christmas. Tell me what a typical Christmas was like in your house, growing up.
 ; 
 ; Mary Franks 23:54
 ; Chaotic. We always had plenty to eat. We, of course, our lives centered around school. So, we had our school programs and our, where we all had chances to be on the stage and do those kind of things to get our bags of candy to go home. So, we had those candies, apples and oranges, and in church, we did similar programs, you know, with youth activities, and we have parties and treats and things there. But it took like at home, we would didn't have much money to do with but we did get a little bit of an allowance, and we would buy for each other. So, we had really interesting Christmas gifts that we wrapped up.
 ; Mary remembers the Christmas school programs being a big part of her childhood. She also recalls the Christmas candy bags that her and her siblings received. Mary's mother and father always managed to buy Christmas gifts for all of the children. Birthdays were a big celebration in Mary's family. Easter was also a big holiday in her family. Holidays ; Christmas ; Easter ; Birthdays ; William Eliga Gramm ; Norma Mae Henderson Gramm Holidays 0 1521 Childhood Dreams Regan Siler 25:21
 ; Right. So, I was going to ask if you remember what you wanted to be when you grew up. But I'm guessing it was a teacher.
 ; 
 ; Mary Franks 25:27
 ; Always a teacher.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 25:28
 ; Okay, um, so did you attend college?
 ; 
 ; Mary Franks 25:33
 ; No, I'm just lucky to get through high school, Regan. We moved when I was in the, I finished the seventh grade. I was in the eighth grade. Came to Bristow High School, that was junior high, which was really different. You know, there were more people in my home room than there were in the whole school at 48, so I met lots of people, many I knew from church, but not, not everyone. And, then, was introduced to new things to do as as a junior high student. And then,
 ; Mary dreamed of becoming a teacher when she grew up. She says that college was not possible for her. She says because of being in a large family that she was lucky to finish high school. Mary made a lot of friends in school. Teacher ; Bristow High School Dreams 0 1640 Work Regan Siler 27:20
 ; Now you told me you start, did you start working at Ben Franklin? Is that where you started working? 
 ; 
 ; Mary Franks 27:25
 ; Yes.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 27:25
 ; Okay.
 ; 
 ; Mary Franks 27:26
 ; I worked three years while I was in high school. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 27:29
 ; Oh, okay.
 ; Mary's first job was working at the Ben Franklin store in Bristow. She worked at Ben Franklin part time for three years while in high school. She continued working there after graduation. She worked full time for three years. Then Mary had the opportunity to go work at the American National Bank in Bristow. She ended up being employed at the bank for over 50 years. Ben Franklin ; High School ; Garment Factory ; American National Bank ; SpiritBank ; Travis Patton ; Pauline Patton ; Bristow (Okla) ; Tracy Kelly Work 0 2101 Meeting Sam and Helen Walton Regan Siler 35:01
 ; So, tell me, you had when we had visited on the phone, you mentioned an interesting tidbit about meeting Sam and Helen Walton through the bank. Can you tell me about that? 
 ; 
 ; Mary Franks 35:12
 ; Actually, not through the bank. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 35:14
 ; Oh, not through the bank. 
 ; 
 ; Mary Franks 35:14
 ; Travis Patton.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 35:15
 ; Oh, okay, okay.
 ; Mary had the opportunity to meet Sam and Helen Walton, the founders of Walmart. She met them while working at Ben Franklin. Sam Walton and Travis Patton were friends. When Mary and her husband were honeymooning in Arkansas, they visited Walmart. Mr. Walton later expanded Walmart to other states, including Oklahoma. Mr. Walton originally planned on keeping everything American made. Sam Walton ; Helen Walton ; Ben Franklin ; Arkansas ; Lawrence Wayne Franks ; Walmart ; Oklahoma ; Kelly family ; Chamber of Commerce ; Bristow Chamber of Commerce ; State Chamber of Commerce ; National Chamber of Commerce Sam and Helen Walton 0 2315 Husband and Marriage Regan Siler 38:35
 ; To come to Bristow. Well, let's talk about your immediate family. Let's start with your spouse. Can you tell me his full name?
 ; 
 ; Mary Franks 38:45
 ; Lawrence Wayne Franks, and he grew up two miles north of Bristow.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 38:50
 ; And he goes by Larry?
 ; 
 ; Mary Franks 38:52
 ; I call him Larry. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 38:53
 ; Larry, okay. And what, do you know his date of birth? 
 ; 
 ; Mary Franks 38:56
 ; Sure. 12/19/1941.
 ; Mary's husband is Lawrence Wayne Franks. Mary calls him Larry. He grew up two miles north of Bristow. Mary and Larry went to high school together but did not start dating until after Larry returned from his military career. They were married in 1967 at the Church of God. Bristow (Okla.) ; Lawrence Wayne Franks ; Military ; Bristow High School ; Church of God ; Serro Scotty Husband ; Marriage 0 2439 Children Regan Siler 40:39
 ; Okay. Um, can you tell me how many children you have? 
 ; 
 ; Mary Franks 40:42
 ; We have two.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 40:44
 ; Two children, and can you tell me their names and give me their dates of birth, please?
 ; 
 ; Mary Franks 40:48
 ; Yes, our children were our chosen children. We, like I shared earlier, I told you I didn't ever want to have kids. I grew up in a large family. I was next to the oldest. I loved kids and wanted to be a teacher, but I didn't really think I wanted to have children after we were married. We were married six years before we got our daughter, and she was adopted. She was chosen. She'd been in foster care. We don't know a lot about her background. Chose not to know. We got her out of through the state.
 ; Mary has two children that are adopted. She says they were chosen children. Mary and her husband had originally planned on not having children but decided to go the adoption route. They wanted to provide for children that did not have a home. Mary and Larry adopted through the state. They adopted their daughter, Missy Maree six years after marriage. They adopted their son, David Wayne five years later. Missy Maree Collins ; John T. Collins ; David Wayne Franks ; Adoption ; Department of Human Services (DHS) ; Sunday School ; Bible School ; Boy Scouts ; Lawrence Wayne Franks Children 0 2716 Grandchildren Regan Siler 45:16
 ; Right, right. Do you have any grandchildren at this time? 
 ; 
 ; Mary Franks 45:18
 ; Yes, we do have. We have, Missy and John T had two boys, and they adopted a daughter, so they have a high school daughter who is our, she's our seventh grandchild.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 45:36
 ; My goodness, okay.
 ; 
 ; Mary Franks 45:37
 ; And then we have great grandchildren.
 ; Mary and her husband have seven grandchildren. She says they also have great grandchildren. Grandchildren ; Great Grandchildren ; Lawrence Wayne Franks ; Missy Maree Collins ; John T. Collins Grandchildren 0 2740 Retirement Regan Siler 45:40
 ; Okay, okay. Well, have you enjoyed being retired? I know you left the bank. you said you left the bank in 2019, so you've been retired for a little while. Do you enjoy retirement?
 ; 
 ; Mary Franks 45:51
 ; I do enjoy retirement. I enjoy life and travel and banking and all of that. So, Larry and I love vacations and getaways, and we did that all the years before kids and with kids and after kids.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 46:06
 ; Right, right. 
 ; 
 ; Mary Franks 46:06
 ; We still like to travel. So yes, I do enjoy it.
 ; Mary retired from the bank in 2019. She loves her retired life. Mary and her husband enjoy vacations and getaways. SpiritBank ; Retirement ; Vacations ; Lawrence Wayne Franks ; Travel Retirement 0 2772 Important Invention Regan Siler 46:12
 ; Well, I'm going to ask you kind of a fun question. What would you consider to be the most important invention during your lifetime?
 ; 
 ; Mary Franks 46:24
 ; The most important? Oh, they've all been wonderful. [Indecipherable]
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 46:36
 ; Well, now that's pretty important in my book.
 ; 
 ; Mary Franks 46:40
 ; I'm just been silly. Probably, I don't know, radio is pretty important. I remember radio being my one of my fondest things.
 ; Mary believes the radio was a very important invention. She loves listening to music, particularly Gospel music. Invention ; Radio ; Gospel music Invention 0 2815 How the World is Different Regan Siler 46:55
 ; Gospel, okay, and then how do you feel the world is different now than when you were a child?
 ; 
 ; Mary Franks 47:07
 ; People have access to a lot more information and opportunities than I ever knew about as a child. Maybe those things were available, but I loved growing up in a large family. I love being a part of business. I love being a part of all the church activities and social parts of, I like people. I like being out. One of the hardest things for me since retirement has not been the daily contact.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 47:40
 ; Your contact.
 ; Mary feels like the world is different now than when she was a child. She says that people have access to more information and opportunities. World ; COVID World 0 2878 Wisdom Regan Siler 47:58
 ; Right, okay, um, well, is there anything else that you would like to tell us about, or any wisdom that you would like to share for future generations?
 ; 
 ; Mary Franks 48:07
 ; The most important thing, I think, is your relationship with God and then with each other and your family and children, and we are blessed. Everybody's been healthy. We, one my one of the biggest challenges as a grandparent has been having, I love all of our kids and grandkids, but we, we do have a handicap granddaughter who has been a big part of my life. And I think it's so sad that children have handicaps, and, you know, sometimes having the access and capabilities of getting the care they need.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 48:52
 ; Right, right, I can understand that.
 ; Mary finishes the interview with some words of wisdom. She says the most important thing is your relationship with God and then with your family. She also wanted to say that she loves her town of Bristow. Wisdom ; God ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Grandchildren Wisdom 0 MP4 Mary Franks, born August 6, 1943, in Bristow, Oklahoma, was one of eight children. She was born at home and delivered by Dr. Coppedge. Her parents, William Elijah Graham and Norma May Henderson Graham, were homemakers and oil field workers. Mary attended 48 District School and later Bristow High School, graduating in 1961. She worked at Ben Franklin and Spirit Bank for over 50 years. Mary and her husband, Larry, had two children, Missy Maree (1966) and David Wayne (1970). Mary emphasized the importance of family, faith, and community involvement. NOTE TRANSCRIPTION BEGIN 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:24.765 This is Regan Siler with the Bristow Historical Society in Bristow, Oklahoma. This interview is part of the Historical Society's ongoing oral history project. The date is June 11, 2025 and I'm sitting here with Mary Franks at the Bristow Library Annex. She is going to tell us a little bit about her life and her history living in the Bristow area. Can you please state your full name? 00:00:24.765 --> 00:00:27.405 My name is Mary Evelyn Franks. 00:00:27.405 --> 00:00:29.625 Okay, and do I have permission to do this interview? 00:00:29.625 --> 00:00:30.359 Yes, ma'am. 00:00:30.359 --> 00:00:34.740 Okay. So, can you tell me when and where you were born? 00:00:34.740 --> 00:00:43.320 I was born in Bristow, Oklahoma, in 1943 two mile about two and a half miles south of Bristow. 00:00:43.320 --> 00:00:45.240 So, were you born at home? 00:00:45.240 --> 00:00:46.679 I was born at home. 00:00:46.679 --> 00:00:47.820 Okay. 00:00:47.820 --> 00:00:53.399 And I had one sibling. My sister was, like, a year and a half older than me. 00:00:53.399 --> 00:00:56.000 Okay, and, so, do you know who delivered you? 00:00:56.000 --> 00:00:59.119 Dr. Coppedge. 00:00:59.119 --> 00:00:59.359 Okay. 00:00:59.359 --> 00:01:00.439 Medical doctor. 00:01:00.439 --> 00:01:05.060 I've actually heard of him through some of my interviews. So, he came to your house and delivered you, then. 00:01:05.060 --> 00:01:05.599 He did. 00:01:05.599 --> 00:01:08.239 Okay. And what was your actual date of birth? 00:01:08.239 --> 00:01:10.819 August 6, 1943. 00:01:10.819 --> 00:01:25.640 Okay, um, and let's talk about the people in your family. Let's start with your parents. What are your parents full names, and I have their dates of birth, I think. But we can, we can, I can verify that with you. 00:01:25.640 --> 00:01:28.840 Alright. At the time I was born, I had one older sister. I am one of eight children. All eight of which are still living. 00:01:28.840 --> 00:01:32.799 My goodness. 00:01:32.799 --> 00:01:44.799 And I knew early on, I did not want a large family. 00:01:44.799 --> 00:01:46.000 After growing up in one? 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:50.545 I loved growing up in one, and had lots of playmates, lots and lots of friends. 00:01:50.545 --> 00:01:51.019 Right. 00:01:51.019 --> 00:02:00.500 Always a house full of people. But my parents' names, William Eliga Gramm - G R A M M. 00:02:00.500 --> 00:02:01.219 Okay. 00:02:01.219 --> 00:02:05.659 My mother's name was Norma Mae Henderson Gramm. 00:02:05.659 --> 00:02:10.560 And did your dad go by Eliga? 00:02:10.560 --> 00:02:14.780 That was his given name, but most people called him Lige or Ligie. 00:02:14.780 --> 00:02:20.360 Okay, and I have his birthday as 12/18/1918? 00:02:20.360 --> 00:02:20.900 That's correct. 00:02:20.900 --> 00:02:27.860 Okay, and then I have your mom's birthday as 8/20/1920? 00:02:27.860 --> 00:02:29.479 Yes, '21. 00:02:29.479 --> 00:02:34.580 8/20/1921? Okay, I'll correct that. 00:02:34.580 --> 00:02:38.840 You did call me about that. I had originally told you. 00:02:38.840 --> 00:02:45.020 Okay, oh, maybe, yeah, maybe I didn't change it. Okay, can you tell me what type of work your parents did? 00:02:45.020 --> 00:03:04.025 My mother, of course, with eight children, was a homemaker. She did everything. My dad worked in the oil field. At the time I was born, he worked at a box factory, and the box factory was in Bristow on South Main. It was later known as the peanut mill. 00:03:04.025 --> 00:03:05.000 Oh, okay. 00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:25.039 It was on the corner of Main, and I believe that was Third Street. And so as a child growing up, people would always comment about my brown eyes, and where did you, you get those pretty brown eyes? And I'd always say my dad got them. My daddy got them at the peanut mill. 00:03:25.039 --> 00:03:25.939 Yeah. So, that was always kind of a joke around the house. 00:03:25.939 --> 00:03:29.479 Oh, funny! 00:03:29.479 --> 00:03:40.580 So, did your, did your parents always live here? Or did something, did something bring them to Bristow? Were they always from around this area? Do you know? 00:03:40.580 --> 00:04:11.884 They lived here since they were children. My mother, actually, lived between Bristow and Kellyville on the old Kellyville road going towards Slick. She went to high school at Slick. Graduated high school there. My dad grew up between Bristow and the outskirts of Bristow. His dad was a farmer, and he moved here from Missouri when he was probably 12, 13-years-old. 00:04:11.884 --> 00:04:12.485 Okay. 00:04:12.485 --> 00:04:20.139 No, 10, probably more like nine and 10 years old from Lebanon, Missouri. 00:04:20.139 --> 00:04:39.879 You know, a lot of people, I've realized, during a lot of these interviews that there was a lot of people that came from Missouri to Bristow, and I'm not sure if it was because of the oil or farming or what it was, but there was a lot of families that moved here from Missouri. 00:04:39.879 --> 00:04:40.600 For work, I think. 00:04:40.600 --> 00:04:45.564 Yeah, yeah. And then, so, you said your dad was in the oil business, too? 00:04:45.564 --> 00:04:52.524 Yes, yeah. He worked in the oil field business as a pumper and a truck driver. 00:04:52.524 --> 00:04:53.079 Okay. 00:04:53.079 --> 00:04:59.500 He worked many years. 50 years? [Indecipherable] for his Krumme Oil Company. 00:04:59.500 --> 00:05:02.680 Oh! Okay, okay, another Bristow icon. 00:05:02.680 --> 00:05:03.399 Right. 00:05:03.399 --> 00:05:06.339 Yeah, okay, um. 00:05:06.339 --> 00:05:15.339 My mother, like I said, grew up around between Kellyville and Slick, so Bristow was kind of home. 00:05:15.339 --> 00:05:15.579 Okay. 00:05:15.579 --> 00:05:20.545 They met when they were in their early 20s. 00:05:20.545 --> 00:05:26.004 And, then, you said you were number two of eight siblings or of eight children? 00:05:26.004 --> 00:05:27.384 Number two of eight children. 00:05:27.384 --> 00:05:28.105 Okay. 00:05:28.105 --> 00:05:29.779 All eight of us are still alive. 00:05:29.779 --> 00:05:30.899 That's amazing. 00:05:30.899 --> 00:05:39.660 Active, healthy, we've been blessed. I loved growing up in a large family. But I didn't want a large family. 00:05:39.660 --> 00:05:42.660 Right, well, you always had built in playmates, I'm sure. 00:05:42.660 --> 00:05:43.319 Oh, I did. 00:05:43.319 --> 00:05:43.980 Yeah, yeah. 00:05:43.980 --> 00:05:54.000 And I always got to be the mother. It's kind of fun. I'll just mention it. I know you can delete what you don't want to use. 00:05:54.000 --> 00:06:58.649 My sister, like I said, was a year and a half older than me, and then two years later, after I was born, we had a brother, and then two years after, I had another brother. So, there was four of us, and two years after that brother, had a sister, and then a second sister, and then two years, they were two years apart. And then after the girls and had, two years later, brother Steven, and then my youngest brother, Brice. So, within a short time, we had eight children in our family. So, they each had a playmate. I had a sister to play with. My brothers had two boys to play with, you know, and two sisters and two boys. Almost like it was planned. It was part of God'splan. I guess. My mother never lost any children. She carried all of us full term. We were all healthy. vision problems, but mentally and physically active. 00:06:58.649 --> 00:07:04.540 That's good. Did you, did you get to grow up around any other family, like extended family? 00:07:04.540 --> 00:07:53.845 I told you I was born at home, two and a half miles south of Bristow. We moved to, I don't remember that. I was to young. I was a toddler. We moved half a mile down on the corner, right the corner of two mile corner. There was a big barn there and a frame house. And the property was owned by a Mr. Abraham, another Bristow person and Abraham Family. So, over the years, got to know who those folks were, especially back in time for rental payment, and, anyway, we lived there until I was in the eighth grade. Lived on that corner, two miles south of town. And went to school at a little country school. 00:07:53.845 --> 00:07:57.264 I think, did you say 00:07:57.264 --> 00:08:02.180 Two and a half miles is called Central School. It was known before that as 48 School. 00:08:02.180 --> 00:08:07.000 Forty-Eight School. I knew you had mentioned 48 School to me, and I hadn't heard it referred to as that. 00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:25.540 It was like other little country schools at that time, it was like two and a half miles from town, two miles from town to south and two back west, so four miles from town out by the airport, the hill just up from the airport. 00:08:25.540 --> 00:08:25.720 Okay. 00:08:25.720 --> 00:08:26.920 That's where I grew up. 00:08:26.920 --> 00:08:28.420 Oh, okay. 00:08:28.420 --> 00:08:55.164 So, we lived two miles back toward the Highway 66, went to school at that little school, and it was a country school with one teacher. Probably about 22 students, 20, 25 students, and the older kids kind of took care of the younger kids. So, we'd had like three or four people in the grade, and then there were eight of us. So, there were probably six of us. 00:08:55.164 --> 00:08:58.320 You made up half the school, didn't you? 00:08:58.320 --> 00:08:59.899 Other families did the same thing. 00:08:59.899 --> 00:08:59.919 Right. 00:08:59.919 --> 00:09:00.620 So, you know, we were like one big, happy family. Everything that went on at school was kind of like at home, and those kids would come home with us, we'd go home with them. 00:09:00.620 --> 00:09:04.399 It's just one big happy family. 00:09:04.399 --> 00:09:13.460 Tell me again what the actual name of the school was. 00:09:13.460 --> 00:09:20.120 It was called 48, District, 48 School. It's called Central School.l 00:09:20.120 --> 00:09:23.419 Central School, okay, okay. Well, let's talk a little 00:09:23.419 --> 00:10:18.409 And JL Darnell, who also had deep roots in Bristow, was the superintendent for all these little country schools, like at Gypsy and Newby and Tuskegee and Wyatt and Iron Post. My mother went school at Wyatt School, which was out around there actually people that lived out there, his name was Wyatt. Again, my dad didn't he went to school. When they moved here from Missouri, he did not go to school, maybe through the third, fourth grade. I don't know if he thought he was too smart for school or if wasn't important for him to go to school or just why he didn't go to school, but he wanted us to go to school. Of course, we never missed anything going on with school. If it didn't happen two miles down the road, you know, it's going to happen at school. 00:10:18.409 --> 00:10:29.000 Right, right. Well, let's talk a little bit about your early childhood and home life. Do you happen to remember any of your favorite toys or games that you played when you were young? 00:10:29.000 --> 00:11:05.825 We played tin cans. We had jump ropes. We jump ropes, jacks. We did a lot of outdoor games. Being the older siblings, we took care of the smaller children. Played games with them, so one person was learning. I mean, our favorite thing to play was school. We loved our teacher. We played school. We were church going family, who played church. We had more church services in our backyard. 00:11:05.825 --> 00:11:07.445 That's awesome. 00:11:07.445 --> 00:11:20.840 The teacher, I was going to be the teacher. One of the older ones, I speak up and say, I want to be the teacher. So, I was kind of hard out of those, so they had school at home as well as the school sometimes. 00:11:20.840 --> 00:11:24.259 So, did you have chores that you were expected to do as a youngster? 00:11:24.259 --> 00:11:31.279 Everything. You know, we lived in a four room house, and there were eight children. 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:34.220 So, you just were expected to help out where needed. at home. 00:11:34.220 --> 00:11:42.919 All born at hom, so I knew early on all about pregnancies and babies and stuff like that, except the two younger boys, and they were both born in the hospital. 00:11:42.919 --> 00:11:43.820 Okay. 00:11:43.820 --> 00:11:55.144 Here in Bristow. Everybody was healthy. We we shared everything, like sniffles and colds, measles. 00:11:55.144 --> 00:12:03.299 So, as far as healthcare, then, did the did you did the doctor come to your house if you were ever sick, or did you guys handle that at home, usually? 00:12:03.299 --> 00:12:07.080 Dr. Coppedge was the doctor that delivered me. He was our family doctor. And then Dr Harrs, another lifetime physician here in town. Moms had their babies at home. Doctors would make house calls at that time, and we were in the house, and the babies were being born, you know, they were in the other room. 00:12:07.080 --> 00:12:33.644 We learned more about the bird from the bees. 00:12:33.644 --> 00:12:48.159 Okay, okay, so you told me you first attended school at the 48 School, um, from there, where did you go after, after you left that school? 00:12:48.159 --> 00:13:51.129 Seventh grade, when we moved, just out of the edge of Bristow here, going out by the the cemetery, out on the highway, you turned on that dirt road now by the cemetery and two miles west, we moved a larger house that had indoor, partial indoor plumbing. Still didn't have indoor plumbing. We had a well on our back porch. We had a big front porch and a big back porch, plus we had more living space. So, from a family living in a four room house for many years, well, seven years of my life, then we finally lived in a place where we could have more bedrooms. More things to do, a big barn and a, bigger barn. Had a place for us to have animals. 00:13:51.129 --> 00:13:55.195 So, whenever you lived out there, what school, did you attend Bristow schools? 00:13:55.195 --> 00:14:17.934 Yes, moved into Bristow School and going from a country school with all ages into a classroom, let me see, I graduated class of '61 and went to school from part of the eighth, ninth, tenth grade. Well, we're all, I graduated high school, so that's the only school I went to. 00:14:17.934 --> 00:14:20.139 Okay, so you graduated from Bristow? 00:14:20.139 --> 00:14:26.559 Yes, 1961. All of us graduated from Bristow. 00:14:26.559 --> 00:14:36.519 Okay, okay, um, do you remember having any influential teachers that really stuck out to you or made a difference in your life? 00:14:36.519 --> 00:14:54.804 Every one of them did. I, like I said, I my dream was to be a teacher. I played school with my siblings. My teacher at 48 School or Central School, Evalee Smith (ph) was my mentor. She, well, the daughter my age. 00:14:54.804 --> 00:14:56.544 Say her name again. What was her name? 00:14:56.544 --> 00:14:58.899 Evalee Smith (ph). 00:14:58.899 --> 00:14:59.840 [undecipherable] Yes, folks living out, by where you live, out that direction. You lived out five mile corner and back out through "VanOrsdol Ville". 00:14:59.840 --> 00:15:01.580 Right, right. 00:15:01.580 --> 00:15:14.000 Where you grew up with your best friend. 00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:21.200 Right. See, you have a great memory. You, you remember a lot about me, even. 00:15:21.200 --> 00:15:22.460 I'm watching people grow up. 00:15:22.460 --> 00:15:23.500 Right. 00:15:23.500 --> 00:15:26.379 And then I worked in Bristow my whole life. 00:15:26.379 --> 00:15:29.779 Well, did you enjoy school? Did you have a favorite subject? 00:15:29.779 --> 00:15:32.240 I loved school. Anything reading. 00:15:32.240 --> 00:15:34.039 You love to read. 00:15:34.039 --> 00:16:26.389 But being an older student, I started first grade there, and then my siblings would go to school. And you know, when you live in a family with eight kids, it's fun to get to go to school before you go to school. My sister and I kind of paved the way, and then she was a year ahead of me, and then the others were, like, two years apart, and so we're supposed to have the older kids help with the reading programs, help with the math, of course, my dream was to be a teacher, and so if I fit right in, of course, we had our meals at school, our playground school, blackboard time, all that stuff. A lot of people coming and going within the school. Families moving in and out. 00:16:26.389 --> 00:16:31.940 So, can you tell me what it was like at your house during meal times? What were meal times like at your house? 00:16:31.940 --> 00:16:53.799 We all sat down to the table at the same time. We had one meal. It was family style, and we always said grace before meals. We passed the food around or reached and, you know, you had to take turn, but, normally, we had to pass it around. Being one of the older ones, I helped prepare the meal, helped put it on the table, through the setting of the places and cleaned up afterwards. You know, whatever needed to be done. I helped cook it. I helped wash, I mean, we all did. 00:16:53.799 --> 00:17:23.660 any favorite recipes or dishes that your mom fixed when you were young? Do you remember? 00:17:23.660 --> 00:17:49.539 She didn't really need a cookbook. She just knew how to how to cook. She we did get her cookbooks that was kind of a fun thing to give, get around birthday, or make her one. Just learned to cook the way my mother did.And she let us help with you know, we'd peel the potatoes. We had gardens. 00:17:49.539 --> 00:17:52.000 So, was there a favorite meal that you had? Do you remember? 00:17:52.000 --> 00:17:57.279 Probably beans and cornbread? Because we sure had them a lot. 00:17:57.279 --> 00:17:57.700 Right, right. 00:17:57.700 --> 00:18:19.660 A lot of potatoes, all the starchy foods. I'm not a meat eater today. We didn't have an awful lot. We had meat flavoring, and we had roast, pot roast. We had, used a lot of hamburger, and a lot of you can make a lot of dishes. 00:18:19.660 --> 00:18:24.085 I'm sure you had to be frugal with, they had to be frugal with eight kids. 00:18:24.085 --> 00:18:24.444 Right. 00:18:24.444 --> 00:18:43.359 Yeah. Yeah, okay. Well, thinking back to town life and growing up in the Bristow area, do you remember any of your favorite community activities? Say, for instance, like Western Heritage Days, or maybe day camp, parades, county fairs? Is there anything like that that you can tell us about? 00:18:43.359 --> 00:18:54.160 Well, school and all the activities involved with school, including distributive education, which is one of the things that led me to my first job. 00:18:54.160 --> 00:18:55.000 Okay. 00:18:55.000 --> 00:19:13.660 But yes, I loved everything going on in Bristow as a child. I uh, my dad always had a car, and we went to church. That was big part of our life. Wednesdays, Sundays, Sunday evening. 00:19:13.660 --> 00:19:17.079 Where did you attend church? Free Holiness Church on First Street. 00:19:17.079 --> 00:19:22.839 Oh, okay, so the the same church, but that's been kind of renovated now, right? 00:19:22.839 --> 00:19:56.424 Oh, yes, through many, many I went to church there until I married, and then Larry and I were older when we married, then we chose Church of God, because he knew the folks there. He'd attended that church. It was a small church. It's a little different and it, it's where we made our commitment together to to be Christians and to do what we could and raising our family, living a lifestyle that we thought would be acceptable to God. 00:19:56.424 --> 00:20:13.809 Right. Well, do you remember any of the particular popular businesses or restaurants around town? Do you have any memory of that? Things that places you shopped, or places you ate that were, stick out to you and your memories? 00:20:13.809 --> 00:20:16.690 We didn't eat out a lot. There were eight of us. 00:20:16.690 --> 00:20:17.359 Right, right. 00:20:17.359 --> 00:20:56.285 Ten people, and I learned to cook for ten people. So, the things that we did as kids, we did a lot of family gatherings, picnics, and we always had lots of cousins and friends. So, our house always had at least two or other people that came to visit. Of course, when they came to visit with my sister, they were there with all of us. When they came for the boys, well, we were all together, so and then we were at home, the neighbors would come to our house. We'd go to their house. 00:20:56.285 --> 00:21:09.839 So, as far as shopping, and, say, new clothes for a family of eight, did your mom make them? Did you get to shop? Did you only get them once a year? How did that work? 00:21:09.839 --> 00:22:19.289 My mom made a lot. She taught us to sew when we were young, and we helped make clothing for the younger kids in school at 48 [indecipherable]. In grade school, 4h was a big part of it ,so we learned to sew on the sewing machine there, and learned to do aprons and skirts. And, you know, there was always a challenge. Had cousins that would give us clothing that, sometimes, needed to be redone, and we would do that so, But yeah, our teacher would, I loved to read, and she would bring us into Bristow to the library. So, early on, going to the Bristow Library was a really fun thing for me, and we would all check out books and take them home. I was a bookworm, and we'd each have two or three books, and I'd read mine and then read everybody else's. And they would read ours before time to take our books back and then. 00:22:19.289 --> 00:22:23.055 So, it was almost like you got to check out eight books, huh? 00:22:23.055 --> 00:22:25.095 It was, and then read to the kids. 00:22:25.095 --> 00:22:25.335 Right. 00:22:25.335 --> 00:22:27.015 It was kind of fun, so. 00:22:27.015 --> 00:22:36.000 So, you said your dad always had a car. Did you guys ever get to go on any type of vacations? I'm sure that was probably difficult having that many children in your family. 00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:45.059 Weekends, like I said, we'd would always go to church and we would like go to Mowhawk Park as a family, go to Tulsa. 00:22:45.059 --> 00:22:46.539 Okay, okay. 00:22:46.539 --> 00:22:55.180 Vacation, I remember, we went to Kansas to visit some family, and that's little car. 00:22:55.180 --> 00:23:02.619 Oh, I bet, I bet. So, did you ever, did you have a TV in your house growing up? 00:23:02.619 --> 00:23:10.480 Not early on. I was probably 11-years-old. 00:23:10.480 --> 00:23:14.305 Okay. Do you remember any favorite programs you watched? 00:23:14.305 --> 00:23:39.900 Well, they were when we'd visit relatives, they had TV. So, I loved watching TV in their homes. The story lines, I loved the family stories, and also the family shows, game shows. We had a telephone, so we were able to visit. 00:23:39.900 --> 00:23:54.000 Right. What, excuse me, what were family holidays like at your house? For instance, say Christmas. Tell me what a typical Christmas was like in your house, growing up. 00:23:54.000 --> 00:24:40.365 Chaotic. We always had plenty to eat. We, of course, our lives centered around school. So, we had our school programs and our, where we all had chances to be on the stage and do those kind of things to get our bags of candy to go home. So, we had those candies, apples and oranges, and in church, we did similar programs, you know, with youth activities, and we have parties and treats and things there. But it took like at home, we would didn't have much money to do with but we did get a little bit of an allowance, and we would buy for each other. So, we had really interesting Christmas gifts that we wrapped up. 00:24:40.365 --> 00:24:41.119 Well, that's fun. 00:24:41.119 --> 00:24:45.559 Under the Christmas tree, but we, we learned to give from the time we were small. 00:24:45.559 --> 00:24:46.400 That's good. 00:24:46.400 --> 00:24:56.599 And yes, we, we each got gifts. My mother and dad managed somehow for us to have gifts. Sometimes it was clothing, sometimes it was a game, but 00:24:56.599 --> 00:24:59.420 Did you have a favorite holiday growing up? 00:24:59.420 --> 00:25:00.680 Birthdays. 00:25:00.680 --> 00:25:02.000 Birthdays were your favorite? 00:25:02.000 --> 00:25:04.700 Everybody's birthday was always a party. 00:25:04.700 --> 00:25:09.059 Well, I bet, I bet. Um, so, and I was going to ask if 00:25:09.059 --> 00:25:11.880 Easter was probably my favorite. 00:25:11.880 --> 00:25:12.599 Your favorite. 00:25:12.599 --> 00:25:21.359 Like a new beginning. The easter eggs and the family gathering and it'd all be outside. 00:25:21.359 --> 00:25:27.059 Right. So, I was going to ask if you remember what you wanted to be when you grew up. But I'm guessing it was a teacher. 00:25:27.059 --> 00:25:28.920 Always a teacher. 00:25:28.920 --> 00:25:33.259 Okay, um, so did you attend college? 00:25:33.259 --> 00:26:16.700 No, I'm just lucky to get through high school, Regan. We moved when I was in the, I finished the seventh grade. I was in the eighth grade. Came to Bristow High School, that was junior high, which was really different. You know, there were more people in my home room than there were in the whole school at 48, so I met lots of people, many I knew from church, but not, not everyone. And, then, was introduced to new things to do as as a junior high student. And then, 00:26:16.700 --> 00:26:23.599 So, was it kind of a culture shock for you to go from a country school to, say, like Bristow Public Schools? 00:26:23.599 --> 00:26:29.240 But a welcome, too, because I was with kids my own age, and was really always taking care of other people. 00:26:29.240 --> 00:26:30.480 That's understandable. 00:26:30.480 --> 00:27:20.789 I made a lot of friends. I, scholastically, I was probably as smart as any other kids in the classroom, so I would be able to keep up with what they were doing, and think is this all we're going to do? And then you would go to another class, and you're more assignments. I liked being able to finish my work at school, so I didn't have to do it at home. And then I, you know, it cost money, a lot of money, and it was hard to keep a family involed. I needed to go to work, and in order to stay in school. We all graduated high school. And I did that. 00:27:20.789 --> 00:27:25.109 Now you told me you start, did you start working at Ben Franklin? Is that where you started working? 00:27:25.109 --> 00:27:25.890 Yes. 00:27:25.890 --> 00:27:26.490 Okay. 00:27:26.490 --> 00:27:29.369 I worked three years while I was in high school. 00:27:29.369 --> 00:27:30.599 Oh, okay. 00:27:30.599 --> 00:28:08.325 Three years, and I worked part time after school and on Saturdays. And then I, after I graduated high school, there was no many to go to school. No scholarships. You know, really, I was thankful to get through school. My sister graduated a year before me, and she went to work at the garment factory, was there for a short time and married her sweetheart and moved away. I finished high school, but I worked three years part time, and then I worked three years full time after I graduated high school. 00:28:08.325 --> 00:28:10.365 At Ben Franklin? 00:28:10.365 --> 00:28:11.444 At Ben Franklin. 00:28:11.444 --> 00:28:12.525 Okay, okay. 00:28:12.525 --> 00:28:19.724 And then after those three years, had the opportunity to go to work at the bank. 00:28:19.724 --> 00:28:22.305 And at the time it was, it was American National Bank. 00:28:22.305 --> 00:28:25.289 It was America National Bank. 00:28:25.289 --> 00:28:27.150 Which then turned into Spirit Bank, so 00:28:27.150 --> 00:28:45.375 That job wasn't available, though. I mean, I didn't even dream I'd ever go to work at the bank. I loved working at Ben Franklin. And like I said, after after high school, I worked for full years. I was cashier. I learned to manage the store. 00:28:45.375 --> 00:28:47.954 And tell me who owned Ben Franklin at that time? 00:28:47.954 --> 00:28:49.539 Travis and Pauline Patton. 00:28:49.539 --> 00:28:53.500 Okay, okay. And you, so you felt like you learned a lot from them? 00:28:53.500 --> 00:29:16.025 Oh yes, even part time and working on Saturdays, they gave opportunities to learn things. You know, being from a poor family, I loved to shop at Ben Franklin. That's what we would do. We moved around a lot. We didn't have much money to spend. And yeah, when, when I was growing up, it was just a treat to get to come town. We did that on Saturdays. We never went to movies that cost money. We didn't go skating. That cost money. 00:29:16.025 --> 00:29:16.865 So, whenever you 00:29:16.865 --> 00:29:23.045 It was fun just going to the park. 00:29:23.045 --> 00:29:29.480 Whenever you worked at Ben Franklin, and you earned money there, was that your money or did you help your family with that? 00:29:29.480 --> 00:29:34.819 It was my money, but I worked at Ben Franklin, and they had everything the family would need. I would normally spend all of it right there buying things for my siblings, who are still in school, helping them so they could take part in the clubs and things that I didn't get to take part in because I was working. But then they, too, had a responsibility. We learned to work, and if a job became available, or they knew of a job, then they, too, always went to work. 00:29:34.819 --> 00:30:17.930 then you retired there in 2019? 00:30:17.930 --> 00:30:18.289 I did. 00:30:18.289 --> 00:30:23.359 So, tell me, tell us about your experience working at Spirit bank and what all that entailed. 00:30:23.359 --> 00:31:18.769 Well, like I said, I had six years working on Main Street with Ben Franklin before I went to work at the bank, and then was at the bank at the time this building next door was being built. So, I went to work in May of '64 and the ground was part of the groundbreaking for the new building on Seventh Street. Bu,t I went to work at the bank, I went to work in bookkeeping department, and they had this machine, a huge machine. It's called just a bookkeeping machine. And I didn't like machines at all. It was boring. But my first job when I went in was checking signatures on people's checks with signature cards. And signatures were very, very important back in those days, 00:31:18.769 --> 00:31:21.000 Before all the technology that we have now, right? 00:31:21.000 --> 00:31:46.980 I worked on that darn machine, and I did it okay. There's no problem, but sitting there looking at a wall, doing all this stuff was boring. I went to work and then finished work, and there was nothing to do, so I'd go upstairs, and what can I do, you know. When I went to work at the bank, I also kept my job at Ben Franklin. 00:31:46.980 --> 00:31:50.140 You liked it so much you kept both of them. 00:31:50.140 --> 00:32:44.769 The bank was open until, well, when I left Ben Franklin, one of the things that Travis Patton, he ordered all the workbooks for all the schools in town, and so I was in charge of helping order those books during those three years that I worked full time. And having done it part time, I kind of learned how to do a lot of things, and I loved working at Ben Franklin. I never would have left the job. I didn't have any good college, and I was just working just to keep going. But anyway, of course, I was a teenager. I dated, met a lot of people, did a lot of fun things, but still lived at home with my parents. I never lived alone, and then I worked several years before Larry and I married. 00:32:44.769 --> 00:32:52.539 So, what were, can you tell me before we move on from Spirit Bank, can you tell me what different positions you held there at Spirit Bank? 00:32:52.539 --> 00:33:45.789 Sure, I was working the bookkeeping department then I worked, I wanted more to do. I moved into the loan department and did a lot of filing and clerical work. And the lady who was working as a secretary moved away. I had shorthand, bookkeeping in high school, and I'd do all those things. And, immediately, I was asked to fill that position. I didn't ask for it. They asked me if I would like to, and I moved into it as a receptionist, and then Tracy Kelly, the vice president of the bank, before I went there in '64. And I guess they were just looking out for me. One of the things that they did tell me when I went to work there was that I'd have a chance to go to college. 00:33:45.789 --> 00:33:46.450 Awesome. 00:33:46.450 --> 00:33:49.930 Yeah, in banking classes and that sort of thing. 00:33:49.930 --> 00:33:54.900 So, they were believers in continuing education and supportive of that? 00:33:54.900 --> 00:34:24.179 Aways. And every time I took a class and successfully completed it, my salary was increased, but anyway, back to my job. I didn't know I'd worked there forever, but I did. I loved it. I liked being with the people. Many of the people that came in and out of the bank were people that I had met through Ben Franklin, because I worked as a cashier and then also Travis's office [indecipherable]. 00:34:24.179 --> 00:34:30.644 So, how long did you work for, were you Tracy's administrative assistant? 00:34:30.644 --> 00:34:31.125 I was. 00:34:31.125 --> 00:34:38.144 And how long did you work for for Tracy? So how many years would you say that was? 00:34:38.144 --> 00:34:49.650 Oh my gosh. Primarily, most of my baking career. 00:34:49.650 --> 00:34:56.369 Oh, okay, okay. Well, I remember coming in there as a little kid and seeing you. 00:34:56.369 --> 00:34:58.530 Hopefully I was smiling. 00:34:58.530 --> 00:35:00.869 You were always, always very sweet. 00:35:00.869 --> 00:35:01.650 Well, thank you. 00:35:01.650 --> 00:35:12.795 So, tell me, you had when we had visited on the phone, you mentioned an interesting tidbit about meeting Sam and Helen Walton through the bank. Can you tell me about that? 00:35:12.795 --> 00:35:14.000 Actually, not through the bank. 00:35:14.000 --> 00:35:14.250 Oh, not through the bank. 00:35:14.250 --> 00:35:15.619 Travis Patton. 00:35:15.619 --> 00:35:16.719 Oh, okay, okay. 00:35:16.719 --> 00:36:31.039 Mr. Walton was a Ben Franklin owner. I was a high school student, and, of course, through the Ben Franklin chain, they were, they were friends. And, you know, he would send in Bill and his, he had just had this big idea, of a discount store. He had the Ben Franklin store, but he and Travis were friends. I met him as a young person when he visited and knew that he had the store, and he and his wife were both there, first time that I met them. Then later on, when Larry and I married, we went Arkansas for our honeymoon. And there's always need something from so we went to Ben Franklin store, which was still operating at that time, and I remember seeing this the store, the wall, Walmart, yeah, of course, Mr. 00:36:31.039 --> 00:36:35.440 So what was your impression of them? 00:36:35.440 --> 00:36:43.300 I looked up to him, and he was a businessman, and he was very knowledgeable. He treated me like a person. 00:36:43.300 --> 00:36:44.000 Well, that's good. 00:36:44.000 --> 00:37:05.539 And then an opportunity to go visit the store. He wasn't there at the time, but then seeing the groundwork as they were starting the store. I just remember his theme was he was going to keep everything American. It didn't happen. 00:37:05.539 --> 00:37:09.039 That it didn't work out quite like that, did it? 00:37:09.039 --> 00:37:15.579 And then years later, they actually came to Oklahoma with their Walmart stores. 00:37:15.579 --> 00:37:17.079 Well, let's talk about 00:37:17.079 --> 00:38:04.989 It was interesting visiting him and other people. And then same way with the bank. You know, every new people would come to town they'd come to the bank looking for information, asking questions, and a lot of it, a lot of people, especially in the Kelly family with the leadership, and not only of Bristow, but Tracy served in a lot of Oklahoma departments, like the Chamber of Commerce, Bristow Chamber of Commerce, the State Chamber of Commerce, the National Chamber of Commerce. Over the years, like different levels, working as an assistant secretary. I've got to meet a lot of people, and lot of names, and put those connections together, 00:38:04.989 --> 00:38:06.000 Right, right. I bet you did. 00:38:06.000 --> 00:38:35.684 Bristow was operated totally different back in those early days. We had the Chamber of Commerce, which did a whole lot of the things that people, and then we had a businessmen that would team up together, work through the chamber of commerce and go out looking for businesses to come Town, so there was always a lot of research and stuff behind the scenes before people would make a decision actually. 00:38:35.684 --> 00:38:45.679 To come to Bristow. Well, let's talk about your immediate family. Let's start with your spouse. Can you tell me his full name? 00:38:45.679 --> 00:38:50.599 Lawrence Wayne Franks, and he grew up two miles north of Bristow. 00:38:50.599 --> 00:38:52.460 And he goes by Larry? 00:38:52.460 --> 00:38:53.059 I call him Larry. 00:38:53.059 --> 00:38:56.059 Larry, okay. And what, do you know his date of birth? 00:38:56.059 --> 00:39:02.840 Sure. 12/19/1941. 00:39:02.840 --> 00:39:06.420 Okay, what was your first impression of him when you saw him? 00:39:06.420 --> 00:39:41.925 We were in high school together. He was just a classmate, and we had some of the same friends. We did not date in high school. I didn't date a lot. I was busy working. And he was same way he had worked from [indecipherable] while he was in high school, and did that during the summer, and then went into the military. And we didn't actually date until after he returned from his military career. 00:39:41.925 --> 00:39:44.565 So, when did you get married? 00:39:44.565 --> 00:39:49.304 We got married in 1967. 00:39:49.304 --> 00:39:51.164 1967 and 00:39:51.164 --> 00:39:54.030 I was, I was older when we got married. 00:39:54.030 --> 00:39:57.750 So, where did you, where did you get, where did you have your wedding? 00:39:57.750 --> 00:39:59.000 At the Church of God. 00:39:59.000 --> 00:40:08.039 Church of God. Okay, and then where did you end up living after you and Larry married? 00:40:08.039 --> 00:40:08.820 North Main Street. 00:40:08.820 --> 00:40:10.079 Oh, okay, so you were still in Bristow. 00:40:10.079 --> 00:40:11.000 Across the street from where the bank building is now, you're right. Let's see, where was the little house? It's right there on the corner. Really cute little house set back off, off of Main Street, and then he worked at Serro Scotty and I worked at the bank. 00:40:11.000 --> 00:40:22.512 He worked where? 00:40:22.512 --> 00:40:37.684 Serro Scotty. They built the travel trailers at a factory here. 00:40:37.684 --> 00:40:38.164 Okay. 00:40:38.164 --> 00:40:39.364 Way back when. 00:40:39.364 --> 00:40:42.905 Okay. Um, can you tell me how many children you have? 00:40:42.905 --> 00:40:44.585 We have two. 00:40:44.585 --> 00:40:48.780 Two children, and can you tell me their names and give me their dates of birth, please? 00:40:48.780 --> 00:41:30.980 Yes, our children were our chosen children. We, like I shared earlier, I told you I didn't ever want to have kids. I grew up in a large family. I was next to the oldest. I loved kids and wanted to be a teacher, but I didn't really think I wanted to have children after we were married. We were married six years before we got our daughter, and she was adopted. She was chosen. She'd been in foster care. We don't know a lot about her background. Chose not to know. We got her out of through the state. 00:41:30.980 --> 00:41:32.900 And what is her name? 00:41:32.900 --> 00:41:40.019 Her name, we got to name her. Her name is Missy Maree [Collins]. 00:41:40.019 --> 00:41:42.360 Okay, and her last name? 00:41:42.360 --> 00:41:48.780 Franks, of course, and then Collins. She married Collins, John T. Collins. 00:41:48.780 --> 00:41:50.159 And her date of birth? 00:41:50.159 --> 00:41:58.980 Her date of birth is October 25, 1966 that would been the year before we were married. 00:41:58.980 --> 00:42:01.460 Okay. 00:42:01.460 --> 00:42:40.264 Like I said, she was school age when we got her so after we married, we were without children in intentionally for several years. We had been married six years. We probably after we've been married about four years, we decided that we've got God's calling. There are lots of kids that didn't have homes. And I had read lots of books when I was growing up about people that needed homes, and it's something that Larry and I chose to do. We knew we were going to go the adoption route. 00:42:40.264 --> 00:42:43.625 And then you also have a son. What is his name? 00:42:43.625 --> 00:42:49.610 She was with us for five years before we adopted David. David Wayne Franks, we gave him that name. 00:42:49.610 --> 00:42:52.190 Okay, and his date of birth? 00:42:52.190 --> 00:42:55.190 His date of birth. 00:42:55.190 --> 00:42:57.889 I have April 7, 1970 Is that correct? 00:42:57.889 --> 00:42:58.489 That's correct. 00:42:58.489 --> 00:43:08.900 Okay, do you remember, what, if you had any particular challenges being a mother, especially a working mother? 00:43:08.900 --> 00:43:14.480 No, I was a very good aunt. My siblings all had children. 00:43:14.480 --> 00:43:17.539 So, you knew how to manage all of it. 00:43:17.539 --> 00:44:18.170 Yeah, and we were a close knit family, you know, I was there with them from the beginning of the time that they're they were expecting their babies and being a part of it. And loved being around lots of kids. Larry, on the other hand, only had one sister and her children at the time we married were already, let's see, 10 and 14, maybe, 10 and 13. So, yeah, we were ready for children, and they fit right in, because our friends had children who were about the same age as the kids that we were adopting our kids records that we were told by DHS and then they had been in foster care and never known a stable life. 00:44:18.170 --> 00:44:20.030 So, you were able to provide that for them. 00:44:20.030 --> 00:44:20.929 We were, yeah. 00:44:20.929 --> 00:44:21.409 That's good. 00:44:21.409 --> 00:44:22.250 With God's help. 00:44:22.250 --> 00:44:25.190 It's awesome. Do you have any grandchildren? 00:44:25.190 --> 00:44:47.000 When they came to us, we had cousins that came. When Missy came to our home after we'd been married six years. She already had probably eight to ten cousins. Three of which were her age, so she immediately had playmates. 00:44:47.000 --> 00:44:47.480 That's awesome. 00:44:47.480 --> 00:45:00.500 That lived close by along with the kids, the children that our friends had and people that I worked with had, so we suddenly became involved in kids activities. 00:45:00.500 --> 00:45:00.920 Right. 00:45:00.920 --> 00:45:16.445 Because we had done that before, like I said, I didn't want kids, but I wanted to teach kids. And I taught in Sunday School and Bible School, and Larry worked with Boy Scouts and activities. So, we were around children always, we had just chosen not to have children. 00:45:16.445 --> 00:45:18.539 Right, right. Do you have any grandchildren at this time? 00:45:18.539 --> 00:45:36.360 Yes, we do have. We have, Missy and John T had two boys, and they adopted a daughter, so they have a high school daughter who is our, she's our seventh grandchild. 00:45:36.360 --> 00:45:37.920 My goodness, okay. 00:45:37.920 --> 00:45:40.380 And then we have great grandchildren. 00:45:40.380 --> 00:45:51.045 Okay, okay. Well, have you enjoyed being retired? I know you left the bank. you said you left the bank in 2019, so you've been retired for a little while. Do you enjoy retirement? 00:45:51.045 --> 00:46:06.449 I do enjoy retirement. I enjoy life and travel and banking and all of that. So, Larry and I love vacations and getaways, and we did that all the years before kids and with kids and after kids. 00:46:06.449 --> 00:46:06.989 Right, right. 00:46:06.989 --> 00:46:12.269 We still like to travel. So yes, I do enjoy it. 00:46:12.269 --> 00:46:24.719 Well, I'm going to ask you kind of a fun question. What would you consider to be the most important invention during your lifetime? 00:46:24.719 --> 00:46:36.619 The most important? Oh, they've all been wonderful. [Indecipherable] 00:46:36.619 --> 00:46:40.139 Well, now that's pretty important in my book. 00:46:40.139 --> 00:46:51.300 I'm just been silly. Probably, I don't know, radio is pretty important. I remember radio being my one of my fondest things. 00:46:51.300 --> 00:46:55.380 Did you have any particular music you enjoyed listening to? 00:46:55.380 --> 00:46:55.980 Gospel. 00:46:55.980 --> 00:47:07.780 Gospel, okay, and then how do you feel the world is different now than when you were a child? 00:47:07.780 --> 00:47:40.465 People have access to a lot more information and opportunities than I ever knew about as a child. Maybe those things were available, but I loved growing up in a large family. I love being a part of business. I love being a part of all the church activities and social parts of, I like people. I like being out. One of the hardest things for me since retirement has not been the daily contact. 00:47:40.465 --> 00:47:41.304 Your contact. 00:47:41.304 --> 00:47:46.405 But after I retired, course we had COVID, and everybody was afraid to even get out. 00:47:46.405 --> 00:47:47.005 Right. 00:47:47.005 --> 00:47:58.960 So the whole lifestyle sort of changed. Back to your question, what the most important invention, probably was the telephone, where people had more contact with others. 00:47:58.960 --> 00:48:07.059 Right, okay, um, well, is there anything else that you would like to tell us about, or any wisdom that you would like to share for future generations? 00:48:07.059 --> 00:48:52.344 The most important thing, I think, is your relationship with God and then with each other and your family and children, and we are blessed. Everybody's been healthy. We, one my one of the biggest challenges as a grandparent has been having, I love all of our kids and grandkids, but we, we do have a handicap granddaughter who has been a big part of my life. And I think it's so sad that children have handicaps, and, you know, sometimes having the access and capabilities of getting the care they need. 00:48:52.344 --> 00:48:55.150 Right, right, I can understand that. 00:48:55.150 --> 00:49:12.130 She's now 29-years-old, and when she was born, she weighed less than two pounds. So, she's kind of a miracle baby, even though she has her disabilities, she's a quite joyful person. I love all my grandkids. 00:49:12.130 --> 00:49:13.150 Oh, absolutely! 00:49:13.150 --> 00:49:14.409 She's just different. 00:49:14.409 --> 00:49:23.719 Yes, yes. Um, so is there any final thoughts you would like to leave, aside from to love God and love your family. 00:49:23.719 --> 00:49:29.360 Oh yeah, and you're where you are. We love Bristow. You know, Bristow is home, 00:49:29.360 --> 00:49:41.599 You always seem like a very appreciative person, to me, a very kind and appreciative person. And I think that's a very good quality to have and we can, we can 00:49:41.599 --> 00:49:43.940 I hope people see Christ in me. 00:49:43.940 --> 00:49:54.065 Oh, absolutely, absolutely. Well, your interview will become an important part of the oral hstory archives for the museum. Thank you for taking the time to talk with us. We really appreciate it. 00:49:54.065 --> 00:49:54.844 Thank you. NOTE TRANSCRIPTION END ]]> video 0 https://bristoworalhistory.org/ohms/render.php?cachefile=OHP-0072_Mary_Franks.xml OHP-0072_Mary_Franks.xml
Dublin Core
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Title
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Mary Franks
Description
An account of the resource
Mary Franks, born August 6, 1943, in Bristow, Oklahoma, was one of eight children. She was born at home and delivered by Dr. Coppedge. Her parents, William Elijah Graham and Norma May Henderson Graham, were homemakers and oil field workers. Mary attended 48 District School and later Bristow High School, graduating in 1961. She worked at Ben Franklin and Spirit Bank for over 50 years. Mary and her husband, Larry, had two children, Missy Maree (1966) and David Wayne (1970). Mary emphasized the importance of family, faith, and community involvement.
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OHP-0072
Date
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2025-06-11
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video
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https://bristoworalhistory.org/files/original/5c8254a43bebc9a640089ba6f59cca76.jpg
f2c84a73758bb60bd2fd607604768f85
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Family Histories
Type
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Oral History
Subject
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Oral accounts of various family histories
Source
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Bristow Historical Society, oral history collection
Oral History
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Interviewer
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Regan Siler
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Charles Nicholson
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https://bristoworalhistory.org/ohms/render.php?cachefile=OHP-0071_Charles_Nicholson.xml
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6.0 May 9, 2025 OHP-0071 Charles Nicholson OHP-0071 01:03:22 Bristow Historical Society, Inc. bristowhistory Charles Nicholson Regan Siler 0 https://bristoworalhistory.org/interviews/OHP-0071 Nicholson, Charles.mp3 Other audio 0 Background Regan Siler 00:00
 ; This is Regan Siler with the Bristow Historical Society in Bristow, Oklahoma. This interview is part of the Historical Society's ongoing oral history project. The date is May 9, 2025 and I'm sitting here with Charles Nicholson, which I'll probably call him Coach, at the Bristow Library Annex. He's going to tell us a little bit about his life and his history living in the Bristow area. Can you please state your full name?
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 00:27
 ; Charles Franklin Nicholson.
 ; Charles Franklin Nicholson was born on January 12, 1937. He was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma at the Baptist Hospital. Bristow Historical Society ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Charles Franklin Nicholson ; Muskogee (Okla.) Birth 0 ["[\"\"]"] 48 Parents Regan Siler 00:48
 ; Okay, and can you tell me about the people in your family? Let's start with your parents. Can you tell me your mom and dad's full names? 
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 01:00
 ; Freddie Lahoma Nicholson [Freddie Lahoma Looper Nicholson 4/4/1911-11/1/2008] and Harold Franklin Nicholson [11/1/1909-5/13/1991].
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 01:07
 ; Okay, and I have Freddie, your mother's date of birth, as April 4, 1911. And I have your dad, Harold Nicholson's birth date, as November 1, 1909. I looked those up so we wouldn't
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 01:21
 ; Oh, okay.
 ; Charles' father was Harold Franklin Nicholson. He was born on November 1, 1909. Harold passed on May 13, 1991. Charles' mother was Freddie Lahoma Looper Nicholson. She was born on April 4, 1911. She passed on November 1, 2008. Charles' mother taught second grade most of her life. His father was a coach and a superintendent of schools. Charles was an only child. Freddie Lahoma Looper Nicholson ; Harold Franklin Nicholson ; Northeastern State College (Okla.) ; Tahlequah (Okla.) Parents 0 ["[\"\"]"] 150 Extended Family Regan Siler 02:30
 ; Okay. Did you get to grow up around family?
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 02:35
 ; Yes, our family was mostly from Warner, Oklahoma, and we lived around Muskogee all of our lives. Bristow is the furthest place from Muskogee that I've ever lived.
 ; Most of Charles' extended family lived close in Warner, Oklahoma. Charles was around Muskogee all of his childhood. Bristow is the furthest he has lived from there. Warner (Okla.) ; Muskogee (Okla.) ; Bristow (Okla.) Family 0 ["[\"\"]"] 183 Childhood Regan Siler 03:03
 ; Oh, my goodness, okay. Um, so you came, or actually, first, let's talk about your childhood and your home life. I'm going to ask you, just kind of some fun questions to see if you
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 03:19
 ; Okay. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 03:19
 ; See if you can remember. Do you remember any of your favorite toys or games that you played as a as a youngster?
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 03:28
 ; Yes, a pedal car.
 ; Charles had a pedal car as a child. Charles spent a lot of time outside. His job was to keep the cars clean. Charles also spent time outside playing baseball, tennis and basketball with his friends. Harold Franklin Nicholson ; Baseball ; Tennis ; Basketball Childhood 0 ["[\"[\\\"\\\"]\"]"] 291 Tennis Matches Regan Siler 04:51
 ; So, and I'm going to jump ahead a little bit, but I found it funny because your daughter was telling me about you, your adventures in getting to some of your tennis matches. 
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 05:06
 ; Yeah.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 05:07
 ; It's not like it is today.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 05:09
 ; So, tell me, tell me a little bit about trying to get to a tennis match or what they would do.
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 05:09
 ; Right.
 ; Charles had his first tennis match in Oklahoma City when he was 16. It was at the Oklahoma City University. He had gained the nickname Uncle Vic by smaller players in Muskogee. Tennis ; Oklahoma City (Okla.) ; Oklahoma City University ; Muskogee (Okla.) Tennis 0 ["[\"\"]"] 413 Childhood Activities and Collecting Things Regan Siler 06:53
 ; Especially whenever you're trying to navigate Oklahoma City as a 16 year old. So did you have any favorite activities or hobbies as a child?
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 07:08
 ; Dad had a shop also, and we had a scroll saw they call nowadays, and we use that to make things. And I learned to make things, and I do that today for Christmas. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 07:24
 ; So, like, wood things? 
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 07:25
 ; Yes, sawing wood.
 ; Charles' father had a shop, and they worked with a scroll saw to make things. Charles still enjoys woodworking as a hobby. Charles has his tennis medals and trophies in his attic. Harold Franklin Nicholson ; Christmas ; Tennis Hobbies 0 ["[\"\"]"] 486 School Regan Siler 08:06
 ; Okay, okay, so can you tell me about your school life? Where did you first attend school?
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 08:15
 ; I first attended school at, well, I don't remember.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 08:28
 ; That's okay. Did you were you said you lived mainly in Muskogee?
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 08:33
 ; Yeah. I lived in, yeah. I guess, oh, Wagoner. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 08:41
 ; Wagoner?
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 08:41
 ; My mom was second, huh, my mom was second grade teacher.
 ; Charles attended school in Wagoner, Oklahoma. His mother taught him in second grade. Charles enjoyed school. Muskogee (Okla.) ; Wagoner (Okla.) ; Freddie Lahoma Looper Nicholson School 0 ["[\"\"]"] 538 Clubs and Organizations Regan Siler 08:58
 ; Okay, now I'm asking if you were a member of any clubs or organizations. Obviously, you played a lot of sports, but were you involved in any other organization? 
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 09:10
 ; 4H club. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 09:12
 ; 4h, okay. Go ahead.
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 09:16
 ; I raised three hogs in the backyard. And in a square made out of wood and fence. And I moved that along so when they wore the grass out, they would have more grass.
 ; Charles was involved in the 4H-club in school. He raised three hogs in his backyard. When Charles took the hogs to the fair, they got away and ran over the judge. 4H-Club Clubs ; Organizations 0 ["[\"[\\\"\\\"]\"]"] 594 Tennis Regan Siler 09:54
 ; Um, okay, so we're going to circle back to tennis. So, it's my understanding that you were ranked number one in Oklahoma for 15 and under, and you were ranked number three in Midwest Doubles rankings, and then you were the 1955 Oklahoma State Tennis Singles Champion. Does that sound right?
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 10:17
 ; Yes for there were two classes, A and B.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 10:20
 ; Okay.
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 10:21
 ; And, of course B, A was Tulsa and Muskogee and Ada, and there was a B class. That's all there was.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 10:34
 ; So, do you feel that you got your love of sports from your dad?
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 10:40
 ; That was my job.
 ; Charles was ranked number one in Oklahoma for tennis 15 and under. He was also ranked number three in Midwest Doubles rankings. Charles was the 1955 Oklahoma State Tennis Singles Champion. Charles was told by his father when he was young that sports was his job. Oklahoma ; Oklahoma State Tennis Singles ; Midwest Doubles ; Tulsa (Okla.) ; Muskogee (Okla.) ; Ada (Okla.) ; Harold Franklin Nicholson Tennis 0 ["[\"\"]"] 774 School Regan Siler 12:54
 ; Okay. Okay, so back on school, did you enjoy reading? 
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 13:05
 ; Not really.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 13:06
 ; Not really. I I'm kind of with you on that. Um, do you remember if you, like, ate in the cafeteria, or did you take your lunch when you were a youngster?
 ; Around the fourth grade, Charles started riding to school with his father. His father was the superintendent and coach at Okay Public Schools. So, Charles attended there for the rest of his schooling. School ; Wagoner (Okla.) ; Harold Franklin Nicholson ; Superintendent ; Coach ; Okay Public Schools ; Elementary ; High School School 0 ["[\"\"]"] 840 Childhood Home Regan Siler 14:00
 ; Okay, okay, um, well, let's talk a little bit about the house you grew up in. 
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 14:10
 ; Okay.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 14:11
 ; Can you, you said you lived in town? 
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 14:13
 ; Yes, we lived in Wagner.
 ; Charles grew up in a two-story home in Wagoner, Oklahoma. They played tennis in the backyard. The baseball field was two blocks away. Charles even had a ping pong table and a TV room in the upstairs. Wagoner (Okla.) ; Tennis ; Baseball ; Basketball ; Wagoner School Childhood ; Home 0 ["[\"\"]"] 1047 Mealtimes Regan Siler 17:27
 ; Well, my goodness! Well, so, can you tell me what meal times were like for your family? Did you eat together every night? Or how did that work? 
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 17:38
 ; Yes, my mama had a rule that supper was going to be on the table at six o'clock.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 17:51
 ; And you better be there.
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 17:52
 ; If we did, yeah, if we did not make it, we ate it cold. Or if we didn't like it, we would fix it ourselves.
 ; Charles' mother had a rule that supper was on the table at six o'clock. If he did not make it in time, he had to eat it cold. Charles says his mother was a good cook. He remembers her meatloaf. Freddie Lahoma Looper Nicholson ; Tahlequah (Okla.) Mealtimes 0 ["[\"\"]"] 1246 Automobiles Regan Siler 20:46
 ; Meatloaf. Okay, um, so you said that you always had to take care of cleaning the cars. What kind of cars did you have? Do you remember what kind of cars they were? 
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 20:59
 ; Well, yes, they were, my dad always had a new car to drive for safety reasons, and my favorite car was a Model A '31. We went to a barn west of Checotah [Oklahoma] and bought a Model A for $25.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 21:31
 ; Oh, my goodness!
 ; Charles says his father always had a new car to drive for safety reasons. Charles favorite car was a Model A '31. He bought one for $25 and fixed it up. He later sold it for $650 and went to college. He then bought a '40 Chevrolet. Harold Franklin Nicholson ; Model A Ford ; Checotah (Okla.) ; Oklahoma City (Okla.) ; Chevrolet automobile ; Porter (Okla.) ; Muskogee (Okla.) Automobiles 0 ["[\"[\\\"\\\"]\"]"] 1495 Television Regan Siler 24:55
 ; Yeah, you got to do all kinds of things. Um, well, let me see here. Did you, so, you said you had a TV room, so I guess you got to watch some TV growing up. Do you remember any of your favorite programs?
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 25:12
 ; Yeah, but I can't think the name of it. We always tried to get home and Channel Six in Tulsa. Channel Six in Tulsa, came on the air. We heard there's a TV station. Now, before that, as growing up, we got to go to Oklahoma State basketball games and sit behind the bench, and we got to go what they call then, an all college tournament in Oklahoma City. Would be Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Kansas, all the top schools in this area.
 ; Charles watched Channel Six in Tulsa on television. He says his favorite show was a dancing show that was on after school at four o'clock. He later found out that his wife's sister had been on one those dance shows. Television ; Channel Six in Tulsa ; Tulsa (Okla.) ; Oklahoma City (Okla.) ; Oklahoma State University ; Texas ; Kansas ; Oklahoma ; Channel Four in Oklahoma City ; Sharon Allen Scott Television 0 ["[\"\"]"] 1639 Church Regan Siler 27:19
 ; Did you attend church growing up? 
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 27:22
 ; Yes.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 27:23
 ; You did? Okay. 
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 27:24
 ; First Baptist Church.
 ; Charles attended the First Baptist Church when he was growing up. He says the teacher was a good-looking woman, so all of the boys went there. Charles' wife was a Methodist, but he converted her over to Baptist. Charles says most of the ball players went to the Baptist Church while he was coaching. First Baptist Church ; Methodist ; Sharon Allen Scott Church 0 ["[\"\"]"] 1746 Childhood Dreams and College Regan Siler 29:06
 ; Okay, um, okay, so as a child, do you remember what you wanted to be when you grew up?
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 29:16
 ; Yes, I wanted to be a scientist, a chemist. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 29:21
 ; Wow!
 ; Charles wanted to be a scientist, specifically a chemist when he grew up. As he got older and went to college, he could not imagine sitting in an office all day. He had been attending Oklahoma State, but one day decided to leave. He said he was going home and attending Northeastern and playing tennis with his friends. He decided to become a teacher and a coach. Scientist ; Chemist ; Oklahoma State University ; Northeastern State University (Okla.) ; Tahlequah (Okla.) ; Northeastern A& ; M ; Miami (Okla.) ; Edna (Kan.) College ; Dreams 0 ["[\"\"]"] 1857 Wife Charles Nicholson 30:57
 ; I married a girl from Tulsa. We met at college in the fall at a dance. And 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 31:09
 ; So, okay, so, so since you're telling me about her, tell me, tell me what her name is.
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 31:14
 ; Her name is Sharon Allen Scott.
 ; Charles married a girl from Tulsa. Her name was Sharon Allen Scott. They met at a fraternity dance while Charles was in college at Tahlequah. Sharon Allen Scott ; Northeastern State University ; Tahlequah (Okla.) ; Fraternity ; Edna (Kan.) Wife 0 ["[\"\"]"] 1963 Engagement Regan Siler 32:43
 ; Okay, so did you have an engagement? And did it, so did you get engaged? How long was your engagement? Or did you just decide to get married?
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 32:55
 ; Let's see. It's one Saturday afternoon at her house, and we looked at each other and said, let's get married. She says, I want to marry you.
 ; Charles and Sharon looked at each other one Sunday and said, "Let's get married." Later Charles' parents said they didn't know if they could afford Charles his senior year because of all of the gas he was using. Charles and Edna went back and forth between Tulsa, Tahlequah and Checotah. Sharon Allen Scott ; Freddie Lahoma Looper Nicholson ; Harold Franklin Nicholson ; Tulsa (Okla.) ; Tahlequah (Okla.) ; Checotah (Okla.) ; Edna (Kan.) Engagement 0 ["[\"\"]"] 2136 Bristow Regan Siler 35:36
 ; Well, so, I know that you also taught in Okay, Inola and Porter before you landed in Bristow in 1967 so let's talk a little bit about Bristow. Um, what did you think about Bristow when you first came here? 
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 35:52
 ; We loved it. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 35:53
 ; You loved it? 
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 35:54
 ; Yes.
 ; Charles taught in Okay, Inola and Porter before he landed in Bristow, Oklahoma in 1967. He loved Bristow. He thought it was nice to be somewhere where no one knew him or his family. He was hired to teach ninth grade physical science and be the head coach of the boys' basketball team and the assistant coach of football. Okay (Okla.) ; Inola (Okla.) ; Porter (Okla.) ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Oklahoma ; Porum (Okla.) ; Physical science ; Basketball ; Football Bristow 0 ["[\"\"]"] 2256 Girls' Basketball in Bristow Regan Siler 37:36
 ; Okay, um, and then I also understand, and I didn't even know this. I don't know how I didn't know this, that you were asked to start the girls basketball program in 1973, so I'd also like for you to talk a little bit about the evolution of girls basketball in Bristow.
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 37:58
 ; Okay, we had six on six. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 38:04
 ; See, I played six on six. I'm an old timer.
 ; Charles was asked to start the girls' basketball program in Bristow in 1973. They played six on six. He remembers Dick Doak's daughter (Linda Trigalet) being a good outside shooter. Charles was the head coach for about three years. Basketball ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Bristow Public Schools (Bristow, Okla.) ; Gene Thompson ; Dick Doak ; Linda Trigalet ; Stroud (Okla.) ; Holdenville (Okla.) ; Wewoka (Okla.) ; Henryetta (Okla.) ; Porter (Okla.) Basketball 0 ["[\"\"]"] 2598 Wedding Regan Siler 43:18
 ; But you really sparked my interest in in weather, you know, in which we're going to talk about that too, because you have, you have quite a career here with Bristow, but let's talk a little bit more about your wife, Sharon. Um, you did you, you said you got married in the Baptist Church?
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 43:41
 ; No, Methodist.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 43:42
 ; Methodist Church, I'm sorry. That's right. And do you remember what your wedding was like? Was it simple? Was it big?
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 43:50
 ; It's very simple.
 ; Charles and Sharon were married in the Methodist Church. He says it was a very simple wedding. Charles' college friend was his best man ; his friend's dad was a doctor and owned a big Lincoln. Charles and Sharon arrived and left the ceremony in that car. Methodist Church ; Baptist Church ; Sharon Allen Scott ; Lincoln automobile Wedding 0 ["[\"[\\\"\\\"]\"]"] 2671 Daughters Regan Siler 44:31
 ; Well, that's cool. Um, well, I also want to ask you about your daughters, um, which I know both of them, but so tell me both of your daughter's names.
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 44:44
 ; Leisa Lynn Nicholson (Hallman) [9/1/1961]. Teresa Edair Nicholson (Ledgerwood) [4/2/1963].
 ; Charles has two daughters. The oldest is Leisa Lynn Nicholson Hallman, born September 1, 1961. The youngest is Teresa Edair Nicholson Ledgerwood. Teresa was born on April 2, 1963. Leisa Lynn Nicholson Hallman ; Teresa Edair Nicholson Ledgerwood Daughters 0 ["[\"\"]"] 2826 Grandchildren Regan Siler 47:06
 ; Um, now I also understand that you have four grandchildren and six great grandchildren. Is that correct? 
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 47:14
 ; Mm, hmm.
 ; Charles has four grandchildren. He also has six great grandchildren. Grandchildren ; Great-Grandchildren Grandchildren 0 ["[\"\"]"] 2834 Civil Defense Director Regan Siler 47:14
 ; Okay. Um, okay, so some things I want to talk to you about in talking with Lisa, there were, you know, several points that they brought up that they wanted me to ask you about. I would like for you to tell me about serving as the Creek County Civil Defense Director, and then, I guess, you were Bristow's Civil Defense Director for 24 years, retired in 1998. Can you tell me about your experience with all of that?
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 47:43
 ; Oh, we had a highway patrol that lived two doors south of us, that we camped with and I fished with, and one day he said, I want you to go watch storms with me, the highway patrol. So, I went twice.
 ; Charles served as the Civil Defense Director in Bristow for 24 years. He retired from that position in 1998. He went to the National Weather Service in Tulsa so he could learn about storms. Charles was instrumental in getting training for storm watching around Bristow. Leisa Lynn Nicholson Hallman ; Creek County Civil Defense Director ; Bristow's Civil Defense Director ; Highway Patrol ; County Sheriff ; National Weather Service ; Tulsa (Okla.) ; First Baptist Church ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Washington Elementary School ; Storm Watchers Civil Defense Director 0 ["[\"\"]"] 3128 Firefighter and Neighborhood Watch Program Regan Siler 52:08
 ; Oh! Absolutely, absolutely. I, also, understand that you were, I didn't know you were a volunteer firefighter for the fire department here?
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 52:17
 ; Yes, I was. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 52:18
 ; You worked for a while. Okay. 
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 52:20
 ; We would fight fire all day and chase storms all night.
 ; Charles was a volunteer firefighter. He said he would fight fires all day and chase storms all night. He also started a neighborhood watch program. Charles was the Citizen of the Year in 1985 in Bristow. He was also a 2010 Wildflower Run honoree. Firefighter ; Fire departments ; Merit of Recognition and Appreciation ; Mayor ; Neighborhood watch programs ; Ben Franklin (store) ; Principal ; Athletic directors ; Citizen of the Year ; Christmas ; Wildflower Run ; Country Club Firefighter ; Neighborhood watch programs 0 ["[\"\"]"] 3324 Important Invention Regan Siler 55:24
 ; Okay, well, I have a couple of other questions for you, but I but these are just kind of fun questions. Um, what would you consider to be the most important invention in your lifetime?
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 55:36
 ; Oh, man, that's a that's a hard question. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 55:39
 ; That is a hard question. I'm challenging you.
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 55:42
 ; I think the the car was.
 ; Charles believes the car was the most important invention. Charles and his father rebuilt many cars together. Charles would get a lot of car parts from a junk yard that a dad of one of his friends owned. Automobile ; Harold Franklin Nicholson Invention 0 ["[\"\"]"] 3407 How the World is Different Regan Siler 56:47
 ; Right, right. Well, that's cool. How do you how do you feel the world is different now than when you were a child?
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 56:57
 ; The world is too many people are self-centered. Too many people feel sorry for themselves. They don't, they're not fighters anymore. I mean, now, I'm talking fighters. I'm talking about getting out there and stealing the basketball at the end of the game and making a basket to win it.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 57:20
 ; Right, right.
 ; Charles believes that too many people are self-centered nowadays. He says that people feel sorry for themselves and aren't fighters anymore. World World 0 ["[\"\"]"] 3457 Nation's Biggest Problem Regan Siler 57:37
 ; Yeah, yeah. I, I understand that. As you see it, what do you feel is our nation's biggest problem, and how would you think you would solve it?
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 57:50
 ; We are too soft. Now, I was born in '37. We didn't put up with this. Our nation did not put up with this. Germany, they marched, my uncle's made the D-Day invasion. The D-Day invasion was, wow, a guy gets shot right there beside you, and you make it up the hill.
 ; Charles feels like our nation is too soft now. He says back in his day they didn't put up with this. He talks about his uncle being a part of the D-Day invasion. He remembers the president declaring war on Japan and hearing it on the radio. Germany ; D-Day Invasion ; President ; Japan ; Muskogee (Okla.) ; Oklahoma City (Okla.) ; Porum (Okla.) ; Fort Smith (Ark.) Nation ; Problem 0 [""] 3600 Historic Events Regan Siler 1:00:00
 ; But as a kid, that's yeah what you were thinking. Well, how have historic events say, such as the Oklahoma City Bombing, the 9/11 any natural disasters, world wars or even COVID, have any of those things affected you in your life, aside from what we just talked about?
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 1:00:22
 ; Yes. I, Oklahoma City bombing, I was prepared to go down there like other people and help service. I got a phone call from the state office telling me to stay in Bristow, because we were on a main highway. See, okay, and they didn't know if they were going to be bombing, marching up, bombing.
 ; Charles remembers when the Oklahoma City bombing occurred. He was prepared to go help but the state office called and wanted him to stay put in Bristow with it being on a main highway. Oklahoma City bombing ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Oklahoma City (Okla.) ; COVID ; September 11 Terrorist Attacks, 2001 ; Texas Historic Events 0 ["[\"\"]"] 3705 Words of Wisdom Regan Siler 1:01:45
 ; Yeah, exactly. Well, is there anything else that you would like to share with us? Or, I, honestly, would like to get because I, I would like to hear what Coach Nicholson's words of wisdom are for you to share with future generations. Do you have any words of wisdom that you'd like to share to end this.
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 1:01:45
 ; Yes, you're right.
 ; 
 ; Charles Nicholson 1:02:07
 ; Work hard.
 ; Charles finishes the interview with some words of wisdom. He says to work hard. Charles also says to spend time with your family. Wisdom ; College ; Kansas City (Mo.) ; California Wisdom 0 ["[\"\"]"] MP3 Charles Nicholson, a longtime Bristow resident and coach talks about his life and experiences. Born January 12, 1937, in Muskogee, Oklahoma, Charles discusses his parents' backgrounds and his own education and sports achievements, including being ranked number one in Oklahoma for 15 and under tennis and winning the 1955 Oklahoma State Tennis Singles Championship. He shares stories about his childhood, his marriage to Sharon Allen Scott, and his teaching and coaching career, which included starting the girls' basketball program in Bristow. Charles also reflects on his service as the Creek County Civil Defense Director and his dedication to community safety. NOTE TRANSCRIPTION BEGIN 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:27.140 This is Regan Siler with the Bristow Historical Society in Bristow, Oklahoma. This interview is part of the Historical Society's ongoing oral history project. The date is May 9, 2025 and I'm sitting here with Charles Nicholson, which I'll probably call him Coach, at the Bristow Library Annex. He's going to tell us a little bit about his life and his history living in the Bristow area. Can you please state your full name? 00:00:27.140 --> 00:00:30.000 Charles Franklin Nicholson. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:33.179 Okay. And do I have permission to do this interview? 00:00:33.179 --> 00:00:34.020 Yes, you do. 00:00:34.020 --> 00:00:38.729 Okay. Can you tell me when and where you were born? 00:00:38.729 --> 00:00:48.659 I was born in January the 12th, 1937 at Baptist Hospital in Muskogee, Oklahoma. 00:00:48.659 --> 00:01:00.000 Okay, and can you tell me about the people in your family? Let's start with your parents. Can you tell me your mom and dad's full names? 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:07.500 Freddie Lahoma Nicholson [Freddie Lahoma Looper Nicholson 4/4/1911-11/1/2008] and Harold Franklin Nicholson [11/1/1909-5/13/1991]. 00:01:07.500 --> 00:01:21.299 Okay, and I have Freddie, your mother's date of birth, as April 4, 1911. And I have your dad, Harold Nicholson's birth date, as November 1, 1909. I looked those up so we wouldn't 00:01:21.299 --> 00:01:21.900 Oh, okay. 00:01:21.900 --> 00:01:23.579 So we wouldn't have to remember that. 00:01:23.579 --> 00:01:27.680 Gosh, that's good. 00:01:27.680 --> 00:01:30.659 Can you tell me what type of work they did? 00:01:30.659 --> 00:02:02.549 My mother was English major in college, an elementary major, and she taught second grade most of her life. My dad was a math and science major, and he played basketball at Northeastern State College in Tahlequah, and he was also my basketball, my tennis, my baseball [coach], and he was also superintendent of schools. 00:02:02.549 --> 00:02:06.569 So, you didn't, you didn't fall too far from the tree, did you? 00:02:06.569 --> 00:02:09.300 No, I didn't. 00:02:09.300 --> 00:02:11.939 Do you have any siblings? 00:02:11.939 --> 00:02:12.719 No. 00:02:12.719 --> 00:02:14.250 So, you were an only child? 00:02:14.250 --> 00:02:14.909 Yes. 00:02:14.909 --> 00:02:16.409 Well, my goodness, okay. 00:02:16.409 --> 00:02:20.879 We had problems having children. 00:02:20.879 --> 00:02:21.900 Oh, okay. 00:02:21.900 --> 00:02:26.430 And I made it. 00:02:26.430 --> 00:02:29.009 You made it. You were their miracle. 00:02:29.009 --> 00:02:30.090 Yes, I was. 00:02:30.090 --> 00:02:35.340 Okay. Did you get to grow up around family? 00:02:35.340 --> 00:02:51.659 Yes, our family was mostly from Warner, Oklahoma, and we lived around Muskogee all of our lives. Bristow is the furthest place from Muskogee that I've ever lived. 00:02:51.659 --> 00:02:52.469 Really? 00:02:52.469 --> 00:02:53.960 Yes. 00:02:53.960 --> 00:02:59.990 And you've been here for how long since? I'm trying to think. 00:02:59.990 --> 00:03:03.830 I think it's 19. It was 67. 00:03:03.830 --> 00:03:19.189 Oh, my goodness, okay. Um, so you came, or actually, first, let's talk about your childhood and your home life. I'm going to ask you, just kind of some fun questions to see if you 00:03:19.189 --> 00:03:19.610 Okay. 00:03:19.610 --> 00:03:28.189 See if you can remember. Do you remember any of your favorite toys or games that you played as a as a youngster? 00:03:28.189 --> 00:03:31.550 Yes, a pedal car. 00:03:31.550 --> 00:03:33.319 You had a pedal car? 00:03:33.319 --> 00:03:40.789 And my dad was resourceful. He would make bicycles. 00:03:40.789 --> 00:03:41.599 Oh, my goodness. 00:03:41.599 --> 00:03:54.949 So, I had all the, I never had a new bicycle, but I had a repainted fenders pedal, an old bicycle. 00:03:54.949 --> 00:03:59.000 Well, that sounds awesome. So you probably spent a lot of time outside. I'm guessing? 00:03:59.000 --> 00:03:59.840 Yes, we did. 00:03:59.840 --> 00:04:06.620 Yes. Did you have any chores that you were expected to do? 00:04:06.620 --> 00:04:08.270 Wash the cars. 00:04:08.270 --> 00:04:09.110 Really? 00:04:09.110 --> 00:04:11.389 Keep the cars clean. 00:04:11.389 --> 00:04:13.939 That's interesting. 00:04:13.939 --> 00:04:19.459 I also worked in a filling station with that experience. 00:04:19.459 --> 00:04:24.050 Okay, and so how old were you when you worked at the filling station? Were you a youngster? 00:04:24.050 --> 00:04:27.709 I was a senior in high school. 00:04:27.709 --> 00:04:36.050 Okay, and did you have any friends that came over and played at your house? Did you live in town? Did you live in the country? 00:04:36.050 --> 00:04:51.740 No, I, we lived in town, but I had, I had friends, but I spent most of my time on the road playing baseball and tennis and basketball. 00:04:51.740 --> 00:05:06.620 So, and I'm going to jump ahead a little bit, but I found it funny because your daughter was telling me about you, your adventures in getting to some of your tennis matches. 00:05:06.620 --> 00:05:07.430 Yeah. 00:05:07.430 --> 00:05:09.000 It's not like it is today. 00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:09.529 So, tell me, tell me a little bit about trying to get to a tennis match or what they would do. 00:05:09.529 --> 00:05:18.779 Right. 00:05:18.779 --> 00:05:50.750 Dad took me over where I went, and when I was 16, he handed me the car keys and said, your tennis match this weekend is in Oklahoma City. And, I had been in Oklahoma City, but I had never driven in Oklahoma City, so I took off and went and got to my tennis match. 00:05:50.750 --> 00:05:57.290 And that's that's without Google Maps or cell phones or with anything. You just figured it out, huh? 00:05:57.290 --> 00:06:02.389 It was the Oklahoma City University, and that's where I went for the tennis match. 00:06:02.389 --> 00:06:03.329 Oh, my goodness. 00:06:03.329 --> 00:06:20.399 And I was called Uncle Vic by the smaller tennis players in Muskogee, because Vic Seixas was one of the big tennis players. 00:06:20.399 --> 00:06:21.449 Oh, okay. 00:06:21.449 --> 00:06:22.860 So, they called me Uncle Vic. 00:06:22.860 --> 00:06:24.240 So, that was a compliment? 00:06:24.240 --> 00:06:24.839 Yes. 00:06:24.839 --> 00:06:25.839 Okay. 00:06:25.839 --> 00:06:43.990 I was driving them to Ada. And you know how when they repair a road, there's cones out there. I look in the rear view mirror, one of them's got the tennis rackets out the window, knocking those cones over. It could have torn their arm off! 00:06:43.990 --> 00:06:52.720 Oh, my goodness! It's a wonder that any of us survived our childhood, you know? 00:06:52.720 --> 00:06:53.439 Yeah. 00:06:53.439 --> 00:07:08.860 Especially whenever you're trying to navigate Oklahoma City as a 16 year old. So did you have any favorite activities or hobbies as a child? 00:07:08.860 --> 00:07:24.189 Dad had a shop also, and we had a scroll saw they call nowadays, and we use that to make things. And I learned to make things, and I do that today for Christmas. 00:07:24.189 --> 00:07:25.720 So, like, wood things? 00:07:25.720 --> 00:07:27.040 Yes, sawing wood. 00:07:27.040 --> 00:07:31.000 Cool. 00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:31.269 So, those hobbies carried over into your adulthood. 00:07:31.269 --> 00:07:34.810 With a 00:07:34.810 --> 00:07:39.610 Yes, that is how I take, pass my time today. 00:07:39.610 --> 00:07:49.040 Really? Well, that's neat. Did you collect anything as a child? You remember collecting anything? 00:07:49.040 --> 00:08:06.889 No, I have, not bragging, but I have my tennis medals and my tennis trophies that I have in the attic, and then I have, you know other things, pictures. 00:08:06.889 --> 00:08:15.000 Okay, okay, so can you tell me about your school life? Where did you first attend school? 00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:28.439 I first attended school at, well, I don't remember. 00:08:28.439 --> 00:08:33.720 That's okay. Did you were you said you lived mainly in Muskogee? 00:08:33.720 --> 00:08:41.039 Yeah. I lived in, yeah. I guess, oh, Wagoner. 00:08:41.039 --> 00:08:41.789 Wagoner? 00:08:41.789 --> 00:08:47.700 My mom was second, huh, my mom was second grade teacher. 00:08:47.700 --> 00:08:50.129 Did she teach you also? 00:08:50.129 --> 00:08:51.600 Yes, in the second grade. 00:08:51.600 --> 00:08:56.429 Okay, okay. Did you enjoy school? 00:08:56.429 --> 00:08:58.539 Yes, I enjoyed school quite a bit. 00:08:58.539 --> 00:09:10.809 Okay, now I'm asking if you were a member of any clubs or organizations. Obviously, you played a lot of sports, but were you involved in any other organization? 00:09:10.809 --> 00:09:12.190 4H club. 00:09:12.190 --> 00:09:16.600 4h, okay. Go ahead. 00:09:16.600 --> 00:09:37.059 I raised three hogs in the backyard. And in a square made out of wood and fence. And I moved that along so when they wore the grass out, they would have more grass. 00:09:37.059 --> 00:09:38.049 Right! 00:09:38.049 --> 00:09:48.850 I took them to the fair that in the fall, and my three hogs got away from me and ran over the judge, knocked him down. 00:09:48.850 --> 00:09:49.600 Oh, no! 00:09:49.600 --> 00:09:54.789 So, I didn't win a prize. 00:09:54.789 --> 00:10:17.769 Um, okay, so we're going to circle back to tennis. So, it's my understanding that you were ranked number one in Oklahoma for 15 and under, and you were ranked number three in Midwest Doubles rankings, and then you were the 1955 Oklahoma State Tennis Singles Champion. Does that sound right? 00:10:17.769 --> 00:10:20.740 Yes for there were two classes, A and B. 00:10:20.740 --> 00:10:21.940 Okay. 00:10:21.940 --> 00:10:34.809 And, of course B, A was Tulsa and Muskogee and Ada, and there was a B class. That's all there was. 00:10:34.809 --> 00:10:40.149 So, do you feel that you got your love of sports from your dad? 00:10:40.149 --> 00:10:41.440 That was my job. 00:10:41.440 --> 00:10:42.509 That was your job. 00:10:42.509 --> 00:10:44.490 Besides keeping the cars. 00:10:44.490 --> 00:10:44.879 Okay. 00:10:44.879 --> 00:10:55.110 Keeping the cars clean. But my daddy told me when I was like in elementary, sports, is your job. 00:10:55.110 --> 00:10:55.740 Okay. 00:10:55.740 --> 00:11:08.789 Now I was taught how to do a lot of things around the house. I was taught how to paint the house and so on and so forth. 00:11:08.789 --> 00:11:12.480 But, he felt like sports was your your job. 00:11:12.480 --> 00:11:12.929 That's right. 00:11:12.929 --> 00:11:20.159 Okay, okay, so, did that put pressure on you, or did you, did you enjoy it? 00:11:20.159 --> 00:11:21.179 I enjoyed it. 00:11:21.179 --> 00:11:25.340 You enjoyed it. Okay. Do you feel like he was hard on you? 00:11:25.340 --> 00:12:11.529 My dad was hard on me. I was, we were playing the finals of the basketball tournament at Conner State College when I was a freshman. We were taught to run very hard man-to-man defense. A guy got away and came down the middle, and I swung and didn't touch the guy, but the guy, the referee called a foul. I guess I said some foul language. I don't know. That was not me. 00:12:11.529 --> 00:12:13.019 Right. 00:12:13.019 --> 00:12:40.870 You're out of the game 21! So, as I headed for the bench, I saw my dad pull off his belt. My dad grabbed me by the left arm, gave me a spanking by his belt. The referee stopped the game and says, you're back in the game 21. 00:12:40.870 --> 00:12:42.100 Are you serious? 00:12:42.100 --> 00:12:48.909 So, after the game, my dad said I hated to do that, but I needed you in the game. 00:12:48.909 --> 00:12:49.960 Well, my goodness! 00:12:49.960 --> 00:12:54.009 But that's my story, and I'm sticking to it. 00:12:54.009 --> 00:13:05.950 Okay. Okay, so back on school, did you enjoy reading? 00:13:05.950 --> 00:13:06.700 Not really. 00:13:06.700 --> 00:13:17.990 I I'm kind of with you on that. Um, do you remember if you, like, ate in the cafeteria, or did you take your lunch when you were a youngster? 00:13:17.990 --> 00:14:00.950 Okay, we lived in Wagner. My dad, eight miles south, was superintendent and coach. So, after I was probably in about the fourth grade, I went to, I started riding to school with him and going to Okay Public Schools, and so we spent a lot of time in the car, driving back and forth. So, that was my most that was my high school, I mean, my elementary and my high school experience. 00:14:00.950 --> 00:14:10.009 Okay, okay, um, well, let's talk a little bit about the house you grew up in. 00:14:10.009 --> 00:14:11.299 Okay. 00:14:11.299 --> 00:14:13.940 Can you, you said you lived in town? 00:14:13.940 --> 00:14:15.500 Yes, we lived in Wagner. 00:14:15.500 --> 00:14:18.980 Can you describe your house? 00:14:18.980 --> 00:14:35.490 It was a two story house, divided. In other words, they took a mansion, sawed it half in two, and moved them apart. 00:14:35.490 --> 00:14:36.120 Are you serious? 00:14:36.120 --> 00:14:54.210 And they, yes, they look alike. There's a picture on the wall. I wish you could see it of the two houses. The driveway was in between, and I had a concrete slab with the goal on the garage. 00:14:54.210 --> 00:14:56.000 You probably spent a lot of time on that, didn't you? 00:14:56.000 --> 00:14:59.929 Yes, we also had a tennis court in our backyard. 00:14:59.929 --> 00:15:01.309 Did you really? 00:15:01.309 --> 00:15:16.250 Yes, it was dirt, and we played tennis, practiced tennis in the backyard, and two blocks south was the baseball field. 00:15:16.250 --> 00:15:18.889 And this was in the town of Wagoner? 00:15:18.889 --> 00:15:19.429 Yes. 00:15:19.429 --> 00:15:22.460 Okay, and then you were close to the baseball field, too. 00:15:22.460 --> 00:15:24.919 Yes, the baseball field was right down there. 00:15:24.919 --> 00:15:38.240 Okay, so did you, do you remember, like, the inside of your house? Like your, I know you spent most of your time outside, but like, what was your, what was the inside of your house like? 00:15:38.240 --> 00:15:50.000 Inside of the house was a kitchen, a washroom and a stairwell. Then on the east side of the house was the dining room and the living room. 00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:53.059 So you had a really nice house, didn't you? 00:15:53.059 --> 00:16:08.779 Yes, upstairs was a ping pong table in the hall and then a TV room, my bedroom and my parent's bedroom and a bath. So, there's an upstairs bath and a downstairs bath. 00:16:08.779 --> 00:16:10.889 Wow! 00:16:10.889 --> 00:16:19.620 And, like I say, we were very, oops, I forgot the word. 00:16:19.620 --> 00:16:20.399 That's okay! 00:16:20.399 --> 00:16:21.330 Resourceful. 00:16:21.330 --> 00:16:22.409 Okay. 00:16:22.409 --> 00:16:34.649 And he was able to, like I say, put a tennis court back there, and basketball court, and then we had a garage where we had all of our tools. 00:16:34.649 --> 00:16:39.539 So, did your friends not come over and play tennis or basketball with you? 00:16:39.539 --> 00:16:45.000 No, all my friends were going to Wagoner School, of course. 00:16:45.000 --> 00:16:48.029 Oh, okay. 00:16:48.029 --> 00:17:06.660 And they, we beat them in the finals. We beat them in the finals of the Regional in 1955 on our way to state basketball tournament. 00:17:06.660 --> 00:17:08.009 Okay. 00:17:08.009 --> 00:17:16.589 They were not very happy. As I was dribbling down the court, I would see paper clips fly by me. 00:17:16.589 --> 00:17:18.319 Really?! 00:17:18.319 --> 00:17:20.569 Yes, they were. 00:17:20.569 --> 00:17:21.230 Oh, my goodness. 00:17:21.230 --> 00:17:27.079 They were trying to hit me with paper clips from rubber bands. 00:17:27.079 --> 00:17:38.869 Well, my goodness! Well, so, can you tell me what meal times were like for your family? Did you eat together every night? Or how did that work? 00:17:38.869 --> 00:17:51.200 Yes, my mama had a rule that supper was going to be on the table at six o'clock. 00:17:51.200 --> 00:17:52.000 And you better be there. 00:17:52.000 --> 00:18:02.710 If we did, yeah, if we did not make it, we ate it cold. Or if we didn't like it, we would fix it ourselves. 00:18:02.710 --> 00:18:04.180 I like that rule. 00:18:04.180 --> 00:18:06.880 It was a good rule. 00:18:06.880 --> 00:18:12.049 So, did you have to do any cleaning up or any of that, or did your mom handle all that? 00:18:12.049 --> 00:19:20.809 I, my mother came to me one day and said, if I put, if you will put me through college, I will put you through college. And I said, okay, what do I do? She said, do the laundry and clean the house. I says, okay, teach me. So, she taught me how to do the laundry and to clean the house. Now, when we clean the house, we don't clean the house. We dust every object on every shelf and every shelf as we take it off. And, so, that was a good teaching thing for me. We still do that today, and of course, also clean the cars. 00:19:20.809 --> 00:19:29.210 Yes, still clean the cars. Okay, well, that's interesting. I think that's a good that, that was a really good life lesson for you, wasn't it? 00:19:29.210 --> 00:19:31.400 I think, yes, it was, yeah. 00:19:31.400 --> 00:19:37.279 And plus, I just think that's, I'm I'm kind of like that at my house, too, so. 00:19:37.279 --> 00:20:00.289 Mama just dies laughing, when I was I graduated in Tahlequah, and she said, how do you iron your clothes? I said, I spread them out and put them between the mattress and box springs and lay on top of them. That's the way I iron my clothes. 00:20:00.289 --> 00:20:02.900 Well, hey, you said you guys were resourceful. 00:20:02.900 --> 00:20:05.190 Yes, yes. 00:20:05.190 --> 00:20:34.200 Did you, do you happen to remember having a favorite meal that she would fix for you? Can't think of anything in particular? Or any, maybe dessert or something that she would fix that you really enjoyed? 00:20:34.200 --> 00:20:35.609 No, I really can't. 00:20:35.609 --> 00:20:37.410 Okay. Was she a pretty good cook? 00:20:37.410 --> 00:20:38.789 Yes, my mother was a good cook. 00:20:38.789 --> 00:20:42.480 So, you probably liked everything, then, if you were a growing boy. 00:20:42.480 --> 00:20:46.109 Right. Meatloaf comes to my mind. 00:20:46.109 --> 00:20:59.109 Meatloaf. Okay, um, so you said that you always had to take care of cleaning the cars. What kind of cars did you have? Do you remember what kind of cars they were? 00:20:59.109 --> 00:21:31.059 Well, yes, they were, my dad always had a new car to drive for safety reasons, and my favorite car was a Model A '31. We went to a barn west of Checotah [Oklahoma] and bought a Model A for $25. 00:21:31.059 --> 00:21:33.170 Oh, my goodness! 00:21:33.170 --> 00:22:27.559 My dad, we brought it home, and my dad was a, could paint, you know, all this stuff, and we fixed it up. It was beautiful, and I drove it all over, and when I got ready to go to college, Dad says, you got to sell your Model A, which broke my heart. So, I was parked on the street in Checotah, and this guy saw me get out of it, and stopped, from Oklahoma City and said, I noticed your Model A's for sale. And I said, yes. How much? I said, $650. He got out his billfold and counted his money and says, I think I got that much. So, anyway, I sold my Model A and went to college. 00:22:27.559 --> 00:22:34.490 So, did he, did he want you to sell it because you needed the money or because you needed a better car? 00:22:34.490 --> 00:22:35.539 Probably a better car. 00:22:35.539 --> 00:22:36.470 A better car? 00:22:36.470 --> 00:22:36.869 Yes. 00:22:36.869 --> 00:22:38.160 But you were partial to it? 00:22:38.160 --> 00:22:38.579 Yes. 00:22:38.579 --> 00:22:39.480 Yeah, oka. 00:22:39.480 --> 00:22:42.029 My better car was a '40 Chevrolet. 00:22:42.029 --> 00:22:43.710 A '40 Chevrolet, okay. 00:22:43.710 --> 00:22:45.240 Do we have time for that story? 00:22:45.240 --> 00:22:46.920 Yeah, absolutely. 00:22:46.920 --> 00:23:23.279 '40 Chevrolet had a bad engine. So, we found, dad found the '53 Chevrolet power glide upside down. It was at a junkyard and bought it and brought it home and put it in that '40 Chevrolet. Which the '40 Chevrolet, he'll never know this, was the fastest car on the highway. We would race it and win. 00:23:23.279 --> 00:23:24.000 That's awesome. 00:23:24.000 --> 00:23:45.690 So, when I moved to Porter [Oklahoma] as the coach, the super the president of the school board, raced cars. So, Porter was a small town, so I got in with them in the summer racing cars. 00:23:45.690 --> 00:23:47.589 Oh, my goodness. 00:23:47.589 --> 00:24:45.519 So, one of my physics students, he decided he was going to build a race car. So, they were standing around. And when I grew up in Porter, I was also with these mechanic's sons. So, they said, what are we going to do? I said, well, the fastest car I had was a '40 Chevrolet, '53 power glide engine with the stick shift. They kind of scratched their chins and they said, I think that'll work. So, that car after school on Fridays, I would hook that car and trailer up and take it to Muskogee [Oklahoma] for my student to race, and we had one of the fastest cars out there. 00:24:45.519 --> 00:24:48.339 Well, how fun is that? I did not know that about you. 00:24:48.339 --> 00:24:55.119 Oh, yes, I was just fortunate all my life to have do the things I had fun doing. 00:24:55.119 --> 00:25:12.279 Yeah, you got to do all kinds of things. Um, well, let me see here. Did you, so, you said you had a TV room, so I guess you got to watch some TV growing up. Do you remember any of your favorite programs? 00:25:12.279 --> 00:26:05.430 Yeah, but I can't think the name of it. We always tried to get home and Channel Six in Tulsa. Channel Six in Tulsa, came on the air. We heard there's a TV station. Now, before that, as growing up, we got to go to Oklahoma State basketball games and sit behind the bench, and we got to go what they call then, an all college tournament in Oklahoma City. Would be Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Kansas, all the top schools in this area. 00:26:05.430 --> 00:26:10.950 Oh, I was just wondering you, you said you sat behind the I had asked about the TV programs. 00:26:10.950 --> 00:26:51.930 Yeah, okay, Channel Six came on the air. I sit on the front porch holding up an antenna. And dad had bought a TV, and we had seen Channel Four in Oklahoma City, which at then, at that all-college tournament, there was TVs out in the lobby where you could see them. So, we found out we could watch Channel Six, so dad had this big two story antenna on top of the house. We could get Channel Four in Oklahoma City, and then when Tulsa came on the air, we could get them. 00:26:51.930 --> 00:26:53.130 You could get them. 00:26:53.130 --> 00:26:53.609 Yes. 00:26:53.609 --> 00:26:54.089 Well, that's awesome. 00:26:54.089 --> 00:27:19.579 And there was a dancing program after school at four o'clock on Channel Six, where, you know, students from all schools came and danced, and that was my favorite program. Later on, I found out my wife's sister was on one of those dance shows. 00:27:19.579 --> 00:27:22.519 Did you attend church growing up? 00:27:22.519 --> 00:27:23.119 Yes. 00:27:23.119 --> 00:27:24.950 You did? Okay. 00:27:24.950 --> 00:27:26.000 First Baptist Church. 00:27:26.000 --> 00:27:37.970 Do you remember what your favorite thing about church was, or what services were like? Or can you tell me anything about church? 00:27:37.970 --> 00:28:01.190 The, sorry you asked, the teacher in Baptist Church was a very good looking woman, so all of us boys went to 00:28:01.190 --> 00:28:02.000 You liked going to her class? 00:28:02.000 --> 00:28:02.279 No, no, it's your interview. Yeah, I asked you. 00:28:02.279 --> 00:28:35.480 Yes! We like going to her class, Sunday school class. We had a softball team that was very, very good. She was a good softball coach. So, that attracted us to the Baptist Church. We were, I was baptized in the Baptist Church, and I married my wife. She was, oh, we shouldn't be talking about religion, should we. 00:28:35.480 --> 00:29:02.000 My wife was a Methodist. My parents were Methodists. So, I kept, even all through life, going to the Baptist Church. So, when I married my wife, I converted her over and because most of the ball players seemed like, when I was coaching, would go to the Baptist Church. 00:29:02.000 --> 00:29:06.140 Interesting, and, so, you enjoyed attending the Baptist Church, then? 00:29:06.140 --> 00:29:06.710 Yes. 00:29:06.710 --> 00:29:16.339 Okay, um, okay, so as a child, do you remember what you wanted to be when you grew up? 00:29:16.339 --> 00:29:21.650 Yes, I wanted to be a scientist, a chemist. 00:29:21.650 --> 00:29:22.779 Wow! 00:29:22.779 --> 00:30:12.190 But as I got older and went to college, I could not feature myself being inside all day in an office, in a room, working. So, I went home. One day I was at Oklahoma State. I went home one day and I said, I'm going to Northeastern at Tahlequah [Oklahoma], play tennis with my friends that I grew up with that are over there playing. I'm going to make a teacher and a coach. And my parents said, that sounds good. So, I finished that fall in Oklahoma State, and I went to Tahlequah. 00:30:12.190 --> 00:30:36.849 And that's funny that you say that, that was the next thing I was going to talk to you about, because Lisa had told me that you were awarded basketball and tennis scholarships to Northeastern A & M in Miami [Oklahoma]. You played one year, attended OSU one year, and then in 1957 that you transferred to NSU to play tennis. 00:30:36.849 --> 00:30:37.299 Yes. 00:30:37.299 --> 00:30:46.269 And that you graduated NSU in 1960 with a Bachelor of Science in Education with a minor in science and math. Does that all sound right? 00:30:46.269 --> 00:30:46.750 Yes. 00:30:46.750 --> 00:30:55.599 Okay. And then after graduation, I understand that you headed to Edna, Kansas for your first teaching assignment? 00:30:55.599 --> 00:30:56.079 Yes. 00:30:56.079 --> 00:30:57.910 Okay. You want to tell me about that? 00:30:57.910 --> 00:31:09.730 I married a girl from Tulsa. We met at college in the fall at a dance. And 00:31:09.730 --> 00:31:14.559 So, okay, so, so since you're telling me about her, tell me, tell me what her name is. 00:31:14.559 --> 00:31:16.750 Her name is Sharon Allen Scott. 00:31:16.750 --> 00:31:19.119 Okay, and so you met her at NSU? 00:31:19.119 --> 00:31:19.630 Yes. 00:31:19.630 --> 00:31:20.680 Okay, all right. 00:31:20.680 --> 00:31:21.000 At a dance. 00:31:21.000 --> 00:32:23.970 We at a dance. Yes, she came to Tahlequah at a fraternity dance. Her boyfriend had some problems, and she and I danced together. And I said, next time you come to Tahlequah, I'll have you a date with a really nice guy.I mean, I wouldn't say it would be me at the time, but as life turned out, she and I dated, and you gotta remember, she was a senior in high school. I was a senior in college. Her senior class was 1000 some odd, and my high school was 200. But I married a girl from Tulsa, and I moved her in a car, in a trailer, to Edna, Kansas, which was 250 people. She made a lot of friends. I'm serious, she made a lot of friends. 00:32:23.970 --> 00:32:26.160 Well, she's a, she's a sweet lady. 00:32:26.160 --> 00:32:30.750 She, oh gosh, yes, how lucky could you be? 00:32:30.750 --> 00:32:35.430 Well, do you remember what your first impression of her was when you, the first time you saw her? 00:32:35.430 --> 00:32:43.589 Uh, she was very mild and very sweet person. 00:32:43.589 --> 00:32:55.890 Okay, so did you have an engagement? And did it, so did you get engaged? How long was your engagement? Or did you just decide to get married? 00:32:55.890 --> 00:33:11.519 Let's see. It's one Saturday afternoon at her house, and we looked at each other and said, let's get married. She says, I want to marry you. 00:33:11.519 --> 00:33:12.750 Just like that, huh? 00:33:12.750 --> 00:33:49.109 Yes. And, so, later on my parents said we didn't know if we could afford you your senior year, because you burned, you and Sharon burned so much gas driving back and forth from Tulsa to Tahlequah to Checotah to Tahlequah. And I didn't, I said, why didn't you tell me? I said, we could've, you know, put it every other weekend. 00:33:49.109 --> 00:33:49.890 Right. 00:33:49.890 --> 00:33:59.019 But I would drive up stay with her parents one weekend, and then pick her up, and we would go to my parents one weekend. 00:33:59.019 --> 00:34:14.800 Well, so, one of my other questions I wanted to ask you was, what was your first years of marriage like, which takes us back to you taking her to Edna. So, tell me a little bit about Edna. You said it was a little bitty town. She made a lot of friends. 00:34:14.800 --> 00:34:24.760 Yes, we had a Falcon back then, red. 00:34:24.760 --> 00:34:25.989 Okay. 00:34:25.989 --> 00:35:36.190 I was so proud of my car. While we were dating, I drove it to Tulsa. She said, why did you get red? I said, because that was the color that the car was, okay. Not, oh, you got a new car! Wow, why did you get red? So, I have a picture of us standing by the red Falcon. But my memory was also, she would drive to Tulsa and visit her parents. One weekend, she got to her mom and dad's and her dad said, how much money you got? She said, $2. He said, you mean you drove all the way down here with $2 in your pocket. Well, gas was quarter a gallon, and the Falcon got 25 miles per gallon. That's it. 00:35:36.190 --> 00:35:52.690 Well, so, I know that you also taught in Okay, Inola and Porter before you landed in Bristow in 1967 so let's talk a little bit about Bristow. Um, what did you think about Bristow when you first came here? 00:35:52.690 --> 00:35:53.619 We loved it. 00:35:53.619 --> 00:35:54.250 You loved it? 00:35:54.250 --> 00:35:55.300 Yes. 00:35:55.300 --> 00:35:57.309 Was she happy to be in a different town? 00:35:57.309 --> 00:35:58.840 Yes. 00:35:58.840 --> 00:35:59.000 Okay. 00:35:59.000 --> 00:35:59.199 An escape? 00:35:59.199 --> 00:36:05.900 Now, can I tell you that Bristow was an escape. 00:36:05.900 --> 00:36:34.809 For us. I had lived in northeastern Oklahoma all our life. Everyone knew me from the time I was a little guy shooting free throws before a game at Porum, Oklahoma when I was six years old, and every time I would make one, the whole crowd would cheer. But it was an escape. 00:36:34.809 --> 00:36:39.070 So, you felt like it was nice to come and be somewhere where no one knew you? 00:36:39.070 --> 00:36:39.429 Yes. 00:36:39.429 --> 00:36:40.630 Okay. 00:36:40.630 --> 00:36:48.099 Because little Charlie Nicholson was not going to whip my son in high school. I was an adult. 00:36:48.099 --> 00:36:49.300 Right, right. 00:36:49.300 --> 00:37:22.869 But we, we came here, and of course, basketball was not a big game, and I would go up down the hall, and I would tell the students, I said, hey, our basketball team's playing tonight. Why don't you come and see us? And luckily, I had some boys that were that could play, and and we started filling the gym, and it was just great. 00:37:22.869 --> 00:37:29.380 So, you, so, whenever you came here, you were hired to teach ninth grade physical science? 00:37:29.380 --> 00:37:29.860 Yes. 00:37:29.860 --> 00:37:35.949 To be the head coach of the boys basketball team and the assistant coach of the football team, correct? 00:37:35.949 --> 00:37:36.000 Yes. 00:37:36.000 --> 00:37:58.219 Okay, um, and then I also understand, and I didn't even know this. I don't know how I didn't know this, that you were asked to start the girls basketball program in 1973, so I'd also like for you to talk a little bit about the evolution of girls basketball in Bristow. 00:37:58.219 --> 00:38:04.699 Okay, we had six on six. 00:38:04.699 --> 00:38:07.519 See, I played six on six. I'm an old timer. 00:38:07.519 --> 00:38:27.769 Yeah, we had six on six. We had three guards and three forwards, and we started girls basketball in physical education. Gene Thompson kind of practiced the girls in physical education class. 00:38:27.769 --> 00:38:29.150 Okay. 00:38:29.150 --> 00:38:38.000 I had Dick Doak's daughter was from Stroud. 00:38:38.000 --> 00:38:40.190 Now, is this Linda? Are we talking about Linda Trigalet? 00:38:40.190 --> 00:38:41.119 Linda Trigalet. 00:38:41.119 --> 00:38:42.869 Okay, she's another one of my favorites. 00:38:42.869 --> 00:38:57.900 Yes, yes. She had played at Stroud, so she was a good outside shooter. I had some girls that could play guards and and we did well the first year of basketball. 00:38:57.900 --> 00:38:58.469 That's awesome! 00:38:58.469 --> 00:39:06.409 And we had a good time at it, too. 00:39:06.409 --> 00:39:14.000 Do you feel like it took a while for the girls basketball to catch on, or did it just really take off and 00:39:14.000 --> 00:39:26.809 Yes it, yes it, we kind of caught on. I had one or two girls that were fast and played defense. 00:39:26.809 --> 00:39:28.519 And probably fun to watch? 00:39:28.519 --> 00:39:30.380 Yeah, yes. 00:39:30.380 --> 00:39:38.900 So, now, back then, was there very many other teams in your district, or was it still pretty small at that time? 00:39:38.900 --> 00:39:57.949 Yeah, most, if I remember, but most of us had the same teams. Holdenville, Wewoka, Bristow, Henryetta, some, some other teams had, they all had girls. 00:39:57.949 --> 00:40:11.659 So, this might not be a fair question, but I'm going to ask it anyway. Do you have, do you, do you have a favorite sport that you have coached, between tennis, football, basketball, boys and girls basketball? Do you have a favorite? 00:40:11.659 --> 00:40:13.250 Yes, I love basketball. 00:40:13.250 --> 00:40:15.199 Basketball, yeah. 00:40:15.199 --> 00:40:33.559 We, drills. We did not drill running up down the court or running up down the stadium. We drilled dribbling passing, three on two. 00:40:33.559 --> 00:40:35.000 All the fundamentals. 00:40:35.000 --> 00:41:09.860 Yeah, fundamentals. My dad said that you can't play ball if you can't dribble left hand, right hand and shoot left hand, right hand. And, every time I run on to an elementary coach, they would, I would say, learn to dribble, and they would scream at me left handed and right handed, because I've had players that thought they became left handed. 00:41:09.860 --> 00:41:14.539 Because they were so fluid and being able to do either right or left. 00:41:14.539 --> 00:41:24.980 I had a kid at Porter. They would say, other coaches would say, boy, that left hander is good! 00:41:24.980 --> 00:41:26.030 And they're right handed? 00:41:26.030 --> 00:41:37.900 Yeah, and, but I noticed that when my kids would dribble left handed down the court, nobody would take the ball away from because they would go, you know, they'd just look at them. 00:41:37.900 --> 00:41:55.449 Right, right. That's funny. Um, seemed like there was something else I was going to ask you about that. So, how long were you the girls basketball coach? So, you were the head coach? Because I don't have that information. 00:41:55.449 --> 00:41:57.340 I was head coach for about three years. 00:41:57.340 --> 00:42:02.559 Were you really? And you were you still trying to coach the boys and football, too, and tennis? 00:42:02.559 --> 00:42:05.019 No, I just coached girls basketball. 00:42:05.019 --> 00:42:05.710 Just the girls? 00:42:05.710 --> 00:42:05.889 Yeah. 00:42:05.889 --> 00:42:12.539 Okay. And then, and then, didn't you, you coached tennis as well at some point, right? 00:42:12.539 --> 00:42:28.679 Yes, Title IX said we must have equal women's sports. So, that's why that there is tennis and softball and track. 00:42:28.679 --> 00:42:38.579 Equal opportunity, basically. Well, you know, I'm really glad you didn't become a scientist, because I think your calling was to be a coach and a teacher. 00:42:38.579 --> 00:42:40.960 It was. I think it was, too. 00:42:40.960 --> 00:43:17.710 And I have to say, I'm gonna go back to your teaching part a little bit. I had you for ninth grade science, and I remember because, you know, of course, this was before, you know, cell phones and everything was so readily available. We were, of course, talking about weather, and you had a VHS tape of some of an active tornado doing damage, and you let me take it because we watched, like, a little bit of it in class, and you let me take that tape home where I could watch it at home. And I thought that was the coolest thing I had ever seen in my life. Scary, but cool, you know. 00:43:17.710 --> 00:43:18.639 Yeah. 00:43:18.639 --> 00:43:41.650 But you really sparked my interest in in weather, you know, in which we're going to talk about that too, because you have, you have quite a career here with Bristow, but let's talk a little bit more about your wife, Sharon. Um, you did you, you said you got married in the Baptist Church? 00:43:41.650 --> 00:43:42.849 No, Methodist. 00:43:42.849 --> 00:43:50.079 Methodist Church, I'm sorry. That's right. And do you remember what your wedding was like? Was it simple? Was it big? 00:43:50.079 --> 00:43:51.039 It's very simple. 00:43:51.039 --> 00:43:52.360 Very simple. Okay. 00:43:52.360 --> 00:44:11.000 My college friend was a best man. His dad was a doctor that had a big Lincoln. So, we got the bride in a big Lincoln. 00:44:11.000 --> 00:44:12.000 In a big Lincoln. 00:44:12.000 --> 00:44:31.889 After the, before the ceremony, we arrived right in the big Lincoln. Had our ceremony, and we got in the big Lincoln and went to eat. The big Lincoln took us to our motel, so we had a big Lincoln waiting. 00:44:31.889 --> 00:44:44.639 Well, that's cool. Um, well, I also want to ask you about your daughters, um, which I know both of them, but so tell me both of your daughter's names. 00:44:44.639 --> 00:44:48.750 Leisa Lynn Nicholson (Hallman) [9/1/1961]. Teresa Edair Nicholson (Ledgerwood) [4/2/1963]. 00:44:48.750 --> 00:44:50.309 Okay, so 00:44:50.309 --> 00:44:53.340 Lisa is a Hallman. 00:44:53.340 --> 00:44:54.840 And Teresa is a Ledgerwood. 00:44:54.840 --> 00:44:55.980 Teresa is a Ledgerwood. 00:44:55.980 --> 00:45:08.099 And I have Lisa's birthday as September 1, 1961. And I have Teresa's birthday, April 2 of 1963 just because I want to have that on the recording. 00:45:08.099 --> 00:45:17.000 We were not going to have babies for two or three years, but after a while, my wife said, it's time to have babies. 00:45:17.000 --> 00:45:29.210 It's time to have babies. Well, can you think back to what maybe some of the challenges were of being a dad in the early years. Did you have any challenges or? 00:45:29.210 --> 00:45:31.219 Funny you should ask. 00:45:31.219 --> 00:45:33.289 Let me guess, you have a story? 00:45:33.289 --> 00:45:54.500 Yes. Theresa did not like to go to bed early. She did not like to sleep, so she and I sit in the living room watching television while she was on my shoulder. 00:45:54.500 --> 00:45:55.670 Right. 00:45:55.670 --> 00:46:02.090 And about the time I would thought she was asleep, she would raise her head up and start looking. 00:46:02.090 --> 00:46:05.449 And you're like, darn, we have to start this process all over again. 00:46:05.449 --> 00:46:10.670 And Sharon and Lisa were sleeping while she and I was up. 00:46:10.670 --> 00:46:13.340 So, she was your one that didn't sleep much then? 00:46:13.340 --> 00:46:15.829 Yes, and she went through life like that. 00:46:15.829 --> 00:46:21.000 Oh, my goodness. Now, did they, did you coach them in basketball? Did they play basketball for you? 00:46:21.000 --> 00:46:21.110 So, how was that? Was that a good experience, a fun experience? 00:46:21.110 --> 00:46:25.440 Yes, uh huh. 00:46:25.440 --> 00:46:43.530 Yes, it was. Teresa would always and my daddy, I never thought about this. My daddy always said, you make the first shot of the game. 00:46:43.530 --> 00:46:44.730 That's what he would tell you? 00:46:44.730 --> 00:46:45.179 Yes. 00:46:45.179 --> 00:46:46.110 Okay. 00:46:46.110 --> 00:47:01.590 Teresa was the same way. She'd make the first shot of the game. Lisa was a good passer.The girls. the girls liked to play with her, because she'd get the ball to them. 00:47:01.590 --> 00:47:05.219 And it takes, yeah, it takes all parts to make it work. 00:47:05.219 --> 00:47:06.690 That's right. 00:47:06.690 --> 00:47:14.159 Um, now I also understand that you have four grandchildren and six great grandchildren. Is that correct? 00:47:14.159 --> 00:47:14.550 Mm, hmm. 00:47:14.550 --> 00:47:43.000 Okay. Um, okay, so some things I want to talk to you about in talking with Lisa, there were, you know, several points that they brought up that they wanted me to ask you about. I would like for you to tell me about serving as the Creek County Civil Defense Director, and then, I guess, you were Bristow's Civil Defense Director for 24 years, retired in 1998. Can you tell me about your experience with all of that? 00:47:43.000 --> 00:48:08.320 Oh, we had a highway patrol that lived two doors south of us, that we camped with and I fished with, and one day he said, I want you to go watch storms with me, the highway patrol. So, I went twice. 00:48:08.320 --> 00:48:12.789 And this was when you were, like, a teacher and a coach and all that. 00:48:12.789 --> 00:48:12.849 Yeah. 00:48:12.849 --> 00:48:16.480 It was that was that time of life. Okay. 00:48:16.480 --> 00:48:31.000 And, so, we went twice. The next thing is, they said, I want you to go, there was a building out here on the hill by the swimming pool that was the county. 00:48:31.000 --> 00:48:33.329 Yes, I've seen pictures of it. 00:48:33.329 --> 00:49:07.230 And up on top of it was a little house, he said, and this is where they watch storms from, the key the base we'll call it, the base station. Want you go up there and see what they're doing. So, I went up there twice or three times, and pretty soon they came to the house, said we want you to be, then, Civil Defense. 00:49:07.230 --> 00:49:08.880 Right, right. 00:49:08.880 --> 00:50:08.400 I said, man, I don't know that I've got time for this. Well, we've got to have you, because at the time, the guy that was the director was going to run for county sheriff, so they had to have someone. So, I accepted was sworn in in this building across the street. The main thing was, is storm watching. I don't care what else happens. So I went to the National Weather Service in Tulsa, walked in the door, introduced myself. I said, I got to know about storms. I said they've thrown they've thrown me in Civil Defense Director at Bristow. And I said their main thing is watching storms. And a guy looked around and said, I bet there's a lot of people out there that don't know the, now, I knew about storms, but I didn't know the particulars. 00:50:08.400 --> 00:50:10.699 Right. 00:50:10.699 --> 00:50:34.369 So, this, I was the my experience was the beginning of the Weather Service traveling around, giving schools. And the first one was the First Baptist Church in Bristow. We filled that place. 00:50:34.369 --> 00:50:40.369 So, you're basically kind of instrumental in getting training for storm spotting. 00:50:40.369 --> 00:50:40.969 That's right. 00:50:40.969 --> 00:50:44.900 That's amazing. And now it's huge. It's a big deal. 00:50:44.900 --> 00:50:54.949 Yes, it is. And you can take it on television, I mean, I'm sorry, on the internet now, but still. 00:50:54.949 --> 00:50:57.710 So, the first class was here at the First Baptist Church? 00:50:57.710 --> 00:50:58.429 Yes. 00:50:58.429 --> 00:50:59.449 That's amazing. 00:50:59.449 --> 00:51:00.469 And it was full. 00:51:00.469 --> 00:51:01.369 It was full. 00:51:01.369 --> 00:51:15.000 We later moved up here to the elementary. Washington had, you know, had a place up there, and we it got smaller because they moved around to different cities. 00:51:15.000 --> 00:51:26.460 Well, I remember being bummed out when you retired, because I was like, who's going to tell us when the the sirens need to be blown. We, a lot of this counted on you. 00:51:26.460 --> 00:51:29.940 Yes, it went downhill from there. I'm sorry. 00:51:29.940 --> 00:51:31.000 Yes, I would agree. 00:51:31.000 --> 00:51:56.409 We were in the process of rebuilding, and the guy died. Oh, he, he was one of my storm watchers, took over for me, and they didn't have enough. He couldn't find anybody with that could afford for nothing to go out and take their lives in their own hands. 00:51:56.409 --> 00:52:03.099 Right, in your own vehicle, in your, yeah, in your own time, right, right. Yeah, I understand. 00:52:03.099 --> 00:52:08.800 I mean, you can get out there and get hung up and get a get your pickup just beat up. 00:52:08.800 --> 00:52:17.860 Oh! Absolutely, absolutely. I, also, understand that you were, I didn't know you were a volunteer firefighter for the fire department here? 00:52:17.860 --> 00:52:18.219 Yes, I was. 00:52:18.219 --> 00:52:20.079 You worked for a while. Okay. 00:52:20.079 --> 00:52:25.469 We would fight fire all day and chase storms all night. 00:52:25.469 --> 00:52:43.139 My husband actually started here as a volunteer fireman, and then was a full time here, and then, you know, ended up he's at Tulsa now. I, also, understand that you were awarded a Merit of Recognition and Appreciation from the mayor for your 24 years of service. 00:52:43.139 --> 00:52:43.440 Yes. 00:52:43.440 --> 00:52:46.260 Is that correct? And you retired in 1998? 00:52:46.260 --> 00:52:46.949 Mm-hmm. 00:52:46.949 --> 00:52:55.440 Okay, and then did you also, you got a neighborhood watch program started? 00:52:55.440 --> 00:53:03.179 Yes, the same guys that were storm spotters and firemen. 00:53:03.179 --> 00:53:09.000 I felt like you were way ahead of your time on on getting all this stuff going. 00:53:09.000 --> 00:53:17.000 We had a a fire up here where the there was a Ben Franklin store, 00:53:17.000 --> 00:53:19.400 Yes, yes. I remember that story. 00:53:19.400 --> 00:53:19.969 Big fire. 00:53:19.969 --> 00:53:20.000 Yeah. 00:53:20.000 --> 00:53:57.920 I was up all night fighting fire, and I went to school the next day and taught school. I went out and sat down to the high school principal's office, which being athletic director, I checked in with him every day. What are you doing here? This is my job. Oh, well, I didn't think you'd be here today. You was up all night. I said, that's my civil duty. This is my job. 00:53:57.920 --> 00:53:59.900 Oh, dedicated, 00:53:59.900 --> 00:54:00.349 Yes. 00:54:00.349 --> 00:54:01.670 Absolutely dedicated. 00:54:01.670 --> 00:54:02.119 Yes. 00:54:02.119 --> 00:54:05.659 And, you were Citizen of the Year in 1985. 00:54:05.659 --> 00:54:06.320 Yes. 00:54:06.320 --> 00:54:08.179 That's a pretty cool honor. 00:54:08.179 --> 00:54:08.989 I thought it was. 00:54:08.989 --> 00:54:19.579 Yeah. Isn't that when they used to have you like ride in the Christmas parade? And did you ride the Christmas parade like in a car, or did they just award it to you at the banquet? 00:54:19.579 --> 00:54:20.329 At the banquet. 00:54:20.329 --> 00:54:21.239 At the banquet, okay. 00:54:21.239 --> 00:54:55.889 I was at a ball game one night. The principal walked up says, oh, by the way, your wife and family is out here eating dinner at the country club. You're supposed to go out there and eat dinner with them. I'll take over. So, I drove out there. I didn't know what's going on. So, they got to talking and giving speeches, and I'm going, I think I know that guy. And pretty soon they gave me the award. 00:54:55.889 --> 00:54:56.699 That's awesome! 00:54:56.699 --> 00:54:57.360 Yes. 00:54:57.360 --> 00:55:05.000 And then I understand, too, that you were, you were a 2010 Wildflower Run honoree? 00:55:05.000 --> 00:55:05.039 Weren't you on a t-shirt and everything, on the Wildflower Run t-shirt? Well, that's pretty cool. Well, is there any other stories that you want to tell me about your time here at Bristow that I didn't ask you about? Anything else you want to share? 00:55:05.039 --> 00:55:20.690 Yes. 00:55:20.690 --> 00:55:21.920 No, I don't. 00:55:21.920 --> 00:55:22.699 You don't think so? 00:55:22.699 --> 00:55:24.079 I don't really know. 00:55:24.079 --> 00:55:36.860 Okay, well, I have a couple of other questions for you, but I but these are just kind of fun questions. Um, what would you consider to be the most important invention in your lifetime? 00:55:36.860 --> 00:55:39.710 Oh, man, that's a that's a hard question. 00:55:39.710 --> 00:55:42.349 That is a hard question. I'm challenging you. 00:55:42.349 --> 00:55:45.170 I think the the car was. 00:55:45.170 --> 00:55:46.369 For you, okay. 00:55:46.369 --> 00:55:49.309 For me, because that's all I ever 00:55:49.309 --> 00:55:50.809 You were on the road a lot, weren't you? 00:55:50.809 --> 00:55:57.659 Yes, and my dad and I, we, we rebuilt a lot of cars. 00:55:57.659 --> 00:56:03.170 See, I think that's awesome. My kids are real into car building too. 00:56:03.170 --> 00:56:12.619 Yeah, we a transmission was $5. And now what does that ad say, $3000? 00:56:12.619 --> 00:56:13.730 Yeah, it's crazy. 00:56:13.730 --> 00:56:40.250 But, one day we put my friend of mine who we played, he was the postman in basketball, and played, he and I played end in football, and his dad owned a junkyard, we called it back in the old days. So, I could get parts. 00:56:40.250 --> 00:56:42.170 So, you had a free for all out there, didn't ya? 00:56:42.170 --> 00:56:47.150 Yeah, and he helped me, you know, put them in and out. 00:56:47.150 --> 00:56:57.000 Right, right. Well, that's cool. How do you how do you feel the world is different now than when you were a child? 00:56:57.000 --> 00:57:20.730 The world is too many people are self-centered. Too many people feel sorry for themselves. They don't, they're not fighters anymore. I mean, now, I'm talking fighters. I'm talking about getting out there and stealing the basketball at the end of the game and making a basket to win it. 00:57:20.730 --> 00:57:22.230 Right, right. 00:57:22.230 --> 00:57:30.090 Or, you know, or to come to bat and and hit a home run to win the game. 00:57:30.090 --> 00:57:31.769 Right. 00:57:31.769 --> 00:57:34.500 And there's just too many people that are cry babies. 00:57:34.500 --> 00:57:36.690 Like they've lost their fire or something. 00:57:36.690 --> 00:57:37.590 You're, you're right. 00:57:37.590 --> 00:57:50.440 Yeah, yeah. I, I understand that. As you see it, what do you feel is our nation's biggest problem, and how would you think you would solve it? 00:57:50.440 --> 00:58:20.710 We are too soft. Now, I was born in '37. We didn't put up with this. Our nation did not put up with this. Germany, they marched, my uncle's made the D-Day invasion. The D-Day invasion was, wow, a guy gets shot right there beside you, and you make it up the hill. 00:58:20.710 --> 00:58:22.000 Right. 00:58:22.000 --> 00:58:38.500 We, I remember the president, I lived at [undecipherable] southeast corner of the southeast bedroom was a big old radio. I remember the the president declaring war on Japan. 00:58:38.500 --> 00:58:41.409 How did you feel? How did that make you feel? 00:58:41.409 --> 00:58:42.400 It was scary. 00:58:42.400 --> 00:58:46.659 Scary. About how old were you, would you have been? 00:58:46.659 --> 00:58:47.710 Seven. 00:58:47.710 --> 00:58:49.480 So you were little. 00:58:49.480 --> 00:58:57.519 No, I wasn't. I was two, I was probably five, almost six. 00:58:57.519 --> 00:58:59.469 But you that that's like a core memory. 00:58:59.469 --> 00:59:12.460 Yes, see, that was December the seventh. My birthday is on the 12th of January. The hottest my mother carried me the hottest day of the year, summer of the year. 00:59:12.460 --> 00:59:13.269 Right. 00:59:13.269 --> 00:59:18.400 We drove to Muskogee in the snowstorm to give birth. 00:59:18.400 --> 00:59:29.050 Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness. But, but you so you remember the feeling of hearing the the declaration of war and how that made you feel. 00:59:29.050 --> 00:59:29.559 Yes. 00:59:29.559 --> 00:59:33.849 And you were fearful about it as a youngster, okay, 00:59:33.849 --> 00:59:37.989 We took naps on Sunday. 00:59:37.989 --> 00:59:39.000 I like that idea. 00:59:39.000 --> 00:59:58.619 The the war planes would fly from Oklahoma City over Porum [indecipherable] to Ft. Smith. I would wake up and I would think, oh my gosh, they're coming to bomb us. It would be our planes. 00:59:58.619 --> 00:59:59.519 Right. 00:59:59.519 --> 01:00:00.090 Our war planes. 01:00:00.090 --> 01:00:22.139 But as a kid, that's yeah what you were thinking. Well, how have historic events say, such as the Oklahoma City Bombing, the 9/11 any natural disasters, world wars or even COVID, have any of those things affected you in your life, aside from what we just talked about? 01:00:22.139 --> 01:01:01.320 Yes. I, Oklahoma City bombing, I was prepared to go down there like other people and help service. I got a phone call from the state office telling me to stay in Bristow, because we were on a main highway. See, okay, and they didn't know if they were going to be bombing, marching up, bombing. 01:01:01.320 --> 01:01:01.829 Right. 01:01:01.829 --> 01:01:04.380 And they would need me to stay here. 01:01:04.380 --> 01:01:06.150 Wow. Okay. 01:01:06.150 --> 01:01:07.110 Now others 01:01:07.110 --> 01:01:11.579 Were you, were you fearful at that time of what was going on in our world? 01:01:11.579 --> 01:01:12.300 Yes, I was. 01:01:12.300 --> 01:01:17.590 Yeah, yeah. I remember, too. It was scary. Um 01:01:17.590 --> 01:01:21.579 Now, not interrupting you, there's been other things like, 01:01:21.579 --> 01:01:24.250 Yeah, go ahead. 01:01:24.250 --> 01:01:30.010 I can't think of what it was crashed in Texas, the space shuttle. 01:01:30.010 --> 01:01:33.309 Oh, yes, right, right. 01:01:33.309 --> 01:01:40.210 And, you know, other things like that was really disturbing, because we never know what was that was it shot down? 01:01:40.210 --> 01:01:41.380 Right. 01:01:41.380 --> 01:01:41.889 You know. 01:01:41.889 --> 01:01:45.000 Right, or like the Twin Towers getting hit. 01:01:45.000 --> 01:01:45.130 Yeah, exactly. Well, is there anything else that you would like to share with us? Or, I, honestly, would like to get because I, I would like to hear what Coach Nicholson's words of wisdom are for you to share with future generations. Do you have any words of wisdom that you'd like to share to end this. 01:01:45.130 --> 01:02:07.380 Yes, you're right. 01:02:07.380 --> 01:02:09.000 Work hard. 01:02:09.000 --> 01:02:53.550 And spend your time with your family. That is important. People about their grandkids or their great grandkids, I say, and their own kids. Enjoy them while you can, because pretty soon, snap a finger, they're going to be off to college and get married and leave. See, I have a great grand I have a grandson that he's worked in Kansas City. He works in California now, and we don't get to see him. 01:02:53.550 --> 01:02:53.969 Right. 01:02:53.969 --> 01:02:59.550 You know. So, you need to enjoy your kids while they're growing up. 01:02:59.550 --> 01:03:03.539 Right. I like that advice. That's good advice. 01:03:03.539 --> 01:03:04.260 That's right. 01:03:04.260 --> 01:03:07.469 And it does. It goes by, it goes by so fast. 01:03:07.469 --> 01:03:08.000 That's right. 01:03:08.000 --> 01:03:18.170 It does. Well, your interview will become an important part of the oral history archives for the museum. Thank you for taking the time to talk with us. 01:03:18.170 --> 01:03:18.559 You're welcome. 01:03:18.559 --> 01:03:21.469 And it has definitely been my pleasure. NOTE TRANSCRIPTION END ]]> audio 0 https://bristoworalhistory.org/ohms/render.php?cachefile=OHP-0071_Charles_Nicholson.xml OHP-0071_Charles_Nicholson.xml
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Title
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Charles Nicholson
Description
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Charles Nicholson, a longtime Bristow resident and coach talks about his life and experiences. Born January 12, 1937, in Muskogee, Oklahoma, Charles discusses his parents' backgrounds and his own education and sports achievements, including being ranked number one in Oklahoma for 15 and under tennis and winning the 1955 Oklahoma State Tennis Singles Championship. He shares stories about his childhood, his marriage to Sharon Allen Scott, and his teaching and coaching career, which included starting the girls' basketball program in Bristow. Charles also reflects on his service as the Creek County Civil Defense Director and his dedication to community safety.
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OHP-0071
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2025/05/09
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audio
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Family Histories
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Oral accounts of various family histories
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Bristow Historical Society, oral history collection
Oral History
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Interviewer
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Randy Witty
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Norma Jean Goodmon
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https://bristoworalhistory.org/ohms/render.php?cachefile=OHP-0068_Norma_Jean_Goodmon.xml
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6.0 June 14, 2021 OHP-0068 Norma Jean Goodmon OHP-0068 00:32:39 Bristow Historical Society, Inc. bristowhistory Norma Jean Goodmon Wilberta Witty Randy Witty 0 https://bristoworalhistory.org/interviews/OHP-0068 Goodmon, Norma Jean.mp3 Other audio 0 Birth Randy Witty 00:00
 ; This is Randy Witty with Bristow Historical Society in Bristow, Oklahoma. This interview is part of the Historical Society's ongoing oral history project. The date is June 14, 2021 and I'm sitting here with Norma Jean Goodmon at Kellyville, Oklahoma, who is going to tell me a little bit about their history in the Bristow area. Also in the room is Wilberta Witty, daughter to Norma Jean Goodmon. All right, let's begin. What was your name at birth?
 ; 
 ; Norma Jean Goodmon 00:37
 ; Norma Jean Watts.
 ; 
 ; Randy Witty 00:39
 ; And where were you born? 
 ; 
 ; Norma Jean Goodmon 00:41
 ; Slick, Oklahoma.
 ; Norma Jean Watts Goodmon was born on February 15, 1927. She was born at her family home in Slick, Oklahoma. Bristow Historical Society ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Kellyville (Okla.) ; Wilberta Jean Witty ; Slick (Okla.) Birth 0 57 Parents and Siblings Randy Witty 00:57
 ; All right, what were your parents names?
 ; 
 ; Norma Jean Goodmon 01:01
 ; My daddy's name was James Garfield Watts [06/11/1883-01/28/1956]. My mother's name was Beulah Cecil Wilcox [03/10/1895-5/19/1976].
 ; 
 ; Randy Witty 01:10
 ; All right. Were your parents married? 
 ; 
 ; Norma Jean Goodmon 01:12
 ; Yes. 
 ; 
 ; Randy Witty 01:14
 ; I understand that they were married previous to this marriage. 
 ; 
 ; Norma Jean Goodmon 01:19
 ; Yes.
 ; Norma Jean's parents were James Garfield Watts and Beulah Cecil Wilcox. Her father had been married previously with two daughters and his first wife passed away. Norma's mother had also been previously married, and her husband passed away. They had a little boy. When Norma's mother and father married, they went on to have four children together, including Norma. James Garfield Watts ; Beulah Cecil Wilcox ; James William England ; Arkansas ; Iona Shannon ; Helen Marie Watts Quinn ; Harold Watts ; Norma Jean Watts Goodmon ; Earl Dale Watts ; Leslie (Ark.) Parents ; Siblings 0 192 Parents' Work Randy Witty 03:12
 ; Okay. Do you know why they came to Oklahoma?
 ; 
 ; Norma Jean Goodmon 03:15
 ; Because of the oil.
 ; 
 ; Randy Witty 03:18
 ; Do you remember about what year that was?
 ; 
 ; Norma Jean Goodmon 03:21
 ; Probably about 1921, no about 1918. My sister was about, she was born in 1920, and she was just a baby when they came. So about 1918 or 19.
 ; 
 ; Randy Witty 03:45
 ; All right, so what did your father do as an occupation?
 ; Norma's parents moved from to Arkansas to Oklahoma because of the oilfield. Her father worked in the oilfield some and then later opened a mercantile. He was a shoe cobbler and then sold groceries there also. Norma's mother was a housewife. Oklahoma ; Oilfield ; Slick (Okla.) ; Mercantile Parents ; Occupation 0 265 Husband and Children Randy Witty 04:25
 ; All right, so what is your spouse's name?
 ; 
 ; Norma Jean Goodmon 04:29
 ; Wilbert Harrison Goodmon [11/04/1923-01/06/2017]
 ; 
 ; Randy Witty 04:32
 ; And what year were y'all married?
 ; 
 ; Norma Jean Goodmon 04:35
 ; 1945.
 ; 
 ; Randy Witty 04:38
 ; And how many children did you have?
 ; 
 ; Norma Jean Goodmon 04:41
 ; Two.
 ; 
 ; Randy Witty 04:42
 ; And what were their names?
 ; 
 ; Norma Jean Goodmon 04:44
 ; Joyce Laverne [Joyce Laverne Welcher] and Wilberta Jean [Wilberta Jean Witty], two girls.
 ; Norma married her husband, Wilbert Harrison Goodmon in 1945. They had two daughters. Their daughters' names were Joyce Laverne Welcher and Wilberta Jean Witty. Husband ; Wilbert Harrison Goodmon ; Joyce Laverne Welcher ; Wilberta Jean Witty Husband ; Children 0 288 Early Childhood and Childhood Home Randy Witty 04:48
 ; Okay, all right, I'm going to ask you a few questions about your early childhood and your home life. Tell me what your life was like growing up in Slick [Oklahoma] when you were a child.
 ; 
 ; Norma Jean Goodmon 05:00
 ; Well, I guess it was just a normal life. We just played. And, of course, we we never owned a car, so we never went out of town anywhere, and we just go down to the store to buy whatever we needed, and go to the post office and back. We went to church regularly, and that was about our lifestyle. I had a good childhood. I was happy. I had a happy childhood.
 ; 
 ; Randy Witty 05:28
 ; What kind of house did you grow up in?
 ; 
 ; Norma Jean Goodmon 05:32
 ; Papa and Mama had a boxcar at first for their first house, and then he built onto the front of it, and it was a nice looking house. And it was three bedroom, I mean three rooms, and the middle room was separated so that he could we could have a bed in each part of it.
 ; Norma Jean grew up in Slick, Oklahoma. Her parents had a boxcar and then added onto it. Norma said they never had a car or went out of town. They also didn't have electricity or water in the home. There was a city well across the road with a faucet that they would get their water from. They always had a large garden, and her mother canned anything extra. They had a milk cow, hogs and chickens. Her father would butcher a hog in the winter. Her mother made lye soap, and they washed their clothes on a washboard. Slick (Oklahoma) ; Post Office ; James Garfield Watts ; Beulah Cecil Wilcox Childhood 0 594 Meals Randy Witty 09:54
 ; All right, so tell me about some of your normal daily meals.
 ; 
 ; Norma Jean Goodmon 10:00
 ; Oh, I guess we all we just ate what was in the garden and what Mama canned. We never had a meat very much after the hogs were eating the hams and the bacon and the sausage and whatever like that. We had, but we always had plenty of chickens.
 ; 
 ; Randy Witty 10:25
 ; Do you have any family recipes from your childhood that you still make?
 ; Norma Jean and her family would eat food from the garden and from their animals. Her mother also made cornbread often. They butchered their own chickens and hogs. Her father had a smokehouse where he smoked the hog meat. They did shop for staple grocery supplies at the store. James Garfield Watts ; Beulah Cecil Wilcox Meals 0 746 Clothing Randy Witty 12:26
 ; Okay, so tell me about the clothes that you wore.
 ; 
 ; Norma Jean Goodmon 12:30
 ; Mama, Mama made about all of our clothes. We had a Sears catalog, Montgomery Ward, and we girls would look through that and see a dress that we thought was pretty, and Mama always was able to cut it out by herself, and she would make it and that's what we wore. Sometimes, well, I don't think that, I don't remember us ever ordering a dress from the catalog, but we ordered our shoes from the catalog. We would, I guess we'd get a pair of shoes about the time school started, and we would wear them, but just as soon as it got warm, we went barefooted. I can remember running through the sand fast because that sand would really get hot in the summertime.
 ; Norma Jean wore clothing that her mother sewed. She would pick out a dress from the Sears or Motgomery Ward catalog and her mother was able to make it. They did order their shoes from the catalog. Beulah Cecil Wilcox ; Sears catalog ; Montgomery Ward Clothing 0 802 Friends Randy Witty 13:22
 ; Who did you play with?
 ; 
 ; Norma Jean Goodmon 13:25
 ; I had a girlfriend that was about the same age of I, that was lived real close. We were almost next door, and we were together just about all the time in the daytime. 
 ; 
 ; Randy Witty 13:37
 ; You remember her name?
 ; 
 ; Norma Jean Goodmon 13:38
 ; Emily Jones.
 ; 
 ; Randy Witty 13:42
 ; You remember a couple of games that y'all played growing up?
 ; Norma Jean had a friend, Emily Jones that was close in age and lived close. They were together just about all the time in the daytime. Norma and the neighbor children would play tag, hide and seek and dolls. Emily Jones ; Christmas ; James Garfield Watts ; Beulah Cecil Wilcox Friends 0 1023 Church Randy Witty 17:03
 ; I'm gonna ask you a few questions about your church life. Did your family attend church when you were a child? 
 ; 
 ; Norma Jean Goodmon 17:10
 ; Yes, we went to church regularly. I don't think we missed very many times.
 ; 
 ; Norma Jean Goodmon 17:15
 ; At First Baptist.
 ; 
 ; Randy Witty 17:15
 ; Yeah, what was the name of your church? 
 ; 
 ; Randy Witty 17:20
 ; There in Slick?
 ; 
 ; Norma Jean Goodmon 17:21
 ; Yes, in Slick.
 ; Norma and her family attended church regularly. They attended the First Baptist Church in Slick. Her mother taught Sunday School. Norma Jean and her sisters led singing. They typically ran about 30-35 members and around 50 at the largest. First Baptist Church ; Slick (Okla.) ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Tulsa (Okla.) ; California ; James Garfield Watts ; Beulah Cecil Wilcox ; Nazarene Church Church 0 1158 World War II Randy Witty 19:18
 ; I want to move on to World War II. Can you, can you tell me where you were at when you heard that the war had started?
 ; 
 ; Norma Jean Goodmon 19:35
 ; It was on a Sunday morning. We had gotten out of church and we were walking home from downtown and coming up over the hill, we'd got almost to the schoolhouse, and someone came running down the street and told us that there had been a bombing in Hawaii. And we went to some place we didn't, I think the man, Mr. Jones, was probably the only one that had a radio around, and so he kept us kind of informed of what was going on.
 ; 
 ; Randy Witty 20:12
 ; So, how did things change after the war started?
 ; 
 ; Norma Jean Goodmon 20:19
 ; What do you mean? How did they change?
 ; Norma Jean remembers when they heard news of the war. It was a Sunday morning, and they were walking home from church when they heard that there had been a bombing in Hawaii. Norma recalls how the food was rationed and there were many items that you could not buy. World War II ; Hawaii ; Ford ; Broken Arrow (Okla.) World War II 0 1376 Marriage Randy Witty 22:56
 ; Now what, what year were you married? 
 ; 
 ; Norma Jean Goodmon 22:59
 ; 1945.
 ; 
 ; Randy Witty 23:00
 ; Okay, and 
 ; 
 ; Norma Jean Goodmon 23:01
 ; May 15.
 ; 
 ; Randy Witty 23:02
 ; Okay, he was still in the service when, when y'all got married? 
 ; 
 ; Norma Jean Goodmon 23:06
 ; Yes, yes.
 ; Norma Jean and her husband married May 15, 1945. He was already enlisted in the Navy when they married. They were married in his parents' home in Bristow. Navy ; San Diego (Calif.) ; Okinawa ; Seattle (Wash.) ; California ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Tulsa (Okla.) ; Jim Green ; J& ; J Eat Shop ; Greyhound buses Marriage 0 1791 How the World is Different and Nation's Problems Randy Witty 29:51
 ; All right, tell me, in your lifetime, the kinds of changes that you've noticed since you were a child.
 ; 
 ; Norma Jean Goodmon 30:01
 ; Oh, my goodness, there's so much traffic. There's so many much to buy, so many stores you could just buy anything you want. Electronics has just gotten so up to date, so many things, TV, radio, computers, everything is just you couldn't hardly believe the difference in today and back during the war.
 ; 
 ; Randy Witty 30:32
 ; And as you see it, what are the biggest problems that face our nation, and how do you think they could be solved?
 ; 
 ; Norma Jean Goodmon 30:40
 ; I think the largest problem is hatred that we have today.
 ; Norma Jean says there is so much traffic in current times. Also, she talks about how there are so many products and stores nowadays. She talks about the advances in technology. Norma Jean believes the biggest problem is hatred in the world today. She says turning to the Lord would solve a lot of problems for people. Norma Jean ends the interview reflecting on the good life that she has lived and the family she has been blessed with. Lord ; Christmas ; Wilbert Harrison Goodmon World ; Nation 0 MP3 Randy Witty interviews Norma Jean Goodmon about her life in Bristow, Oklahoma. Born Norma Jean Watts on February 15, 1927, in Slick, Oklahoma, she recounts her family's history, including her parents' marriage around 1918 and their move to Oklahoma. Norma Jean describes her childhood, including living in a boxcar house, gardening, and making soap. She married Wilbert Harrison Goodmon in 1945 and had two daughters. Post-war, they moved to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Norma Jean reflects on changes over the years, noting increased consumerism and technology, and identifies hatred as a major national issue, advocating for religious faith and hard work as solutions. NOTE TRANSCRIPTION BEGIN 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:37.109 This is Randy Witty with Bristow Historical Society in Bristow, Oklahoma. This interview is part of the Historical Society's ongoing oral history project. The date is June 14, 2021 and I'm sitting here with Norma Jean Goodmon at Kellyville, Oklahoma, who is going to tell me a little bit about their history in the Bristow area. Also in the room is Wilberta Witty, daughter to Norma Jean Goodmon. All right, let's begin. What was your name at birth? 00:00:37.109 --> 00:00:39.990 Norma Jean Watts. 00:00:39.990 --> 00:00:41.490 And where were you born? 00:00:41.490 --> 00:00:43.590 Slick, Oklahoma. 00:00:43.590 --> 00:00:45.030 Were you born at home? 00:00:45.030 --> 00:00:48.329 Yes, I was born at home. 00:00:48.329 --> 00:00:49.859 What's your birthday? 00:00:49.859 --> 00:00:57.960 February the 15th, 1927. I'm 94-years-old at this time. 00:00:57.960 --> 00:01:01.229 All right, what were your parents names? 00:01:01.229 --> 00:01:10.349 My daddy's name was James Garfield Watts [06/11/1883-01/28/1956]. My mother's name was Beulah Cecil Wilcox [03/10/1895-5/19/1976]. 00:01:10.349 --> 00:01:12.120 All right. Were your parents married? 00:01:12.120 --> 00:01:14.489 Yes. 00:01:14.489 --> 00:01:19.409 I understand that they were married previous to this marriage. 00:01:19.409 --> 00:01:19.920 Yes. 00:01:19.920 --> 00:01:25.200 Could you tell me a little bit about their spouses and their children? 00:01:25.200 --> 00:02:06.120 Well, I always call him Papa, so I'll just call him Papa. Papa had two daughters by his first wife. I'm not sure how she passed away, but she died. My mother had was married, and but now they realized that he probably had appendicitis, and it probably bursted, and he died, and but they had a little boy. And, so, after the children were Papa's children, girls were about eight or nine years old, and Mama's little boy was about two. They married each other. 00:02:06.120 --> 00:02:08.460 Do you remember about what year they were married? 00:02:08.460 --> 00:02:11.819 About 1917, I imagine. 00:02:11.819 --> 00:02:16.139 And what was your oldest brother's name? 00:02:16.139 --> 00:02:17.610 Bill England [James William England 02/26/1914-04/05/1974]. 00:02:17.610 --> 00:02:28.530 Okay. And then how many children did your parents have together? 00:02:28.530 --> 00:02:29.460 Four. 00:02:29.460 --> 00:02:33.479 Okay. Now, did you say that you had an older sister that died at birth? 00:02:33.479 --> 00:02:34.020 Yes. 00:02:34.020 --> 00:02:35.129 And what was her name? 00:02:35.129 --> 00:02:40.979 Juanita. She was born in Arkansas, and she's buried there. 00:02:40.979 --> 00:02:45.090 Okay. And then what was the names of your other brothers and sisters? 00:02:45.090 --> 00:03:03.599 My older was Iona [Iona Shannon 08/27/1920-04/25/2005], and the next was Helen [Helen Marie Watts Quinn 04/04/1924-03/08/2001]. She had a twin, and she his name, they named him Harold. He died at birth, and then myself, Norma Jean, and then a younger brother, Earl Dale [Earl Dale Watts 01/06/1933-12/17/2020]. 00:03:03.599 --> 00:03:07.020 Okay. Do you know where your parents were married? 00:03:07.020 --> 00:03:12.150 Not really. They lived around Leslie, Arkansas. I remember hearing that name. 00:03:12.150 --> 00:03:15.870 Okay. Do you know why they came to Oklahoma? 00:03:15.870 --> 00:03:18.960 Because of the oil. 00:03:18.960 --> 00:03:21.449 Do you remember about what year that was? 00:03:21.449 --> 00:03:45.270 Probably about 1921, no about 1918. My sister was about, she was born in 1920, and she was just a baby when they came. So about 1918 or 19. 00:03:45.270 --> 00:03:50.340 All right, so what did your father do as an occupation? 00:03:50.340 --> 00:04:17.879 He worked in the oil some, and then he got us, made a store. He started a store in Slick [Oklahoma]. He had, oh, I'm sure he had harnesses, and he was a shoe cobbler. He did, he had a shoe last, and he did cobbler work, and then he had groceries. And about anything it was just a mercantile. 00:04:17.879 --> 00:04:19.709 So, what did your mother do? 00:04:19.709 --> 00:04:25.949 She was a housewife. 00:04:25.949 --> 00:04:29.790 All right, so what is your spouse's name? 00:04:29.790 --> 00:04:32.519 Wilbert Harrison Goodmon [11/04/1923-01/06/2017] 00:04:32.519 --> 00:04:35.189 And what year were y'all married? 00:04:35.189 --> 00:04:38.939 1945. 00:04:38.939 --> 00:04:41.009 And how many children did you have? 00:04:41.009 --> 00:04:42.360 Two. 00:04:42.360 --> 00:04:44.160 And what were their names? 00:04:44.160 --> 00:04:48.269 Joyce Laverne [Joyce Laverne Welcher] and Wilberta Jean [Wilberta Jean Witty], two girls. 00:04:48.269 --> 00:05:00.509 Okay, all right, I'm going to ask you a few questions about your early childhood and your home life. Tell me what your life was like growing up in Slick [Oklahoma] when you were a child. 00:05:00.509 --> 00:05:28.879 Well, I guess it was just a normal life. We just played. And, of course, we we never owned a car, so we never went out of town anywhere, and we just go down to the store to buy whatever we needed, and go to the post office and back. We went to church regularly, and that was about our lifestyle. I had a good childhood. I was happy. I had a happy childhood. 00:05:28.879 --> 00:05:32.519 What kind of house did you grow up in? 00:05:32.519 --> 00:05:56.699 Papa and Mama had a boxcar at first for their first house, and then he built onto the front of it, and it was a nice looking house. And it was three bedroom, I mean three rooms, and the middle room was separated so that he could we could have a bed in each part of it. 00:05:56.699 --> 00:06:00.060 Can you tell me where the house was located? 00:06:00.060 --> 00:06:08.040 It was just east of the school house in Slick [Oklahoma]. It was next door to the school. 00:06:08.040 --> 00:06:19.350 Okay, tell me a little bit about the house on the inside. You said that there was two bedrooms. How many people slept in each bed? 00:06:19.350 --> 00:07:13.800 Well, I guess Mama and Papa probably slept in one and maybe had one of the younger children sleeping with them, and then we three girls slept in the other. And in the front room, we had a, what we called a dual fold. It was a it was a couch that came out and made a bed, and we had a wood stove in there, and then we had a larger chair and a table, and we had lamps for lighting. We never had electricity or water in the house. We hada lamp. We just had one lamp. We'd carry it from one room to the other, and we carried water from across the road. The city had a well over there that had a spigot, or a faucet on the outside, and we would carry water from that across the road. 00:07:13.800 --> 00:07:17.610 Now, did y'all have a garden? 00:07:17.610 --> 00:07:21.870 Yes, yes, they had, they'd always make a big garden. 00:07:21.870 --> 00:07:24.149 Well, tell me what you raised in that garden. 00:07:24.149 --> 00:08:09.740 Oh, I remember at first they would raise lettuce and onions and radishes and peas and stuff like that. And then they would raise green beans and corn and just about anything, squash. We had a peach orchard. We had the peach orchard was pretty good size. I imagine it had maybe 10 or 12 peach trees in it, and they'd always have a good sized garden. And Mama canned just about everything that was extra. She canned a lot. We had a cellar that was under our house, and we kept the vegetables canned in the cellar under our house. 00:08:09.740 --> 00:08:13.959 Did y'all have any kind of livestock that y'all raised? 00:08:13.959 --> 00:08:55.990 Well, we had, we had a milk cow, and then we had, Papa would raise, I don't know how many, but he would always butcher a hog in the winter. So, we had hogs. I never knew anything about beef. We never knew that people killed cows back then. We just would milk a cow, and then we had chickens. Mama would hatch, hatch eggs, and we would have little chickens, and we'd have plenty of, we had chicken fried chicken about every Sunday. 00:08:55.990 --> 00:08:59.559 Okay, so how did you cook your meals? 00:08:59.559 --> 00:09:10.210 At first, they had a wood stove, and then later we got gas, and, so, we had gas in the stove. 00:09:10.210 --> 00:09:11.000 How did you do your laundry? 00:09:11.000 --> 00:09:45.679 On a washboard with the wash tub. And Mama, they had a big black pot kettle out in the yard, and they would heat water in this large black kettle in the yard. Mama made soap with lye and whatever grease. And I remember her after this, she'd make the soap. It would get hard, and then she'd take a big butcher knife and go out there and cut it up into chunks, and that was our soap. 00:09:45.679 --> 00:09:47.210 So you used the soap for laundry? 00:09:47.210 --> 00:09:54.830 Lye soap for everything. 00:09:54.830 --> 00:10:00.610 All right, so tell me about some of your normal daily meals. 00:10:00.610 --> 00:10:25.389 Oh, I guess we all we just ate what was in the garden and what Mama canned. We never had a meat very much after the hogs were eating the hams and the bacon and the sausage and whatever like that. We had, but we always had plenty of chickens. 00:10:25.389 --> 00:10:30.970 Do you have any family recipes from your childhood that you still make? 00:10:30.970 --> 00:11:16.539 Oh, well, Mama made corn bread about every day. She made biscuits of the morning, and then she would make cornbread. They always liked cornbread. And she would, she made cake. She would make a cake and put it in a kettle, a saucepan, and then she would make a, they call it chocolate gravy now, but mama made a pudding, and she would leave it in this saucepan and pour this chocolate pudding over it, and we would eat it out of that sauce pan, instead of putting it out, putting the cake out on the plate or platter or something, just cake. 00:11:16.539 --> 00:11:22.870 So, besides the food that you raised, did you shop anywhere for groceries? 00:11:22.870 --> 00:11:48.399 Just for staples. We would, we there was a grocery store in town, and we would buy our staples. But I don't know that we ever bought very much canned stuff or anything like that. I don't remember ever, Mama ever having to open a can from a store, but she probably did. 00:11:48.399 --> 00:11:57.000 All right, let's see, did you do your own butchering on the hogs and the chickens? 00:11:57.000 --> 00:12:10.409 Yes, yes. Mama would wring their necks out in the yard. And Papa, he always butchered. Okay, so after you butchered the hogs, how did you store it? 00:12:10.409 --> 00:12:26.490 Papa had a smokehouse. He smoked it, and we just ate it pretty quick, I guess, since there were several of us. It didn't take long, because Mama never did can it. 00:12:26.490 --> 00:12:30.409 Okay, so tell me about the clothes that you wore. 00:12:30.409 --> 00:13:22.850 Mama, Mama made about all of our clothes. We had a Sears catalog, Montgomery Ward, and we girls would look through that and see a dress that we thought was pretty, and Mama always was able to cut it out by herself, and she would make it and that's what we wore. Sometimes, well, I don't think that, I don't remember us ever ordering a dress from the catalog, but we ordered our shoes from the catalog. We would, I guess we'd get a pair of shoes about the time school started, and we would wear them, but just as soon as it got warm, we went barefooted. I can remember running through the sand fast because that sand would really get hot in the summertime. 00:13:22.850 --> 00:13:25.940 Who did you play with? 00:13:25.940 --> 00:13:37.610 I had a girlfriend that was about the same age of I, that was lived real close. We were almost next door, and we were together just about all the time in the daytime. 00:13:37.610 --> 00:13:38.750 You remember her name? 00:13:38.750 --> 00:13:42.440 Emily Jones. 00:13:42.440 --> 00:13:47.309 You remember a couple of games that y'all played growing up? 00:13:47.309 --> 00:15:10.289 Oh, when we were outside, it was just the kids that were close, but we played hide and seek, I guess, and tag stuff like that and then, but I played with dolls, mostly I sewed. There was a couple of that lived in the town. We got acquainted with them, and they had a baby, and so Emily and I would go down to her house and play with that baby, or, you know, and she'd sewed for it. She taught us to sew. So Emily, Emily and I, we made clothes for our dolls. We had, I had my doll in a shoe box, and one night it was a cellophane doll. It was about 10 or 11 inches long, and I had clothes and that doll in that shoe box, and I left it out on the porch one night, and our dog got got it and chewed the doll up. And I cried and cried. And I was about 12 or 13 years. I was in the eighth grade when I got that doll for Christmas, and it was made of cell, not cellophane, celluloid, celluloid. 00:15:10.289 --> 00:15:12.929 Did you all sing any songs growing up? 00:15:12.929 --> 00:15:37.289 Yes, we sang a lot of songs. Mama, she was a good singer. Her all of her family sang, and we sang a lot of songs. I did know the old fashioned songs my cousins, they could sing for hours, those old ballad songs. I wish that I knew them. I do know few of them. 00:15:37.289 --> 00:15:41.000 All right, besides around the house, where did your father work? 00:15:41.000 --> 00:16:08.990 He he worked in the oil field somewhere. I don't know what job he had. And then he got a store. And I said, you know that it was a mercantile store. And then he worked for the WPA later, and he worked at the school. He cooked at the school in the cafeteria, 00:16:08.990 --> 00:16:14.899 Do you remember the first time you heard a radio? 00:16:14.899 --> 00:17:03.350 No, not really. Well, I may have, our neighbor, or the girl that I said was my best friend. They had a radio, and it was, they could get foreign countries. And if I was up at her house at night, I remember him sitting in front of it, and he would turn the knob and get all kinds of stuff from overseas. And then we, a little later, after about the time the war was over, we got a battery radio for ourself. 00:17:03.350 --> 00:17:10.940 I'm gonna ask you a few questions about your church life. Did your family attend church when you were a child? 00:17:10.940 --> 00:17:15.000 Yes, we went to church regularly. I don't think we missed very many times. 00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:15.900 At First Baptist. 00:17:15.900 --> 00:17:20.849 Yeah, what was the name of your church? 00:17:20.849 --> 00:17:21.690 There in Slick? 00:17:21.690 --> 00:17:25.200 Yes, in Slick. 00:17:25.200 --> 00:17:27.000 Where was the building that you attended? 00:17:27.000 --> 00:18:43.259 The first building was between the school house and downtown. And, then, I imagine about in the about 1940, the Nazarene Church was occupying the old depot, the train depot, and they disband. All of them started going to Bristow, I guess. And so the baptist church bought that depot downtown, and that's where I went to church then. I might say that we we moved to Tulsa. My daddy went to California to work during the war, and my two sisters went to work at Douglas in Tulsa, so Mama and my younger brother and I, we moved to Tulsa so that Mama could take care of their children. And I started the school in Tulsa when I was a sophomore, and I graduated from Central High School in Tulsa. 00:18:43.259 --> 00:18:48.990 Did your mother or father have any part in the church? 00:18:48.990 --> 00:18:55.049 Mama, Mama taught Sunday school, and we were just there every service. 00:18:55.049 --> 00:18:58.980 How about you? Did you have any responsibilities in church? 00:18:58.980 --> 00:19:08.160 Well, when I was younger, I, all my, both my sisters, as they grew up, they led singing, and then I led singing. 00:19:08.160 --> 00:19:10.500 How big was your church? How many people attended? 00:19:10.500 --> 00:19:18.000 Probably the, at the largest part, probably 50. But we regular, probably about 30, 35. 00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:35.849 I want to move on to World War II. Can you, can you tell me where you were at when you heard that the war had started? 00:19:35.849 --> 00:20:12.750 It was on a Sunday morning. We had gotten out of church and we were walking home from downtown and coming up over the hill, we'd got almost to the schoolhouse, and someone came running down the street and told us that there had been a bombing in Hawaii. And we went to some place we didn't, I think the man, Mr. Jones, was probably the only one that had a radio around, and so he kept us kind of informed of what was going on. 00:20:12.750 --> 00:20:19.829 So, how did things change after the war started? 00:20:19.829 --> 00:20:21.809 What do you mean? How did they change? 00:20:21.809 --> 00:20:27.359 After the war started, did things change? Your daily life change? 00:20:27.359 --> 00:21:41.220 Oh, yes, yes, we things began to be rationed. We couldn't buy sugar. We couldn't buy shortening. There was lots of things that we couldn't buy and they, we had a card that we used. And of course, back then, they had coins. They called them mills. They were a little coin, and it had a hole in the center of it. And they, we bought things with they were valued at a certain price, and we would buy stuff, and then we could give them the coins, and that would help to pay for the groceries. But we didn't buy very many groceries. We just would, we bought staples, but of course, we didn't need anything because we never had a car. But it was, I can remember someone come through town was making mattresses, and you could sign up and go downtown and make a mattress. We, Mama didn't go do that. I don't know why, but anyway, they made mattresses downtown. 00:21:41.220 --> 00:21:46.589 Do you remember getting information about the war during the war? 00:21:46.589 --> 00:22:12.089 Well, I was, not really. I knew that it was terrible, but then when my husband joined, or my he was my boyfriend, then when he joined, then I began to realize what war really was. 00:22:12.089 --> 00:22:19.740 So, how did things change after the war was over? 00:22:19.740 --> 00:22:56.369 Well, my my husband got a car. It was about a, it was a Ford, it was real pretty, and we were able to buy a car. We were married at that time, and we bought a house over at Broken Arrow, and we lived over at Broken Arrow. My husband went to work at Braden Steel or Braden Winch, and they moved the shop over Broken Arrow, and we moved over there in about 1947. 00:22:56.369 --> 00:22:59.049 Now what, what year were you married? 00:22:59.049 --> 00:23:00.549 1945. 00:23:00.549 --> 00:23:01.720 Okay, and 00:23:01.720 --> 00:23:02.799 May 15. 00:23:02.799 --> 00:23:06.940 Okay, he was still in the service when, when y'all got married? 00:23:06.940 --> 00:23:07.779 Yes, yes. 00:23:07.779 --> 00:23:08.819 Tell me about that. 00:23:08.819 --> 00:23:18.299 He he enlisted. He didn't, people back then were referring to the men that didn't go as 4-Fs, and he didn't want to be known as a 4-F, so he enlisted, and they put him in the Navy, and he went to San Diego for boot camp. And they just put him on the ship, the USS Maryland, and he never came back home until the war was over, which was two years. So we 00:23:18.299 --> 00:23:43.839 Did you get married during the war? 00:23:43.839 --> 00:25:57.490 Yes, but we we start dating before he went to the service, and then we wrote to one another all that time. And the ship was bombed headed to Okinawa, so they brought it back to Seattle, Washington to repair it. So, they gave the crew one half of the ship came home from the first month, and another half, the other half came home for the second month. He was in the first month that came home. So, when he came home, we were married, and I went back with him, before he was home for a month, and then when he went back to let the other group come home, I went back to Seattle with him, and I stayed there until the other group had been home a month. And they started telling people, telling them that they were going to go back out to sea, and they didn't know when it was, because they some of the aircraft carriers had been bombed when they when the Japanese found out that they were out there, so they decided that they wasn't going to let the boys know when they were leaving. So, I was [indecipherable] my husband had a cousin that lived in California, so I went out there with and stayed with them. And well us, they we were in Seattle at first, and then they went on down to San Diego, California with a ship. And I went on down there, and I stayed with his cousin. His cousin was a deep sea diver, and he would go out through the daytime, and he would come back at night and he would say, well, my husband got to come to their house probably a couple of nights, and then he went, he came home the next night and he'd say, well, the ship is still out there. And he did that about three nights, and he came home and he said, well, the ship is gone now, so I knew that he had gone back out to sea. And so then he he was gone till the war was over, and they let him come home. 00:25:57.490 --> 00:25:59.500 Where were you married? 00:25:59.500 --> 00:26:08.470 In his parents home in Bristow on 4th & Walnut, right there on the corner of 4th & Walnut. 00:26:08.470 --> 00:26:19.779 All right. Tell me about was there any customs, how they treated newlyweds after they were married? 00:26:19.779 --> 00:28:55.539 Yes, but he came home, and I'll tell you this, he came home and on Saturday, got, got home on Saturday, and he came to Tulsa and picked me up, and we went to town, to [indecipherable], and bought me a dress for a wedding. And we were we went back to his parents house, and his sister, we said that we wanted to get married. So, his sister went on Tuesday afternoon to the preacher's house, and he said he would be over just in a little while. And so we were married at his parents house at four o'clock on Tuesday, May the 15th, and they shivereed back then, which, I don't know how many knows about shivering, but you were supposed to give candy or cigars away when you married. So, we got the candy, and they came to get us, and we wasn't going to let them, they were going to take us to the jail in Bristow, and we weren't going to let him take us to the jail. So, we started running, and his sister and brother in law was helping us get away. And they chased us about all over town, and we got uptown, and they caught us, and well, I, Jim Green, was on the city he was one of the city policemen. He and his wife had several children, and, so, they were going to make us, ride us in a wheelbarrow and have a toilet paper, toilet tissue, and, so, I had this roll of toilet tissue. And, so, I was going to get along with them, and not just go ahead what they were doing, but my husband, he wanted, he didn't want to do that. And anyway, when I saw Jim Green, the policeman uptown, I knew he had several children, so I went up to him, and I told him, Jim, you have, you and Pearl has several children. You could use some toilet paper. I'm going to go to, I want to go back to Seattle with Wilbert. And if you give me a quarter, and he gave me a quarter and grabbed me, and they was going to get Wilbert. And Wilbert started fighting him. And we were right there in front of 6th & main. It was J&J Eat Shop at the time, and it was J&J eating. And we began, he began to wrestle 00:28:55.539 --> 00:29:51.220 with those policemen. They were trying to put handcuffs on him. The Greyhound bus stopped at J&J at that time, and the J&J bus came in and opened it up. I don't remember if someone got on or got off, but the driver asked if we needed if Wilbert needed any help, and Wilbert said, If there had been some sailors on that bus, we'd have cleaned Bristow up. And they went on and they put us in handcuffs, and then they told us that they didn't have keys to unhook us. So, they took us to the back to the jail and got the keys, and then they took us down to his parents house. He told them that he had not to give him anything, but we did. We gave them some candy. 00:29:51.220 --> 00:30:01.130 All right, tell me, in your lifetime, the kinds of changes that you've noticed since you were a child. 00:30:01.130 --> 00:30:32.900 Oh, my goodness, there's so much traffic. There's so many much to buy, so many stores you could just buy anything you want. Electronics has just gotten so up to date, so many things, TV, radio, computers, everything is just you couldn't hardly believe the difference in today and back during the war. 00:30:32.900 --> 00:30:40.339 And as you see it, what are the biggest problems that face our nation, and how do you think they could be solved? 00:30:40.339 --> 00:30:48.579 I think the largest problem is hatred that we have today. 00:30:48.579 --> 00:30:51.789 How do you think we can solve it? 00:30:51.789 --> 00:31:30.079 Well, if people would turn to the Lord, that would solve a lot of problems, because I don't think we are too industrialized. We have anything that we can do. We we can, we can get plenty of jobs. We don't have to, I don't think we'd have to worry about the economy or anything like that, because I think there's enough for people to do that we could make a good living. Anybody could make good living that wanted to work. 00:31:30.079 --> 00:31:33.000 All right. In closing, is there anything else that you'd like to tell us about? 00:31:33.000 --> 00:32:28.799 Well, I've had a real good life. I've got two daughters. I had five grandchildren, and they now there's about, um, I'd have to count them up, but I imagine there's probably 38 or 40 in our family now. The girls, the kid, the grandchildren and them, used to tell my husband, when we would gather together for Christmas, Grandpa, you're going to have to build a bigger house, but we would just go get right in anyway, and had a good time. We've had a good, good life. Our children have all been, we've never had any problems with them. They're all well. They have good, good jobs. The Lord has been real good to us. 00:32:28.799 --> 00:32:38.430 So, thank you for all your time you spent talking to us. We really appreciate it, and this will become an important part of the oral history archives for our museum. NOTE TRANSCRIPTION END ]]> audio 0 https://bristoworalhistory.org/ohms/render.php?cachefile=OHP-0068_Norma_Jean_Goodmon.xml OHP-0068_Norma_Jean_Goodmon.xml
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Title
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Norma Jean Goodmon
Description
An account of the resource
Randy Witty interviews Norma Jean Goodmon about her life in Bristow, Oklahoma. Born Norma Jean Watts on February 15, 1927, in Slick, Oklahoma, she recounts her family's history, including her parents' marriage around 1918 and their move to Oklahoma. Norma Jean describes her childhood, including living in a boxcar house, gardening, and making soap. She married Wilbert Harrison Goodmon in 1945 and had two daughters. Post-war, they moved to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Norma Jean reflects on changes over the years, noting increased consumerism and technology, and identifies hatred as a major national issue, advocating for religious faith and hard work as solutions.
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OHP-0068
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2021-06-14
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audio
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Family Histories
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Oral accounts of various family histories
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Bristow Historical Society, oral history collection
Oral History
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Interviewer
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Georgia Smith
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Myra Kemp
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6.0 April 29, 2021 OHP-0067 Myra Kemp OHP-0067 00:48:07 Bristow Historical Society, Inc. bristowhistory Myra Kemp Nanette Wampler Georgia Smith 0 https://bristoworalhistory.org/interviews/OHP-0067 Kemp, Myra.mp3 Other audio 1 Birth Georgia Smith 00:00
 ; This is Georgia Smith with the Bristow Historical Society in Bristow, Oklahoma. And this interview is part of the Historical Society's ongoing oral history project. The date is April 29, 2021, and I'm sitting here with Myra Kemp and Nanette Kemp [Wampler], who are going to tell us a little bit about their history in the Bristow area. Now, Mrs. Kemp, could you give me your full name? 
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 00:35
 ; Myra Marie Kemp.
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 00:39
 ; Myra Marie Kemp, and with us is her daughter, Nanette. Nanette, could you give me your full name please? 
 ; 
 ; Nanette Wampler 00:48
 ; Nanette Wampler.
 ; Myra Marie Hunt Kemp was born on June 17, 1925. She was born in Perry, Oklahoma at home. Myra says it was time to thrash on her grandfather's farm and she was born at noon when all of the thrashers were there. Bristow Historical Society ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Myra Marie Kemp ; Nanette Kemp Wampler ; Perry (Okla.) Birth 0 167 Parents and Siblings Georgia Smith 02:47
 ; 1925 and what were your parents names? 
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 02:52
 ; My mother was Arlene.
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 02:58
 ; And what was her maiden name? 
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 02:59
 ; Brock.
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 03:00
 ; Brock, and your father?
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 03:04
 ; Virgil Hunt.
 ; Myra's mother was Arlene Brock Hunt. Her father's name was Virgil Hunt. Myra was one of five children. Her siblings were Elizabeth, Virgil Jr., David and Jimmy. Parents ; Arlene Brock Hunt ; Virgil Hunt ; Siblings Parents ; Siblings 0 251 Husband and Children Georgia Smith 04:11
 ; And you married Max Kemp? When did you marry him? 
 ; 
 ; Nanette Wampler 04:23
 ; 1951.
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 04:25
 ; Thank you.
 ; 
 ; Nanette Wampler 04:26
 ; You're welcome. 
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 04:27
 ; Very good, 1951. That book helps, doesn't it?
 ; 
 ; Nanette Wampler 04:31
 ; Yes, it does.
 ; Myra was married to Max Kemp. They were married in 1951. Myra and Max had four children, Nanette, Susan, Ben and Jennifer. Husband ; Children ; Max Kemp ; Hominy (Okla.) ; Bristow (Okla.) Husband ; Children 0 322 Bristow Georgia Smith 05:22
 ; Okay? And what brought you to Bristow? 
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 05:28
 ; Max came to help his dad in the drug store. 
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 05:31
 ; Okay, so his father owned the drug store? What was it called back then? 
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 05:36
 ; Kemp Drug.
 ; Myra and her husband moved to Bristow when their oldest daughter was about a year old. They moved so that Max could help his father in the drug store that he owned, Kemp Drug. Bristow (Okla.) ; Max Kemp ; Kemp Drug ; Russell Kemp Bristow (Okla.) 0 416 Kemp's Drugstore Georgia Smith 06:56
 ; No, it was in town? That's enough. That's fine. And when did you and Max take over the ownership of the drugstore? 
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 07:14
 ; He bought it from his dad. 
 ; 
 ; Nanette Wampler 07:23
 ; I'm not sure. 
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 07:27
 ; Ben was born.
 ; Max and Myra eventually took over the drugstore. Max bought Kemp Drug from his father around 1959. It even had a soda fountain in the shop. Kemp Drug ; Max Kemp ; Russell Kemp ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Ben Kemp Kemp Drug 0 488 Living in Bristow Georgia Smith 08:07
 ; Yes, it would be nice. Okay, so tell me a little bit about your life after you moved here. What what did you do once you got here? What was your role? 
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 08:19
 ; I was mama. 
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 08:20
 ; You were mama to four kids. Well, probably three at the time.
 ; 
 ; Nanette Wampler 08:26
 ; Right. 
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 08:29
 ; So, when did you move out here on the ranch?
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 08:41
 ; Let's see, 1960.
 ; Myra and Max ended up building a home out on a ranch in Bristow. They moved there around 1962. Myra has lived in that home for over sixty years. Bristow (Okla.) ; Don Carmen ; Christmas Bristow (Okla.) 0 569 Chores on the Ranch Georgia Smith 09:29
 ; Okay, so you were mainly homemaker. What, what kind of chores did you set your children to doing out here at the ranch? 
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 09:42
 ; Well, Max, we had some cattle, and Max had different hours, and at one time, when they were young, we all, how'd we handle that? 
 ; 
 ; Nanette Wampler 10:02
 ; Well, he was the main feeder. We'd drive, ride with him. We'd go in the back and just throw feed out sometimes.
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 10:12
 ; Oh, they got off the bus, and we all went down to the barn and locked the door of the gate, and the kids and I put out the hay for the cattle the next morning, and Ben was a baby, so we'd put him in the hay and up. That's the way we did for a period of time. And then in the morning, he'd get up and come down and open the gate, and then he was, that was the feeding.
 ; Myra mainly played the role of homemaker. Her husband did have cattle on their ranch. Myra and the children helped with the feeding of the cattle. Max Kemp ; Ranch Chores ; Ranch 0 657 Meals Georgia Smith 10:57
 ; Okay, did you prepare all your meals out here? Did you eat out much? Or did you mostly cook at home?
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 11:04
 ; We cooked at home.
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 11:05
 ; Very good. 
 ; 
 ; Nanette Wampler 11:06
 ; We did eat out on Sunday after church. 
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 11:09
 ; Grandpa took us to 
 ; 
 ; Nanette Wampler 11:11
 ; Bush's Cafe, right, yes, and the J & ; J, oh, long time ago, yes, right? Remember that?
 ; Myra and the family ate most of their meals at home. They did eat out on Sundays with family. A couple of the restaurants that they visited were Bush's Cafe and J& ; J. Bush's Cafe ; J& ; J Meals 0 684 Movie Theater Georgia Smith 11:24
 ; Okay, what are your recollections of what Bristow was like when you first moved here? What type of businesses were there downtown, entertainment, maybe organizations that you were involved in when you first came?
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 11:42
 ; Two movies.
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 11:43
 ; Two movie theaters, The Princess and the Walmur.
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 11:47
 ; Yes, that's about all I remember. The kids were little. That's about all I remember.
 ; Myra recalls the movie theaters that were in Bristow when her children were young. They were The Princess and The Walmur. movie theater ; The Princess ; The Walmur movie theater 0 718 Entertainment Georgia Smith 11:58
 ; Nanette, do you remember anything in particular that that you did for entertainment?
 ; 
 ; Nanette Wampler 12:05
 ; Oh, yeah, the skating rink was big, right? You know, I really had to stay out here a lot.
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 12:13
 ; I've discovered that with country kids.
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 12:15
 ; Yes.
 ; 
 ; Nanette Wampler 12:15
 ; Yeah, before that was completed.
 ; Myra's daughter, Nanette says that the skating rink was a big deal when she was young. She also says that she spent a lot of time riding horses and other outdoor activities. Nanette says that her family was involved in a lot of church activities also. Entertainment ; Skating rinks Entertainment 0 816 Entertaining Georgia Smith 13:36
 ; I know that about her. Did you like to entertain?
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 13:40
 ; Love to.
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 13:41
 ; Okay, tell me a little bit about that.
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 13:46
 ; Not too much to tell, we just
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 13:49
 ; Would you have dinner parties or?
 ; 
 ; Nanette Wampler 13:54
 ; Tell her about supper club? And you did bridge, also, for a while, every single month for years.
 ; Myra was a great hostess and loved entertaining. She hosted supper club for many years and would have about six couples over regularly. They also had a Rotary dance a couple times and they also played bridge. Entertaining ; Rotary club ; Jackie Hutson ; JC Hutson ; Betty Kelly ; Levan Kelly ; Pattons ; McColloughs ; George Krumme ; Edwynne F. Krumme Entertaining 0 973 Church Georgia Smith 16:13
 ; Did you take any part in the Presbyterian church activities? You went to the Presbyterian Church, didn't you? I remembered that. Well, I remembered it because Susan invited me to a party there one time, one junior high so, but were you active? Were you and Max active in your church?
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 16:38
 ; Yes.
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 16:39
 ; In what role did you serve? 
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 16:42
 ; Well, I taught some 
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 16:44
 ; Sunday school?
 ; Myra and Max and their children attended the Presbyterian Church in Bristow. They were very involved. Myra taught Sunday school to the children sometimes. They also helped out with the bible school in the summers. Presbyterian Church ; Susan Kemp ; Max Kemp ; Sunday School Church 0 1043 Medical Care Georgia Smith 17:23
 ; What was medical care like here in Bristow when you moved here?
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 17:27
 ; What was that?
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 17:28
 ; Medical care. Did we have a hospital in Bristow? We had the hospital. Was it the one where it is now, or was it the Sisler clinic? 
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 17:39
 ; It was a clinic.
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 17:39
 ; It was the Sisler Clinic. So were your children Jennifer or Susan or Ben, were they born at the Sisler Clinic?
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 17:53
 ; Susan was the second baby born at the new hospital.
 ; Myra and her family used the Sisler Clinic in Bristow for medical Care. Myra says that her daughter, Susan was the second baby born at the new hospital. Medical care ; Sisler Clinic ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Jennifer Kemp ; Ben Kemp ; Susan Kemp Medical care 0 1078 Presbyterian Church Georgia Smith 17:58
 ; Oh, how exciting. I didn't know that. All right, let's see here. What songs do you remember that they sung at the church when when you were here? Do you remember any of the songs? 
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 18:15
 ; Well, let's see a lot of I hadn't thought about it.
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 18:26
 ; No, we didn't think about this. A Mighty Fortress. Used to sing that a lot.
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 18:32
 ; Did they decorate much for Christmas or holidays at the church?
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 18:37
 ; Oh yes, they decorated the church beautifully.
 ; Myra says she remembers A Mighty Fortress being sung a lot at the church. She says that the church was always decorated beautifully for Christmas. She says that she was not part of the choir. A Mighty Fortress ; Presbyterian Church 0 1143 Max and the Drugstore Georgia Smith 19:03
 ; All right, well, tell me a little bit about Max and the drug store. 
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 19:06
 ; I don't know what to tell you. He worked hard. 
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 19:14
 ; I know he had a great reputation in town. 
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 19:19
 ; He liked people.
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 19:20
 ; You could tell that. Did he, was he, he was a pharmacist himself, wasn't he? 
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 19:30
 ; He was an assistant.
 ; Myra's husband, Max was a pharmacy assistant. Myra says that he had to take an exam for that position and that his college math helped. They ran the drugstore for close to 50 years. At one point, Myra set up a food business (Cook's Corner) in the front of the store. They also did consignment antiques in the store. Max Kemp ; Kemp Drug ; Wal-Mart (Firm) ; Lennie Cook Drugstore (Musical group) 0 1409 The Train Georgia Smith 23:29
 ; How interesting. Okay, so let me see here. Did you ever travel on the train that was here in Bristow? Where did you go on the train? 
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 23:47
 ; The train ran from, it was the, what did they call it? The rocket.
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 23:57
 ; Oh, the what?
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 23:58
 ; The rocket.
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 23:59
 ; The rocket. 
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 24:00
 ; It came, I probably, though, picked that up in the El Reno [Oklahoma], but I would go when I was in school here. I would go to home because it was war time, and I'd get on the train here, and we would go to El Reno. And then the rocket took this car, and it went to Kingfisher [Oklahoma], where I lived, and and then it went on to Dallas [Texas], or Fort Worth [Texas] or somewhere. But, but the whole, at the holidays, the train was loaded with girls, you know, going home for the holidays, Christmas, and we had, we had to stand with our bags. There were so many of us.
 ; Myra used to take the train that ran from Bristow home during the holidays. She called the train the Rocket. Myra says there were so many girls on the train that they had to stand with their bags. Bristow (Okla.) ; El Reno (Okla.) ; Kingfisher (Okla.) ; Dallas (Tex.) ; Fort Worth (Tex.) ; Christmas train 0 1500 War Georgia Smith 25:00
 ; Oh, my goodness. Okay, so you mentioned the war. You were referring to World War II?
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 25:06
 ; Mm-hmm.
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 25:07
 ; Tell me what you remember about those times.
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 25:13
 ; Not too much.
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 25:14
 ; Not too much?
 ; 
 ; Nanette Wampler 25:15
 ; We talked about the rationing.
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 25:16
 ; Oh, yeah rationing. We had rationing. 
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 25:20
 ; Was that a hardship for your family? 
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 25:23
 ; No, there are enough of us that we had plenty of sugar and plenty of, well, meat was scarce. And my dad raised rabbits, and we had rabbits just like eating chicken, and we had chickens in town in Kingfisher. We had men that came around to ask for food.
 ; Myra's husband served in the Air Force. He was in for two years. It was just for training, and he never flew as a pilot. Myra's brother, Jimmy was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam. World War II ; Kingfisher (Okla.) ; Max Kemp ; Air Force ; Jimmy Hunt ; Vietnam War 0 1674 Teaching Georgia Smith 27:54
 ; Now, Nanette was telling me that you taught, you were a teacher for a while. Where did you teach and what did you teach?
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 28:03
 ; Vocational homemaking.
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 28:05
 ; Oh, that's perfect for you!
 ; 
 ; Nanette Wampler 28:08
 ; It's just her. 
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 28:09
 ; It is!
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 28:10
 ; At the high school.
 ; Myra taught vocational homemaking at the Bristow High School. She taught for 3 years. She taught before she was married to Max. Nanette Kemp Wampler ; Vocational homemaking ; Bristow High School ; Max Kemp Teaching 0 1701 Living in Bristow Before Marriage Georgia Smith 28:21
 ; Before you were married? Okay, so you lived here in Bristow before you and Mr. Kemp got married?
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 28:28
 ; Yes.
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 28:28
 ; Okay, I didn't realize that. When, when did you move to Bristow? 
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 28:39
 ; 1948.
 ; Myra moved to Bristow in 1948 to teach. Myra lived and taught in Bristow for three years. She met Max through the lady she rented a room from, Jess Freeman. Max's brother, Monty was married to Jess Freeman's daughter. Bristow (Okla.) ; Max Kemp ; Nebraska ; Jess Freeman ; Monty Kemp Bristow (Okla.) ; Teaching 0 1828 The Great Depression and Other Historic Events Georgia Smith 30:28
 ; Do you have memories of the Great Depression? You were pretty young, I know, during the 30s. Do you have any memories of it?
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 30:43
 ; I don't, it didn't affect us. I mean, affect us, yes, but not like a lot of people that you read about and hear about. The weather was not too good.
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 31:00
 ; Did you ever see any of those big sand storms that that we hear so much about?
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 31:06
 ; No, because I lived in Kingfisher and it was wheat country/
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 31:11
 ; And they had it under control out there.
 ; Myra says that the Great Depression didn't affect her family as much as it did some people. Also, big sandstorms didn't affect her family in Kingfisher because it was wheat country. Myra says that the visit of Eleanor Roosevelt to Bristow happened before she lived here. Myra recalls when her mother bought oleo at the grocery store. She says it was a block of white material and came with an orange tablet. It was her job to mix it together. Great Depression ; Kingfisher (Okla.) ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Eleanor Roosevelt ; LeForce Field House ; Freeland Center ; Western Heritage Days ; Republican Great Depression ; Historic Events 0 2099 Grandfather in the Land Run Nanette Wampler 34:59
 ; You had an interesting story about your grandfather was in the Land Run.
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 35:04
 ; Oh! I would love to hear about that.
 ; 
 ; Nanette Wampler 35:07
 ; Not a lot of detail.
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 35:08
 ; I don't know much about it, you know, it was before my time.
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 35:11
 ; What was your grandfather's name?
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 35:19
 ; Jacob Hunt.
 ; Myra's grandfather, Jacob Hunt was in the Land Run. Jacob and his brothers got a stake of land. It was between Perry and Stillwater. Land Run ; Jacob Hunt ; Perry (Okla.) ; Stillwater (Okla.) Land Run 0 2184 Grandpa Brock and the Prairie Dogs Nanette Wampler 36:24
 ; You had some interesting stories about your maternal Grandpa Brock, about the what he drank, what he what he had you all do as children. 
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 36:35
 ; Yes, we often run out in Perry to the farm, out in the country. It was 10 miles out. And on Fourth of July, the family gathered out there, and we climbed the mulberry trees. The kids did, and then my grandfather said, now you want to see something, you need to go get in that ditch out there that goes across the road and just peek your head up for you where they can't see you, but we have 
 ; 
 ; Nanette Wampler 37:26
 ; Prairie dogs. 
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 37:27
 ; Prairie dogs. 
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 37:28
 ; Oh, my goodness!
 ; Myra would visit her maternal grandfather's (Grandpa Brock) farm in Perry. On the Fourth of July, the family gathered there. They would climb the mulberry trees. Her grandfather would have the children get in the ditch and peek their heads up to see the prairie dogs. Myra says they were fascinated with them. She says the prairie dogs barked like dogs. Perry (Okla.) ; Fourth of July ; Prairie dogs Grandfather ; Prairie dogs 0 2302 Movies and Radio Georgia Smith 38:22
 ; Could be. How did you get most of the information that you got growing up? Like maybe when you were ayoung child into adulthood?
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 38:39
 ; Well, we got to go to the movies. And they always had movie tone and had news. 
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 38:44
 ; Oh, okay.
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 38:47
 ; We didn't [indecipherable] the funny papers when they came on Sunday morning.
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 38:52
 ; I did that too. Did you listen to the radio much? 
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 39:00
 ; Oh, when we were a little older, we did.
 ; Myra and her family enjoyed going to the movies. She listened to the radio when she got a little older. Myra also enjoyed the funny papers that came on Sunday mornings. Radio ; Movies Movies ; Radio 0 2347 Most Important Inventions Georgia Smith 39:07
 ; What would you consider to be one of the most important inventions in your lifetime? I know there have been a lot of inventions since 1925. What do you consider to be one of the most important? 
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 39:27
 ; What did I call it?
 ; 
 ; Nanette Wampler 39:31
 ; I don't know. Space travel? Is that when we were talking about space travel? 
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 39:36
 ; Space is the most
 ; Myra believes space travel is the most important invention in her lifetime. Inventions ; Space Inventions 0 2380 How the World is Different Georgia Smith 39:40
 ; The most important, you think, that we've had. One of the most, for sure, and how would you say the world's different now than it was when you were a child? 
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 39:47
 ; So busy. 
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 39:48
 ; Amen.
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 39:51
 ; So busy.
 ; Myra believes the world is different from when she was a child. She says it is so busy now. World World 0 2398 Nation's Biggest Problem Georgia Smith 39:58
 ; Okay, looking at all of that, what do you consider the biggest problems that face our nation, and how do you think they could be solved? I
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 40:08
 ; I have no idea. 
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 40:10
 ; What do you think some of the problems are that we have nowadays? 
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 40:13
 ; I don't know. 
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 40:24
 ; I've had a lot of people say that, how has it changed? And it's that people are not as helpful and polite to each other.
 ; 
 ; Nanette Wampler 40:36
 ; That's a good one.
 ; Myra says that people are not as helpful as they were when she was young. The whole neighborhood would get together and help each other. Grandfather Nation ; Problem 0 2478 Covid Georgia Smith 41:18
 ; How has COVID affected you?
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 41:21
 ; When it first came about government, I think, are ones that said you will help, if you're older, you will help best by staying home, because that way you won't be causing all of the problems that are going to come up. So, that's what I did.
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 41:49
 ; I think that was a smart thing to do. Did you get lonesome, though?
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 41:55
 ; I had so many things to do out here.
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 41:57
 ; Good. 
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 41:58
 ; My house is fairly large and stayed busy.
 ; Myra stayed at her home a lot during Covid. She stayed busy though with her fairly large house and the ranch. Her grandchildren were not able to come and visit. Covid ; Grandchildren Covid 0 2534 Grandchildren and Great-Grandchildren Georgia Smith 42:14
 ; How many grandchildren do you have?
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 42:19
 ; Which area?
 ; 
 ; Nanette Wampler 42:23
 ; Do you have that set in your head, how many you have? I need to count. Oh, my gosh. 
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 42:29
 ; I have 13 grandchildren.
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 42:31
 ; Okay.
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 42:33
 ; And 22 great-grandchildren.
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 42:34
 ; Oh, my goodness.
 ; 
 ; Nanette Wampler 42:34
 ; You did have it in your head.
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 42:36
 ; She did. She knows that.
 ; 
 ; Nanette Wampler 42:38
 ; Good.
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 42:40
 ; I've been asked that question several times.
 ; Myra has 13 grandchildren. She has 22 great-grandchildren. Grandchildren ; Great-Grandchildren Grandchildren ; Great-Grandchildren 0 2563 Myra's Friend Georgia Smith 42:43
 ; Okay, before I close, is there anything else you'd like to tell us?
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 42:51
 ; One thing is, I thought, well, I saw all these questions. Have you talked with 
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 43:08
 ; That's okay.
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 43:14
 ; One of my good friends.
 ; 
 ; Nanette Wampler 43:18
 ; You have a lot of good friends. 
 ; 
 ; Myra Kemp 43:19
 ; This one's living in nursing home now.
 ; 
 ; Nanette Wampler 43:26
 ; Would it be Patty?
 ; Myra asked Georgia if they have talked to her friend, Patty Boerstler. She says Patty is in the nursing home but has a sharp mind and would be great to interview. Patty Boerstler ; Nursing home ; JC Hutson Friend 0 2698 Letters Nanette Wampler 44:58
 ; One time we spent here, not last time, but right before COVID, I came, right before I came, and she had a stack of letters that just the correspondence back and forth from her parents, her mother, her and my dad's mom and dad, just it was amazing that history you heard just from their letters. And they were in Nebraska at that time. Right before they moved here or to Hominy, and she read every one of those letters, and just stuff like, you know, at Christmas, it was just she and dad out there. I'm gonna make, you know, she's making all the men's shirts, little shirts, and how they decorated the tree, just the two of them, with just the typical little popcorn, you know, tree and and how they didn't have phones, so, oh, we had a big surprise. Who drove up, but her parents, and they didn't even know they were coming, that kind of stuff. 
 ; 
 ; Georgia Smith 46:02
 ; Yeah.
 ; 
 ; Nanette Wampler 46:03
 ; This is, I felt like, I'm just back in time. It's relaxing. It's simple. You know?
 ; Myra used to write letters to her parents and to Max's parents about every week. Myra said that Mother Kemp expected that letter. Covid ; Nebraska ; Christmas ; Brad Kelly Letters 0 MP3 Myra Marie Kemp and her daughter Nanette Wampler shared their family history with Georgia Smith from the Bristow Historical Society. Myra, born Myra Marie Hunt on June 17, 1925, in Perry, Oklahoma, married Max Kemp in 1951 and had four children. They moved to Bristow in 1955 when Max took over Kemp Drug. Myra taught vocational homemaking before marriage and was active in the Presbyterian Church. They moved to a ranch in 1962. Myra's grandfather, Jacob Hunt, participated in the Land Run. They discussed the impact of World War II, the Great Depression, and the arrival of oleo. Myra has 13 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren. NOTE TRANSCRIPTION BEGIN 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:35.640 This is Georgia Smith with the Bristow Historical Society in Bristow, Oklahoma. And this interview is part of the Historical Society's ongoing oral history project. The date is April 29, 2021, and I'm sitting here with Myra Kemp and Nanette Kemp [Wampler], who are going to tell us a little bit about their history in the Bristow area. Now, Mrs. Kemp, could you give me your full name? 00:00:35.640 --> 00:00:39.659 Myra Marie Kemp. 00:00:39.659 --> 00:00:48.570 Myra Marie Kemp, and with us is her daughter, Nanette. Nanette, could you give me your full name please? 00:00:48.570 --> 00:00:49.859 Nanette Wampler. 00:00:49.859 --> 00:00:58.890 Thank you very much. All right, let's begin. Myra, what was your name at birth? 00:00:58.890 --> 00:01:01.960 Myra Marie Hunt. 00:01:01.960 --> 00:01:06.489 Hunt, okay. And where were you born? 00:01:06.489 --> 00:01:08.109 Perry, Oklahoma. 00:01:08.109 --> 00:01:13.359 Okay, were you born in a home or a hospital? 00:01:13.359 --> 00:01:13.870 In a home. 00:01:13.870 --> 00:01:18.189 Did your mother have a midwife or a doctor? 00:01:18.189 --> 00:01:19.150 Doctor. 00:01:19.150 --> 00:01:23.200 Okay. That's so interesting to me, that part of it. 00:01:23.200 --> 00:01:25.689 You have a little story about that. 00:01:25.689 --> 00:01:28.810 You have a story about your, your birth? 00:01:28.810 --> 00:01:37.599 Yes, we lived in Perry, and it was, 00:01:37.599 --> 00:01:39.620 Go ahead. I'm just getting that closer to you. 00:01:39.620 --> 00:02:28.000 Okay, it was a time to thrash on the farm, and our parents went out there to help with it. And I was born out there. This is my grandfather's home, and it was kind of, I think, the people out there, the whole country and all comes and helps each other, is the way they handled it. And I don't know what, why, but oh well, you never know. I, I was born at noon when all of the thrashers were there to eat. 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:47.949 June 17, 1925. Oh, my goodness! They couldn't get their meal until you were born. Okay, well, what's your date of birth? 00:02:47.949 --> 00:02:52.539 1925 and what were your parents names? 00:02:52.539 --> 00:02:58.000 My mother was Arlene. 00:02:58.000 --> 00:02:59.860 And what was her maiden name? 00:02:59.860 --> 00:03:00.789 Brock. 00:03:00.789 --> 00:03:04.530 Brock, and your father? 00:03:04.530 --> 00:03:06.479 Virgil Hunt. 00:03:06.479 --> 00:03:15.060 Okay. Now, um, do you know about when they got married? 00:03:15.060 --> 00:03:17.430 We looked it up. 00:03:17.430 --> 00:03:23.500 Let me look by that again here. 00:03:23.500 --> 00:03:29.439 We can come back to that. How many children did your parents have? 00:03:29.439 --> 00:03:29.919 Five. 00:03:29.919 --> 00:03:39.699 Five children. What are your siblings names? And are they living or deceased? 00:03:39.699 --> 00:04:11.349 Both. Oh, I was the oldest, and my sister Elizabeth was six years younger. And then my brother Virgil, Jr. was, I just went down about two or three years, you know. And then David and Jimmy. 00:04:11.349 --> 00:04:23.769 And you married Max Kemp? When did you marry him? 00:04:23.769 --> 00:04:25.060 1951. 00:04:25.060 --> 00:04:26.350 Thank you. 00:04:26.350 --> 00:04:27.129 You're welcome. 00:04:27.129 --> 00:04:31.629 Very good, 1951. That book helps, doesn't it? 00:04:31.629 --> 00:04:32.949 Yes, it does. 00:04:32.949 --> 00:04:36.310 How many children did you and Max have? 00:04:36.310 --> 00:04:37.209 Four. 00:04:37.209 --> 00:04:41.800 Could you give me their names? 00:04:41.800 --> 00:04:42.790 Nanette. 00:04:42.790 --> 00:04:58.000 Nanette, Susan, Ben and Jennifer. 00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:05.860 And you had a little girl before me. Don't need to even say that one. Okay. 00:05:05.860 --> 00:05:12.670 Okay, okay. Now, did you have all of them after you moved to Bristow? 00:05:12.670 --> 00:05:16.629 No, Nanette was born in Hominy [Oklahoma]. 00:05:16.629 --> 00:05:18.939 Hominy? Okay. 00:05:18.939 --> 00:05:22.269 But we lived, we moved here when she was a year old. 00:05:22.269 --> 00:05:28.060 Okay? And what brought you to Bristow? 00:05:28.060 --> 00:05:31.240 Max came to help his dad in the drug store. 00:05:31.240 --> 00:05:36.000 Okay, so his father owned the drug store? What was it called back then? 00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:37.680 Kemp Drug. 00:05:37.680 --> 00:05:45.000 Very good. What was his name? His your his father's name? 00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:51.029 Russell Kemp. 00:05:51.029 --> 00:05:59.319 Russell Kemp, okay. What year was it that you all moved to Bristow in around '55 or '56? 00:05:59.319 --> 00:06:13.209 No, it was '52. 00:06:13.209 --> 00:06:15.220 If you were a year old. 00:06:15.220 --> 00:06:18.550 That was when you were married, though, '51. 00:06:18.550 --> 00:06:19.269 Okay. 00:06:19.269 --> 00:06:21.819 If you were a year old, what year were you born? 00:06:21.819 --> 00:06:24.220 Well, I was '54. Oh, you're right, '54. 00:06:24.220 --> 00:06:27.250 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:06:27.250 --> 00:06:28.629 Well, I'm not thinking straight. 00:06:28.629 --> 00:06:30.699 Well, I was born in '54, too. 00:06:30.699 --> 00:06:31.300 Oh, you were? 00:06:31.300 --> 00:06:52.899 I was. Okay, okay, so you came here to help with the drugstore. Where did you live when you first came? 00:06:52.899 --> 00:06:54.939 On the other side of town. 00:06:54.939 --> 00:06:56.709 Was it out in the country? 00:06:56.709 --> 00:06:56.920 No. 00:06:56.920 --> 00:07:14.019 No, it was in town? That's enough. That's fine. And when did you and Max take over the ownership of the drugstore? 00:07:14.019 --> 00:07:23.920 He bought it from his dad. 00:07:23.920 --> 00:07:27.220 I'm not sure. 00:07:27.220 --> 00:07:33.399 Ben was born. 00:07:33.399 --> 00:07:35.709 '59ish. 00:07:35.709 --> 00:07:54.689 Very good. Well, I remember when I was in, maybe, junior high, and we could go downtown and eat. Sometimes we would go in there and you had little tables set up where we could sit down and eat something, or maybe just a drink. 00:07:54.689 --> 00:07:56.370 Yeah, it's like a soda fountain. 00:07:56.370 --> 00:07:57.000 Oh, we loved that. 00:07:57.000 --> 00:08:03.480 It was an old fashioned it was the original one that was in Grandpa Kemp's store, the soda fountain, 00:08:03.480 --> 00:08:05.699 Yeah, I loved that. 00:08:05.699 --> 00:08:07.170 I wished we still had that. 00:08:07.170 --> 00:08:19.439 Yes, it would be nice. Okay, so tell me a little bit about your life after you moved here. What what did you do once you got here? What was your role? 00:08:19.439 --> 00:08:20.699 I was mama. 00:08:20.699 --> 00:08:26.160 You were mama to four kids. Well, probably three at the time. 00:08:26.160 --> 00:08:29.009 Right. 00:08:29.009 --> 00:08:41.559 So, when did you move out here on the ranch? 00:08:41.559 --> 00:08:48.039 Let's see, 1960. 00:08:48.039 --> 00:08:50.830 Probably '62. 00:08:50.830 --> 00:08:55.059 It was Christmas '62 we moved in. 00:08:55.059 --> 00:09:00.370 Christmas of '62. Beautiful out here. 00:09:00.370 --> 00:09:05.830 We built the house, or had it built, Don Carmen. 00:09:05.830 --> 00:09:08.649 Yes. 00:09:08.649 --> 00:09:21.250 And I don't know who all worked on it. 00:09:21.250 --> 00:09:23.559 Sixty years ago around. 00:09:23.559 --> 00:09:25.629 Wow, that's crazy. 00:09:25.629 --> 00:09:29.200 Crazy. I know. 00:09:29.200 --> 00:09:42.370 Okay, so you were mainly homemaker. What, what kind of chores did you set your children to doing out here at the ranch? 00:09:42.370 --> 00:10:02.350 Well, Max, we had some cattle, and Max had different hours, and at one time, when they were young, we all, how'd we handle that? 00:10:02.350 --> 00:10:12.309 Well, he was the main feeder. We'd drive, ride with him. We'd go in the back and just throw feed out sometimes. 00:10:12.309 --> 00:10:57.370 Oh, they got off the bus, and we all went down to the barn and locked the door of the gate, and the kids and I put out the hay for the cattle the next morning, and Ben was a baby, so we'd put him in the hay and up. That's the way we did for a period of time. And then in the morning, he'd get up and come down and open the gate, and then he was, that was the feeding. 00:10:57.370 --> 00:11:04.299 Okay, did you prepare all your meals out here? Did you eat out much? Or did you mostly cook at home? 00:11:04.299 --> 00:11:05.830 We cooked at home. 00:11:05.830 --> 00:11:06.700 Very good. 00:11:06.700 --> 00:11:09.639 We did eat out on Sunday after church. 00:11:09.639 --> 00:11:11.649 Grandpa took us to 00:11:11.649 --> 00:11:24.070 Bush's Cafe, right, yes, and the J & J, oh, long time ago, yes, right? Remember that? 00:11:24.070 --> 00:11:42.220 Okay, what are your recollections of what Bristow was like when you first moved here? What type of businesses were there downtown, entertainment, maybe organizations that you were involved in when you first came? 00:11:42.220 --> 00:11:43.840 Two movies. 00:11:43.840 --> 00:11:47.710 Two movie theaters, The Princess and the Walmur. 00:11:47.710 --> 00:11:58.899 Yes, that's about all I remember. The kids were little. That's about all I remember. 00:11:58.899 --> 00:12:05.169 Nanette, do you remember anything in particular that that you did for entertainment? 00:12:05.169 --> 00:12:13.990 Oh, yeah, the skating rink was big, right? You know, I really had to stay out here a lot. 00:12:13.990 --> 00:12:15.000 I've discovered that with country kids. 00:12:15.000 --> 00:12:15.360 Yes. 00:12:15.360 --> 00:12:15.419 Yeah, before that was completed. 00:12:15.419 --> 00:12:20.000 I rode horses a lot. Like we would just put the bridle on, and if dad wasn't here to do it, we'd just put the bridle on and jump on. And I'd go up to the Abbots up the road, but yeah, we rode horses a lot. Played outside, you know, and skated. We were involved with church, so we did activities with church and stuff. But, I mean, really activity wise, you know, we'd get to spend the night, occasionally, overnight with a grade school friend here and there. But, yeah, I remember I rode the horse in when I got to be a little older, where I wanted to be with my friends. I rode it in before that six, oh, the 66. 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:20.759 And it was just straight shot, no cars, and so I could ride the horse into Grandpa Kemp's on 11th, and I would park it in his back gate in his little 00:12:20.759 --> 00:13:12.049 Yes. 00:13:12.049 --> 00:13:13.279 Park it. 00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:36.169 Yeah, parked it in the garden area. Tied him up, and I'd go and visit with, you know, some of my friends, but yeah, as far as like activities like that, we were pretty busy just outside, and we had a lot of people come out here and visit, right? And big hospitality lady here. 00:13:36.169 --> 00:13:40.610 I know that about her. Did you like to entertain? 00:13:40.610 --> 00:13:41.539 Love to. 00:13:41.539 --> 00:13:46.490 Okay, tell me a little bit about that. 00:13:46.490 --> 00:13:49.250 Not too much to tell, we just 00:13:49.250 --> 00:13:54.330 Would you have dinner parties or? 00:13:54.330 --> 00:14:04.740 Tell her about supper club? And you did bridge, also, for a while, every single month for years. 00:14:04.740 --> 00:14:09.210 Was it a bridge club? 00:14:09.210 --> 00:14:27.929 We also had Rotary dance a couple of times, and I and, oh my goodness, I haven't even thought of all that. So I don't even 00:14:27.929 --> 00:14:32.940 There's probably a lot that you probably don't even, hadn't recalled. 00:14:32.940 --> 00:14:45.539 But we had a supper club when we lived in town, and it existed for about 50 years, and there were 00:14:45.539 --> 00:14:48.929 You probably had 10 to 12 couples at one time. 00:14:48.929 --> 00:14:49.649 No. 00:14:49.649 --> 00:14:50.000 You don't think? 00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:57.590 No. I think we had, that's a lot of couples in a house, you know? 00:14:57.590 --> 00:14:59.000 I know, I think. 00:14:59.000 --> 00:15:06.830 And there were six couples. 00:15:06.830 --> 00:15:12.379 Can you remember any of the names of the people that would come to your to the supper club? 00:15:12.379 --> 00:15:18.769 That joined the supper club? Jackie and JC Hutson. 00:15:18.769 --> 00:15:20.210 Yes. 00:15:20.210 --> 00:15:32.809 Betty and Levan Kelly. The Pattons. 00:15:32.809 --> 00:15:34.879 Okay. 00:15:34.879 --> 00:15:36.080 How many's that? 00:15:36.080 --> 00:15:37.370 That's three couples. 00:15:37.370 --> 00:15:37.399 McColloughs. 00:15:37.399 --> 00:15:50.330 And uh, well, I knew people moved in and out. So, you know, there were others that were 00:15:50.330 --> 00:15:52.360 Didn't stay around very long. 00:15:52.360 --> 00:15:54.210 George and Eddy [Edwynne F. Krumme] Krumme. 00:15:54.210 --> 00:15:58.889 Okay. 00:15:58.889 --> 00:16:00.990 Did the McAdams ever come? I don't think. 00:16:00.990 --> 00:16:04.379 No, they were older. 00:16:04.379 --> 00:16:13.100 Okay. 00:16:13.100 --> 00:16:38.990 Did you take any part in the Presbyterian church activities? You went to the Presbyterian Church, didn't you? I remembered that. Well, I remembered it because Susan invited me to a party there one time, one junior high so, but were you active? Were you and Max active in your church? 00:16:38.990 --> 00:16:39.409 Yes. 00:16:39.409 --> 00:16:42.289 In what role did you serve? 00:16:42.289 --> 00:16:44.090 Well, I taught some 00:16:44.090 --> 00:16:46.279 Sunday school? 00:16:46.279 --> 00:16:48.019 Yes. 00:16:48.019 --> 00:16:51.500 Did you teach the children or the adults? 00:16:51.500 --> 00:16:52.279 The children. 00:16:52.279 --> 00:16:54.850 Okay. 00:16:54.850 --> 00:17:06.009 Max was on the [indecipherable] at different times, and we were active in the church, because we went all the time, all of the 00:17:06.009 --> 00:17:07.660 Every single Sunday. 00:17:07.660 --> 00:17:12.880 Yeah, everything that went on, we were involved in it, I think. 00:17:12.880 --> 00:17:23.410 Did bible school in the summer. 00:17:23.410 --> 00:17:27.160 What was medical care like here in Bristow when you moved here? 00:17:27.160 --> 00:17:28.180 What was that? 00:17:28.180 --> 00:17:39.069 Medical care. Did we have a hospital in Bristow? We had the hospital. Was it the one where it is now, or was it the Sisler clinic? 00:17:39.069 --> 00:17:39.849 It was a clinic. 00:17:39.849 --> 00:17:53.950 It was the Sisler Clinic. So were your children Jennifer or Susan or Ben, were they born at the Sisler Clinic? 00:17:53.950 --> 00:17:58.930 Susan was the second baby born at the new hospital. 00:17:58.930 --> 00:18:15.460 Oh, how exciting. I didn't know that. All right, let's see here. What songs do you remember that they sung at the church when when you were here? Do you remember any of the songs? 00:18:15.460 --> 00:18:26.769 Well, let's see a lot of I hadn't thought about it. 00:18:26.769 --> 00:18:32.980 No, we didn't think about this. A Mighty Fortress. Used to sing that a lot. 00:18:32.980 --> 00:18:37.269 Did they decorate much for Christmas or holidays at the church? 00:18:37.269 --> 00:18:40.210 Oh yes, they decorated the church beautifully. 00:18:40.210 --> 00:18:41.000 Did you help with that? 00:18:41.000 --> 00:18:42.829 No. 00:18:42.829 --> 00:18:50.359 No? I'm not a decorator, so I can understand that. Yes. 00:18:50.359 --> 00:18:53.509 [Indecipherable] 00:18:53.509 --> 00:18:55.789 Did you sing in the choir? 00:18:55.789 --> 00:18:56.359 That's a joke. 00:18:56.359 --> 00:19:00.410 Okay. 00:19:00.410 --> 00:19:03.319 That's a joke. 00:19:03.319 --> 00:19:06.000 All right, well, tell me a little bit about Max and the drug store. 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:14.099 I don't know what to tell you. He worked hard. 00:19:14.099 --> 00:19:19.500 I know he had a great reputation in town. 00:19:19.500 --> 00:19:20.670 He liked people. 00:19:20.670 --> 00:19:30.839 You could tell that. Did he, was he, he was a pharmacist himself, wasn't he? 00:19:30.839 --> 00:19:36.720 He was an assistant. 00:19:36.720 --> 00:19:44.099 He had to take an exam for it. His college math helped him a lot. 00:19:44.099 --> 00:19:56.029 Yes, yeah, and how long did you have Kemp's Drugstore? 00:19:56.029 --> 00:19:57.000 '99 till 99. 00:19:57.000 --> 00:20:08.549 Till '99. Okay. So that was about 30 some years, almost 40. No! Forty years, right around 40 years, probably. 00:20:08.549 --> 00:20:10.019 Close to 50. 00:20:10.019 --> 00:20:11.819 Oh, because when they moved here. 00:20:11.819 --> 00:20:12.480 Right. 00:20:12.480 --> 00:20:24.369 Okay, 53 Yeah, so closer to 50. That's a long time in one business, isn't it? Did you ever help down there? Did you mostly just stay here? 00:20:24.369 --> 00:20:55.660 He wanted me to come in and help. So, I did in the front end, and I didn't like it very well. So, he, I loved cooking, and so went to market and got cooking equipment and had a young woman who helped me set up a business in the front of the store. Was called Cook's corner. 00:20:55.660 --> 00:20:57.339 Okay. 00:20:57.339 --> 00:21:07.359 And had that for a number of years. And then when Walmart came in, everybody was kind of shook up, you know. 00:21:07.359 --> 00:21:08.230 Yes. 00:21:08.230 --> 00:21:18.130 And, so, we decided we wanted to try 00:21:18.130 --> 00:21:20.170 Consignment antiques. 00:21:20.170 --> 00:21:21.549 Yes. 00:21:21.549 --> 00:21:23.619 I do remember that. I had forgotten about that. 00:21:23.619 --> 00:21:29.680 Really, that's a beautiful, and you spent a lot of time looking for things. 00:21:29.680 --> 00:21:30.589 Yes, I did. 00:21:30.589 --> 00:21:32.420 Did it go over very well? 00:21:32.420 --> 00:21:33.380 Mm-hmm. 00:21:33.380 --> 00:21:35.390 Good, good. 00:21:35.390 --> 00:21:38.390 We had a good business in it. 00:21:38.390 --> 00:21:45.619 The one, the one name I remember that brought things or had a few things, was Lennie Wood (ph). 00:21:45.619 --> 00:21:46.069 Yes. 00:21:46.069 --> 00:21:56.609 She had things down there. Can you think of anyone else who might have had furniture or glassware? 00:21:56.609 --> 00:22:00.750 Lennie Wood was the principal here at the two grade schools. 00:22:00.750 --> 00:22:02.640 I had her, yeah 00:22:02.640 --> 00:22:10.000 An interesting fact, I learned is she would walk from one school to the other half the day. She wouldn't drive, she would walk. 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:11.440 Never knew that. 00:22:11.440 --> 00:22:12.279 I never knew that either. 00:22:12.279 --> 00:22:14.559 That's a long way. 00:22:14.559 --> 00:22:22.750 It really was, well, it probably wasn't more than a mile, but, you know, it seems like a long ways. 00:22:22.750 --> 00:22:50.890 We sold quite a bit of her furniture, and she had so much jewelry, and we sold a lot of her jewelry. In fact, she sent it from when she went to her nieces moved down there, and she sent me all of her jewelry. And her niece did too, and a box this size. 00:22:50.890 --> 00:22:52.210 Wow! 00:22:52.210 --> 00:22:53.349 It was 00:22:53.349 --> 00:22:55.130 Hmm. 00:22:55.130 --> 00:23:02.900 Everybody came in and wanted to know if I had the ring she always wore. 00:23:02.900 --> 00:23:03.000 Yes. 00:23:03.000 --> 00:23:10.289 She had given it to her niece. 00:23:10.289 --> 00:23:15.720 I just don't remember her wearing much jewelry. That surprises me. 00:23:15.720 --> 00:23:25.410 You know what, though, when you said that, I remember, I think I remember, for some reason the ring, round ring, a round ring on her. Maybe because she didn't wear a lot. 00:23:25.410 --> 00:23:26.430 Maybe that's it. 00:23:26.430 --> 00:23:29.519 It was dark. I remember it being dark. 00:23:29.519 --> 00:23:47.410 How interesting. Okay, so let me see here. Did you ever travel on the train that was here in Bristow? Where did you go on the train? 00:23:47.410 --> 00:23:57.069 The train ran from, it was the, what did they call it? The rocket. 00:23:57.069 --> 00:23:58.299 Oh, the what? 00:23:58.299 --> 00:24:00.000 The rocket. 00:24:00.000 --> 00:25:00.240 It came, I probably, though, picked that up in the El Reno [Oklahoma], but I would go when I was in school here. I would go to home because it was war time, and I'd get on the train here, and we would go to El Reno. And then the rocket took this car, and it went to Kingfisher [Oklahoma], where I lived, and and then it went on to Dallas [Texas], or Fort Worth [Texas] or somewhere. But, but the whole, at the holidays, the train was loaded with girls, you know, going home for the holidays, Christmas, and we had, we had to stand with our bags. There were so many of us. 00:25:00.240 --> 00:25:06.480 Oh, my goodness. Okay, so you mentioned the war. You were referring to World War II? 00:25:06.480 --> 00:25:07.470 Mm-hmm. 00:25:07.470 --> 00:25:13.319 Tell me what you remember about those times. 00:25:13.319 --> 00:25:14.519 Not too much. 00:25:14.519 --> 00:25:15.269 Not too much? 00:25:15.269 --> 00:25:16.000 We talked about the rationing. 00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:20.470 Oh, yeah rationing. We had rationing. 00:25:20.470 --> 00:25:23.230 Was that a hardship for your family? 00:25:23.230 --> 00:26:00.730 No, there are enough of us that we had plenty of sugar and plenty of, well, meat was scarce. And my dad raised rabbits, and we had rabbits just like eating chicken, and we had chickens in town in Kingfisher. We had men that came around to ask for food. 00:26:00.730 --> 00:26:01.720 Yes. 00:26:01.720 --> 00:26:11.359 And my mother would always fix them a plate, and they sat outside on the steps in the back and ate. 00:26:11.359 --> 00:26:15.769 Did you have any family members that served in the war? 00:26:15.769 --> 00:26:16.000 No. 00:26:16.000 --> 00:26:18.759 No, thankfully. 00:26:18.759 --> 00:26:20.109 Not close. 00:26:20.109 --> 00:26:22.809 Yes. Did Mr. Kemp ever serve in the war? 00:26:22.809 --> 00:26:23.349 What? 00:26:23.349 --> 00:26:26.289 Did Max Kemp, did he serve in the war? 00:26:26.289 --> 00:26:26.920 Yes. 00:26:26.920 --> 00:26:28.930 What branch? 00:26:28.930 --> 00:26:30.970 He was in the Air Force. 00:26:30.970 --> 00:26:34.000 In the Air Force. Did he fly? Was he a pilot? 00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:54.279 He was that whole time, we were the end of the war. And so his he was in for two years, but it was just training. He never got off the ground. 00:26:54.279 --> 00:26:56.890 Well, that was good. That was good. 00:26:56.890 --> 00:26:57.640 For him. 00:26:57.640 --> 00:27:09.000 Yes, very good for him. What about any of your children? Did any of them serve in any of the recent in the wars since then? 00:27:09.000 --> 00:27:16.710 My brother, Jimmy, the youngest, was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam. 00:27:16.710 --> 00:27:26.880 Oh, okay. I'm sure he would have stories to tell about that. Do you remember when Bristow was segregated? 00:27:26.880 --> 00:27:28.829 Yes. 00:27:28.829 --> 00:27:32.460 What are your memories of segregation? 00:27:32.460 --> 00:27:54.569 Not too much, or at least at school, and I had helped some and they were great people. I don't know much about it. 00:27:54.569 --> 00:28:03.960 Now, Nanette was telling me that you taught, you were a teacher for a while. Where did you teach and what did you teach? 00:28:03.960 --> 00:28:05.730 Vocational homemaking. 00:28:05.730 --> 00:28:08.700 Oh, that's perfect for you! 00:28:08.700 --> 00:28:09.539 It's just her. 00:28:09.539 --> 00:28:10.650 It is! 00:28:10.650 --> 00:28:11.730 At the high school. 00:28:11.730 --> 00:28:15.079 How long did you teach that? 00:28:15.079 --> 00:28:16.099 Three years. 00:28:16.099 --> 00:28:20.690 Was that before you and Mr. Kemp were married, or after? 00:28:20.690 --> 00:28:21.410 Before. 00:28:21.410 --> 00:28:28.099 Before you were married? Okay, so you lived here in Bristow before you and Mr. Kemp got married? 00:28:28.099 --> 00:28:28.730 Yes. 00:28:28.730 --> 00:28:39.680 Okay, I didn't realize that. When, when did you move to Bristow? 00:28:39.680 --> 00:28:40.579 1948. 00:28:40.579 --> 00:28:43.099 1948, and what brought you here? 00:28:43.099 --> 00:28:43.819 Teaching. 00:28:43.819 --> 00:28:57.440 You had a teaching job. Well, that's exciting. And so then when you and Mr. Kemp got married, you didn't live here. You lived somewhere else for a while. Where did you live then? 00:28:57.440 --> 00:28:59.869 We lived in Nebraska for a while. 00:28:59.869 --> 00:29:02.150 Did you meet Max here in Bristow? 00:29:02.150 --> 00:29:03.079 Yes. 00:29:03.079 --> 00:29:08.480 Because his father had the drugstore. And where did you meet him? 00:29:08.480 --> 00:29:14.329 I had a room with Jess Freeman. I don't know if you know she had rooms. 00:29:14.329 --> 00:29:16.430 I didn't know that, but I know the name. 00:29:16.430 --> 00:29:34.819 Teachers, and there were two of us at that time in the house. I just stayed there three years, and Max's brother was married to her daughter. 00:29:34.819 --> 00:29:41.960 Oh, okay, how interesting. What was his brother's name? 00:29:41.960 --> 00:29:42.980 Monty. 00:29:42.980 --> 00:29:53.000 Monty Kemp. Was your family involved in any of the early oil drilling around Bristow and Slick? 00:29:53.000 --> 00:29:53.750 Do you have any memories of the oil industry? Did that affect your life in any way? Did you raise crops out here on the farm? 00:29:53.750 --> 00:30:09.589 Hmm-mm. 00:30:09.589 --> 00:30:11.990 We did it first. 00:30:11.990 --> 00:30:14.809 What did you, what did you try? 00:30:14.809 --> 00:30:18.920 It was mostly for the cattle. 00:30:18.920 --> 00:30:21.289 Okay. 00:30:21.289 --> 00:30:28.910 Hay and different batch and things like that. 00:30:28.910 --> 00:30:43.910 Do you have memories of the Great Depression? You were pretty young, I know, during the 30s. Do you have any memories of it? 00:30:43.910 --> 00:31:00.269 I don't, it didn't affect us. I mean, affect us, yes, but not like a lot of people that you read about and hear about. The weather was not too good. 00:31:00.269 --> 00:31:06.599 Did you ever see any of those big sand storms that that we hear so much about? 00:31:06.599 --> 00:31:11.730 No, because I lived in Kingfisher and it was wheat country/ 00:31:11.730 --> 00:31:13.769 And they had it under control out there. 00:31:13.769 --> 00:31:15.180 Had it covered, I guess. 00:31:15.180 --> 00:31:33.690 I guess so. Do you remember, this was probably happening about the time you were living here, the work done to the city lake and the amphitheater. Or do you remember when Eleanor Roosevelt came? 00:31:33.690 --> 00:31:35.849 I didn't get that. 00:31:35.849 --> 00:31:40.410 When Eleanor Roosevelt came to Bristow. 00:31:40.410 --> 00:31:41.490 That was before. 00:31:41.490 --> 00:31:44.890 That was before you were here, okay. 00:31:44.890 --> 00:32:31.119 One of the things that happened, it was before I moved here, but it was something that happened in the country. This is when we first had oleo, and I remember my mother going to the grocery store and getting some, and it was a block of white material, you know, and it came in a box. And it had an orange little tablet with it, and it's my job to mix it all through the white, so it looked like butter. 00:32:31.119 --> 00:32:34.180 How, how interesting! 00:32:34.180 --> 00:32:36.400 Never heard that. 00:32:36.400 --> 00:32:49.059 I have heard that they came with a dye to, to, yes, but I haven't ever seen it or anything. But I've, I've heard that. How interesting, and that was your job to make it look like butter. 00:32:49.059 --> 00:32:53.470 Yes. 00:32:53.470 --> 00:32:54.220 Oh, that's funny. 00:32:54.220 --> 00:33:08.150 I must have been, I don't know how old I was, but I can't remember that. I don't know the date or anything but that was my job. 00:33:08.150 --> 00:33:24.049 Do you remember any events going to any events at the amphitheater? I know they had graduations there? Did you go to any graduations there? 00:33:24.049 --> 00:33:26.059 Did you graduate? 00:33:26.059 --> 00:33:28.549 We graduated at the LeForce Field House. 00:33:28.549 --> 00:33:41.059 Yeah. 00:33:41.059 --> 00:33:53.569 They've had some dance recitals there. Maybe, maybe they've maybe they've had piano before. Before we got the Freeland Center, we didn't have a lot of places for people to do that. 00:33:53.569 --> 00:34:06.680 The only thing I remember myself about it, which you went to probably, is Western Heritage Days, they would have a band play out there. But that's all I really remember myself using it for. 00:34:06.680 --> 00:34:10.519 Was the lake used much in the 60s? 00:34:10.519 --> 00:34:11.599 Was the what? 00:34:11.599 --> 00:34:16.000 The city lake in the 50s and 60s. Do you remember if it was used much by people? 00:34:16.000 --> 00:34:16.500 That's that's about it. I don't remember you being involved in politics, but was your family involved in politics in any way? No? Okay. 00:34:16.500 --> 00:34:38.139 The lake? Oh, the kids fished. 00:34:38.139 --> 00:34:48.099 You were big supporters of the Republican Party, but you weren't involved yourselves. 00:34:48.099 --> 00:34:52.000 Is there anything that I'm not asking you that you would like to tell me about? 00:34:52.000 --> 00:34:59.409 Well, let's see, we wrote down what we could think of. Do we have 00:34:59.409 --> 00:35:04.780 You had an interesting story about your grandfather was in the Land Run. 00:35:04.780 --> 00:35:07.630 Oh! I would love to hear about that. 00:35:07.630 --> 00:35:08.559 Not a lot of detail. 00:35:08.559 --> 00:35:11.860 I don't know much about it, you know, it was before my time. 00:35:11.860 --> 00:35:19.780 What was your grandfather's name? 00:35:19.780 --> 00:35:25.579 Jacob Hunt. 00:35:25.579 --> 00:35:33.320 His family were in it, that would be his brothers, and they were all in the run. 00:35:33.320 --> 00:35:35.179 Did they get a stake of land? 00:35:35.179 --> 00:35:36.260 Yes. 00:35:36.260 --> 00:35:37.849 Where? Where was that? 00:35:37.849 --> 00:35:43.000 Well, it was over between Perry and Stillwater. 00:35:43.000 --> 00:35:43.039 And the piece of land that we owned for a long time, because we inherited it, was right out of Perry a lot of ways, and that's where most of our family was there. You know, 00:35:43.039 --> 00:36:08.769 Okay. 00:36:08.769 --> 00:36:24.730 That's where the Hunts settled, then, okay. Did they, were they in a wagon? Or were they on horses? Do you know? Have no idea? It's interesting to picture it though, isn't it? 00:36:24.730 --> 00:36:35.000 You had some interesting stories about your maternal Grandpa Brock, about the what he drank, what he what he had you all do as children. 00:36:35.000 --> 00:37:26.360 Yes, we often run out in Perry to the farm, out in the country. It was 10 miles out. And on Fourth of July, the family gathered out there, and we climbed the mulberry trees. The kids did, and then my grandfather said, now you want to see something, you need to go get in that ditch out there that goes across the road and just peek your head up for you where they can't see you, but we have 00:37:26.360 --> 00:37:28.760 Prairie dogs. 00:37:28.760 --> 00:37:30.949 Oh, my goodness! 00:37:30.949 --> 00:37:41.690 We watched them, you know, from the ditch, and we saw them come out of the ground, and it was, you know, really interesting. 00:37:41.690 --> 00:37:42.440 Well, sure! 00:37:42.440 --> 00:37:50.119 These little kids, we were fascinated with them, and they bark like a dog. 00:37:50.119 --> 00:37:51.710 I would have loved to have seen that. 00:37:51.710 --> 00:37:53.000 They don't have, you said they don't have them anymore. 00:37:53.000 --> 00:38:15.139 Something happened to them. Very few. My niece said that there is an area out in western Oklahoma and the panhandle, I think, where you might find some. Not very many, not like it used to be. 00:38:15.139 --> 00:38:22.039 I wonder if the farmers got rid of them or something with big wheat fields out in that area. 00:38:22.039 --> 00:38:22.849 I bet. 00:38:22.849 --> 00:38:39.860 Could be. How did you get most of the information that you got growing up? Like maybe when you were ayoung child into adulthood? 00:38:39.860 --> 00:38:44.840 Well, we got to go to the movies. And they always had movie tone and had news. 00:38:44.840 --> 00:38:47.420 Oh, okay. 00:38:47.420 --> 00:38:52.469 We didn't [indecipherable] the funny papers when they came on Sunday morning. 00:38:52.469 --> 00:39:00.630 I did that too. Did you listen to the radio much? 00:39:00.630 --> 00:39:07.829 Oh, when we were a little older, we did. 00:39:07.829 --> 00:39:27.750 What would you consider to be one of the most important inventions in your lifetime? I know there have been a lot of inventions since 1925. What do you consider to be one of the most important? 00:39:27.750 --> 00:39:31.889 What did I call it? 00:39:31.889 --> 00:39:36.059 I don't know. Space travel? Is that when we were talking about space travel? 00:39:36.059 --> 00:39:40.000 Space is the most 00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:47.230 The most important, you think, that we've had. One of the most, for sure, and how would you say the world's different now than it was when you were a child? 00:39:47.230 --> 00:39:48.820 So busy. 00:39:48.820 --> 00:39:51.880 Amen. 00:39:51.880 --> 00:39:58.269 So busy. 00:39:58.269 --> 00:40:08.920 Okay, looking at all of that, what do you consider the biggest problems that face our nation, and how do you think they could be solved? I 00:40:08.920 --> 00:40:10.300 I have no idea. 00:40:10.300 --> 00:40:13.980 What do you think some of the problems are that we have nowadays? 00:40:13.980 --> 00:40:24.079 I don't know. 00:40:24.079 --> 00:40:36.559 I've had a lot of people say that, how has it changed? And it's that people are not as helpful and polite to each other. 00:40:36.559 --> 00:40:37.579 That's a good one. 00:40:37.579 --> 00:40:39.260 I've had that said a lot. 00:40:39.260 --> 00:40:40.449 They really noticed that. 00:40:40.449 --> 00:40:58.570 Well, just like my grandfather, having thrashing and having the whole neighborhood, you know, 10 miles out of town, and have that group of people that had land out there, they all did help each other. 00:40:58.570 --> 00:41:07.090 Yeah, we don't see as much of that anymore. It's really a sad thing. I'm sure that they enjoyed those times. 00:41:07.090 --> 00:41:08.320 Well, it was bonding. 00:41:08.320 --> 00:41:09.519 Yes, right? 00:41:09.519 --> 00:41:10.599 Simpler. 00:41:10.599 --> 00:41:16.000 Yeah, okay, we're hopefully on the tail end of a pandemic. 00:41:16.000 --> 00:41:18.760 She brought that up too. 00:41:18.760 --> 00:41:21.000 How has COVID affected you? 00:41:21.000 --> 00:41:49.739 When it first came about government, I think, are ones that said you will help, if you're older, you will help best by staying home, because that way you won't be causing all of the problems that are going to come up. So, that's what I did. 00:41:49.739 --> 00:41:55.289 I think that was a smart thing to do. Did you get lonesome, though? 00:41:55.289 --> 00:41:57.360 I had so many things to do out here. 00:41:57.360 --> 00:41:58.559 Good. 00:41:58.559 --> 00:42:05.039 My house is fairly large and stayed busy. 00:42:05.039 --> 00:42:12.300 Good. Were your grandchildren able to come and visit and your children? 00:42:12.300 --> 00:42:14.610 No. 00:42:14.610 --> 00:42:19.659 How many grandchildren do you have? 00:42:19.659 --> 00:42:23.440 Which area? 00:42:23.440 --> 00:42:29.050 Do you have that set in your head, how many you have? I need to count. Oh, my gosh. 00:42:29.050 --> 00:42:31.989 I have 13 grandchildren. 00:42:31.989 --> 00:42:33.280 Okay. 00:42:33.280 --> 00:42:34.090 And 22 great-grandchildren. 00:42:34.090 --> 00:42:34.809 Oh, my goodness. 00:42:34.809 --> 00:42:36.460 You did have it in your head. 00:42:36.460 --> 00:42:38.739 She did. She knows that. 00:42:38.739 --> 00:42:40.059 Good. 00:42:40.059 --> 00:42:43.360 I've been asked that question several times. 00:42:43.360 --> 00:42:51.489 Okay, before I close, is there anything else you'd like to tell us? 00:42:51.489 --> 00:43:08.710 One thing is, I thought, well, I saw all these questions. Have you talked with 00:43:08.710 --> 00:43:14.199 That's okay. 00:43:14.199 --> 00:43:18.190 One of my good friends. 00:43:18.190 --> 00:43:19.960 You have a lot of good friends. 00:43:19.960 --> 00:43:26.889 This one's living in nursing home now. 00:43:26.889 --> 00:43:28.000 Would it be Patty? 00:43:28.000 --> 00:43:30.130 Yeah, Patty Boerstler. 00:43:30.130 --> 00:43:35.199 Oh no, and the nursing home is kind of a problem right now. 00:43:35.199 --> 00:43:36.070 Yeah. 00:43:36.070 --> 00:43:50.500 I've been wanting to interview JC Hutson, but they the last I checked, they were just letting family members who have had their shots come in. So, it's it's a little hard if they're in the nursing home right now. 00:43:50.500 --> 00:43:51.940 Hopefully soon. 00:43:51.940 --> 00:43:56.500 But that's what I'm hoping, since we're on the downward trend there. 00:43:56.500 --> 00:43:57.000 Oh yeah that would be 00:43:57.000 --> 00:44:06.630 If you, she was, her parents were teachers, country teachers, south of Bristow. 00:44:06.630 --> 00:44:07.320 Oh, really? 00:44:07.320 --> 00:44:19.170 I can't tell you exactly where. And they're all buried south of Bristow. And she goes to the funerals down there. 00:44:19.170 --> 00:44:24.389 Is she still pretty sharp, mind wise? 00:44:24.389 --> 00:44:26.550 She can tell you a lot about it. 00:44:26.550 --> 00:44:41.780 All right, well, then I need to see if I can't interview her. Thank you, Mrs. Kemp. Well, we appreciate you all's time so much. And if you think of anything that you want to add to it later, we can always do that. 00:44:41.780 --> 00:44:47.000 You, you may think of something. We haven't, we haven't spent a lot of time on it, really. 00:44:47.000 --> 00:44:48.110 What? 00:44:48.110 --> 00:44:54.980 We didn't really get to spend a lot of time on it, really, yeah. She's got a lot of good stuff. 00:44:54.980 --> 00:44:56.269 I know she does. 00:44:56.269 --> 00:44:57.019 Oh yeah. 00:44:57.019 --> 00:44:58.400 I know she does. 00:44:58.400 --> 00:46:02.900 One time we spent here, not last time, but right before COVID, I came, right before I came, and she had a stack of letters that just the correspondence back and forth from her parents, her mother, her and my dad's mom and dad, just it was amazing that history you heard just from their letters. And they were in Nebraska at that time. Right before they moved here or to Hominy, and she read every one of those letters, and just stuff like, you know, at Christmas, it was just she and dad out there. I'm gonna make, you know, she's making all the men's shirts, little shirts, and how they decorated the tree, just the two of them, with just the typical little popcorn, you know, tree and and how they didn't have phones, so, oh, we had a big surprise. Who drove up, but her parents, and they didn't even know they were coming, that kind of stuff. 00:46:02.900 --> 00:46:03.599 Yeah. 00:46:03.599 --> 00:46:10.469 This is, I felt like, I'm just back in time. It's relaxing. It's simple. You know? 00:46:10.469 --> 00:46:13.619 It was like she said, it's very busy today. 00:46:13.619 --> 00:46:14.000 It was from 00:46:14.000 --> 00:46:24.829 Mother Kemp expected that letter. She didn't, she didn't think we should have moved that far from home. So, she wanted to know what we did. 00:46:24.829 --> 00:46:26.030 Well, sure. 00:46:26.030 --> 00:46:28.670 And, so, I wrote every week, I think. 00:46:28.670 --> 00:46:38.960 It was like listening to a novel, because she was a really good writer. I mean, just the way it was written was really interesting. You know, yeah. Lost art. 00:46:38.960 --> 00:46:42.000 Yes, it is. Very much so. Very much so. 00:46:42.000 --> 00:46:50.760 Nanette's really good about writing. And she writes me every once in a while. 00:46:50.760 --> 00:46:51.719 Well good! 00:46:51.719 --> 00:46:53.610 I haven't been too good lately. 00:46:53.610 --> 00:46:57.510 I don't have anyone to write to anymore. 00:46:57.510 --> 00:47:09.030 I know people just, I know, you know, I saved a box of things. I mean, I've saved, I have a little tote, but it's got it even has some notes from grade school in it. Certain ones and autograph books. Do you have that? 00:47:09.030 --> 00:47:09.659 Yes, I have that. 00:47:09.659 --> 00:47:47.969 Okay, yeah. And my kids, if I pull that out, they just, I had pulled out a couple when were cleaning out, and they were that 70s stationary with the pop art on it. And Brad Kelly used to write me when I'd go to camp, and he'd be telling about what was going. I don't even remember half the stuff, and until I'd reread that, you know? But yeah, just I don't know, yeah. And even my husband wrote me letters. I mean, all, every summer, every week or more, I'd get a letter. So, I have all those which is sad people don't do that anymore. 00:47:47.969 --> 00:47:49.590 It is sad. 00:47:49.590 --> 00:47:50.670 Yeah. 00:47:50.670 --> 00:47:54.449 Well, I can't write anymore. 00:47:54.449 --> 00:47:58.050 Kind of stiff, stiffness. 00:47:58.050 --> 00:48:00.090 Yeah. 00:48:00.090 --> 00:48:04.320 I can write, but you couldn't read it. 00:48:04.320 --> 00:48:07.230 Well, I sure do appreciate you, Mrs. Kemp. NOTE TRANSCRIPTION END ]]> audio 0 https://bristoworalhistory.org/ohms/render.php?cachefile=OHP-0067_Myra_Kemp.xml OHP-0067_Myra_Kemp.xml
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Myra Kemp
Description
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Myra Marie Kemp and her daughter Nanette Wampler shared their family history with Georgia Smith from the Bristow Historical Society. Myra, born Myra Marie Hunt on June 17, 1925, in Perry, Oklahoma, married Max Kemp in 1951 and had four children. They moved to Bristow in 1955 when Max took over Kemp Drug. Myra taught vocational homemaking before marriage and was active in the Presbyterian Church. They moved to a ranch in 1962. Myra's grandfather, Jacob Hunt, participated in the Land Run. They discussed the impact of World War II, the Great Depression, and the arrival of oleo. Myra has 13 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren.
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OHP-0067
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2021/04/29
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audio
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The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
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Family Histories
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Oral History
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Oral accounts of various family histories
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Bristow Historical Society, oral history collection
Oral History
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Interviewer
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Regan Siler
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Kattie Farris
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https://bristoworalhistory.org/ohms/render.php?cachefile=OHP-0066_Kattie_Farris.xml
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6.0 September 6, 2024 OHP-0066 Kattie Farris OHP-0066 00:39:01 Bristow Historical Society, Inc. bristowhistory Kattie Farris Regan Siler 0 https://bristoworalhistory.org/interviews/OHP-0066 Farris, Kattie.mp3 Other audio 0 Birth Regan Siler 00:00
 ; This is Regan Siler with the Bristow Historical Society in Bristow, Oklahoma. This interview is part of the Historical Society's ongoing oral history project. The date is September 6, 2024 and I'm sitting here with Kattie Farris at her home at Woodland Village. She's going to tell us a little bit about her life and her history living in the Bristow area. Can you please state your full name?
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 00:26
 ; Kattie Jo Russell Farris.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 00:30
 ; Okay. And do I have permission to do this interview? 
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 00:33
 ; Yes.
 ; Kattie Jo Russel Farris was born on December 13, 1934. She was born at home in Depew, Oklahoma. The doctor was Dr. Harz from Bristow. Bristow Historical Society ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Woodland Village ; Katie Jo Russell Farris ; Depew (Okla.) Birth 0 61 Parents Regan Siler 01:01
 ; Okay, so let's talk a little bit about your family. Can you tell me both of your parents full names?
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 01:11
 ; My dad is Sidney Vern Russell [3/3/1893-12/2/1956] and my mother is Clara Ellen "Kate" Gross Russell [9/14/1897-1976].
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 01:18
 ; Okay, now, when I looked them up, I have your father's birth date as 3/3/1893. Does that sound right?
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 01:27
 ; Yeah, mm-hmm.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 01:27
 ; And then I have your mother as September 14, 1897?
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 01:32
 ; Yes.
 ; Kattie's parents were Sidney Vern Russel and Clara Ellen Gross Russel. Her father was a pumper. Her mother was a housewife most of her life but did end up working some for Jack Abraham at J& ; J Cafe. Kattie's mother was half Cherokee Indian. Sidney Vern Russel ; Clara Ellen Gross Russel ; Jack Abraham ; J& ; J Cafe ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Depew (Okla.) ; Jay (Okla.) ; Cherokee ; Arkansas Parents 0 213 Siblings Regan Siler 03:33
 ; You're part Cherokee. Okay. Do you have any siblings?
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 03:37
 ; Oh, not left, but they were seven of us. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 03:40
 ; Oh, my goodness, you had seven or six, or you had six siblings? 
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 03:42
 ; Are you talking about brothers and sisters? 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 03:46
 ; Yes.
 ; Kattie was one of seven siblings. She had four sisters and two brothers. Kattie's mother had four girls and then didn't have the last three children until she was in her forties. Kattie's sister above her was twenty years older than Kattie. Kattie had a brother three years older than her and a brother three years younger than her. Siblings Siblings 0 270 Extended Family Regan Siler 04:30
 ; So, she pretty much had kids her whole life, then, didn' t she? Okay, um, growing up, did you have family that lived nearby you?
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 04:44
 ; You mean, like, what?
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 04:45
 ; Like aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 04:46
 ; Really?
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 04:46
 ; Yeah, oh, yeah, we did, yeah. We had no, no grandparents. they was all gone time I was born, but yeah, I had aunts and uncles. Yeah, because dad had some sisters and brothers that was one, the brother was at Dustin, Oklahoma, and his name was William Bill, William Russell, and his wife was Indian. She was geranium (ph), but I don't know her, her maiden name or anything, but geranium (ph) was her. And, then, I had Uncle Carl, and Aunt Nat (ph), and they had a cafe in in Tulsa, because I've, then you could get on the bus here in Bristow for a quarter because I was in junior high school, and I'd ride over there and work at the cafe, and they'd bring me home on Sunday night. There's a big Cafe there in Red Fork.
 ; Kattie had some extended family that were decently close when she was growing up. She had an aunt and uncle who had a cafe in Tulsa. Kattie would ride the bus to Tulsa and work at the cafe when she in junior high. Bristow (Okla.) ; Tulsa (Okla.) ; Red Fork (Tulsa) ; Red Bank Road ; Mid-America Stockyards ; Fred Losi Family 0 386 Greyhound Bus Station and Other Bristow Businesses Regan Siler 06:26
 ; So, what did was there a bus system here for quite a while?
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 06:30
 ; Yeah, there where the liquor store is, you know, where, oh, what's that place right next to it, the, oh.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 06:38
 ; The liquor store, currently?
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 06:40
 ; It's right on Main Street, right there, and the, oh, what is that cafe on the corner there right next to it?
 ; Kattie recalls Bristow having a Greyhound Bus Station on Main Street. She says Bristow was booming and had probably 12 or 13 factories. Kattie remembers some of the other businesses around town: JCPenney's, Anthony's, Shamus, Cox Bakery, Harvat's Jewelry Store and Silver's Jewelers. Bristow (Okla.) ; Main Street ; Subway Restaurants ; Greyhound buses ; Gus Hayes ; JcPenney's ; Anthony's ; Shamus ; Cox Bakery ; Harvat's Jewelry ; Silver's Jewelers ; Magic Freight ; Tulsa (Okla.) ; B& ; F Body Shop Greyhound buses ; Business 0 561 Childhood Regan Siler 09:21
 ; Right. Yeah, I know that. Okay, well, let's, let's back up a little bit before we get get into that and talk about your childhood and your home life. So, do I'm going to take you way back. So, do you remember any of your favorite toys or childhood games that you played?
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 09:42
 ; Well, we didn't have TV back then, so we had an imagination, and we played outside, and I had them two brothers, we played a lot of football and stuff like that, yeah. But the most of the dolls I had, well, I had four older sisters. They brought me dolls and stuff. Yeah, I can remember I had a good life, because, you know, it's just dad being a pumper. He got a check every month, and our electric and gas and all that was free because, you know, so that for all the years I, you know.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 10:12
 ; And then you had older siblings that probably, really, took care of you, too.
 ; Kattie says they did not own a television when she was young. They used their imagination to play. Kattie says they played a lot of football and dolls. She enjoyed going to the skating rink and to school dances when she was in junior high. California ; Galveston (Tex.) ; Television ; Tulsa (Okla.) Childhood 0 772 Meeting Her Husband Regan Siler 12:52
 ; Yeah, that was okay. Um, well, can you tell me about your school life? Now, didn't you tell me you just went from first to 10th grade? Is that what you said?
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 13:02
 ; So, you wrote to him for how many years total? 
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 13:02
 ; Yeah, I quit in the 10th grade. Yeah. I started dating Blackie [James Albert "Blackie" Farris 10/11/1929-4/17/2017]. I met him one Saturday night with my brother, and they both had to go to the army that Monday, Camp Chaffee, Arkansas. And we started writing. And I didn't even know him, but he asked my brother for my address, and he said he would, she won't write to [indecipherable] she said, you might as well forget it. But, we wrote it for two years. We wrote and then when he did get out, he though,t for a month, this was 1950. He had to go to Camp Chaffee, Arkansas. Well, he was at Fort Bliss, Texas, two years. And we wrote two years there at Fort Bliss. Then when we thought he was out, they called him right back two or three weeks, and he had to go to Camp Chaffee, Arkansas, so I just told mom and dad. I thought I'm going with him without permission or not. I'd like to get married, if you'll sign the papers. And they did.
 ; Kattie met her husband, Blackie one Saturday night with her brother. Her brother and Blackie left for the army on Monday. Kattie and Blackie communicated by letters while he was in the army. James Albert Farris Jr. ; Fort Bliss (Tex.) ; Camp Chaffee (Ark.) ; Sidney Vern Russell ; Clara Ellen Gross Russell Husband 0 887 School Regan Siler 14:47
 ; So, can you tell me about your school life? Did you attend Bristow school? 
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 14:51
 ; Yeah, the whole time. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 14:52
 ; Okay, and that was grades one through ten?
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 14:54
 ; Yeah. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 14:55
 ; And did you have any influential teachers during the time that you were in school? 
 ; Kattie attended Bristow Public Schools through the tenth grade. She did not finish because she got married. She says that RC Lester was the best math teacher she had in school. Kattie also really enjoyed Carolyn Foster as an English teacher. Bristow Public Schools (Bristow, Okla.) ; RC Lester ; Carolyn Foster ; Arthur Foster School 0 992 Childhood Homes Regan Siler 16:32
 ; Um, well, so can you tell me about the house that you grew up in? I know you said you lived in the country, and then you moved to Pecan Street.
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 16:39
 ; Yeah. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 16:39
 ; Can you tell me about the which house did you live in the longest?
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 16:46
 ; Probably out here that I remember.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 16:48
 ; In the country?
 ; Kattie and her family lived out in the country between Bristow and Depew on Red Bank Road. They lived in a big house provided by the oil company her father worked for. Her parents later moved into Bristow when her father retired. Bristow (Okla.) ; Depew (Okla.) ; Sidney Vern Russel ; James Albert Farris Jr. Home 0 1076 Mealtimes Regan Siler 17:56
 ; So, you you enjoyed the swimming pool? So, what were meal times like for your family? Did everybody sit down together?
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 18:04
 ; Oh, yeah, dad had it to everybody in the house, no matter who it was, it would have been a salesman. He had everybody at the table. Cause mama cooked all that, her and, usually, that one older sister of mine lived with us the biggest part of her time. She she was married to a guy that was a boss of Bass Ross (ph) in Oklahoma City, but he traveled all over everywhere, and she didn't like the traveling, so she stayed with us the biggest part of time. But she loved to cook, so her mom cooked all the meals. Naturally, back then, that's all they had to do. They didn't have tv.
 ; Kattie enjoyed many family meals cooked by her mother. She really enjoyed the big breakfasts that her mother cooked. Kattie says that she won't even look at beans now though because of how frequently they were cooked in her childhood. Sidney Vern Russell ; Clara Ellen Gross Russell ; Oklahoma City (Okla.) ; Bass Ross Mealtimes 0 1171 Community Activities Regan Siler 19:31
 ; Well, thinking about your life growing up in Bristow, do you remember, like, what were your favorite community activities? For instance, like, I know you said you were at the pool a lot. What about Western Heritage Days or day camp or fairs, or anything like that?
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 19:48
 ; Well, now they had a they had the fairs every now and then, but we didn't have any - main street, now, they had one thing every year, but they didn't have that Western Heritage Day back when I was growing up. I don't remember what it was they had. It might have been a Christmas something or something. It was a holiday thing that they had.
 ; Kattie spent a lot her childhood at the Bristow pool. She says that Bristow didn't have the Western Heritage Days when she was growing up, but they did have fairs. Kattie also says that there was a community activity around Christmas, but she doesn't remember what it was exactly. Bristow (Okla.) ; Western Heritage Days ; Christmas Community 0 1207 Bristow Businesses Regan Siler 20:07
 ; Okay, well, do you remember any of the biggest or most popular businesses around town when you were younger?
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 20:15
 ; Oh, yeah, every store was full. Like I said, we had JC Penney, Anthony's, you know, and a couple of banks. It was American National then. And Spirit was something else. What was that before? Spirit, whatever it was. And every town, I mean, everything up and down Main Street had something in it.
 ; Kattie says Bristow was thriving when she was young. She remembers Bristow having JCPenney's and Anthony's. She enjoyed eating at a burger cafe behind the bank. They had 10 cent hamburgers. Business ; Bristow (Okla.) ; American National Bank ; SpiritBank ; JCPenney ; Anthony's ; Main Street ; Sidney Vern Russel Business 0 1272 Teen Town Regan Siler 21:12
 ; Right. Did you have a favorite place to hang out as a teenager?
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 21:20
 ; Well, they had a Teen Town that I went to over Penneys. I can't remember the teachers, I think, is one that took turns to sponsor it up there, and they they played music, and they had games and stuff up there. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 21:33
 ; There was an interview I did yesterday, and that person was telling me about Teen Town, and I had never heard anybody talk about it. So I think that's funny
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 21:42
 ; Yeah, but, but back then, you know, they had teen dances like out at the country club and stuff like that, you know, that the like I said, there's always teachers and stuff that was there to
 ; Kattie enjoyed Teen Town as a teenager. She says it was a great big game room. It was located over JCPenney's. Kattie also says there were lots of dances for the teenagers at the country club. Teen Town ; JCPenney's ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Main Street Teen Town 0 1373 Clothing Regan Siler 22:53
 ; Okay, okay. Um, so did you, as far as your clothes, your clothing that you were as a youngster did is, did you usually get to shop for your clothes? Or did your mom make your clothes? Do you remember? 
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 23:08
 ; Yeah, well, if anything special came up, now, my sister bought me stuff at Stanford's, Stanford's there, I don't where you they anyway, it was a little boutique that she thought was really neat. But yeah, we had JC Penney's and everything. My older sister made sure I was dressed properly.
 ; Kattie says that her older sister made sure she was dressed properly. She would buy Kattie new clothes from Stanford's if a special occasion came up. Kattie also says they had JCPenney to shop for clothing. Stanford's ; JCPenney's Clothing 0 1414 Family's First Car Regan Siler 23:34
 ; Right, right. Do you remember your family's first car?
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 23:40
 ; Well, it was a mile away. Daddy always had to wear, have a Model A [Ford Model A], because he had to go to the wells, and it was back then, he didn't have jeeps and stuff, you know. And we had a Model A, because it would, it was up high off the ground, and he could make it in the winter time and stuff to his wells. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 23:57
 ; Boy, I bet that was something in a Model A though. Can you imagine?
 ; Kattie said her father needed a car for his work checking oil wells. He drove a Model A because it was high off of the ground and would be able to handle driving in the winter conditions. Sidney Vern Russel ; Ford Model A automobile Car 0 1456 Vacations Regan Siler 24:16
 ; So, did you get to take any vacations?
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 24:19
 ; Back when we as kids? Very few.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 24:22
 ; Very few.
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 24:22
 ; I can't remember. We might go across Oklahoma, there to one of the girls' house or something other. My sisters all married and had kids, you know, because they was so much older than I. We might go there for a couple of days or something. And no, no vacations overseas or nothing like that.
 ; Kattie says her family took very few vacations. They would sometimes go across Oklahoma to visit one of Kattie's sisters and her family. Vacation ; Oklahoma Vacation 0 1477 Learning to Drive Regan Siler 24:37
 ; Right, right. Do you remember who taught you how to drive? 
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 24:42
 ; Yeah, Mose LeForce, the the coach at Bristow, had drivers education. My dad never let you touch his car, and he's the one that I had drivers education. 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 24:55
 ; And what was his name?
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 24:57
 ; Mose LeForce.
 ; Kattie says that she learned to drive from Mose LeForce. He was a coach and taught the driver's education at the school. Kattie says her father never let her touch his car. She did not own a vehicle until after she was married. Mose LeForce ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Sidney Vern Russel ; Drivers Education Drive 0 1511 Entertainment Regan Siler 25:11
 ; Yeah, or they took you places. Alright, so do you remember how old you were when you got a TV in your house?
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 25:22
 ; Well, we didn't have whenever I had then. I mean, we my folks got one later on, but, you know.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 25:29
 ; You never did whenever you were a young person?
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 25:29
 ; At home? No.
 ; Kattie did not have a television in her home when she was young. She says they had a radio and played a lot of games together. Kattie enjoyed country music. Television ; Radio ; Faron Young ; Ernest Tubb Entertainment 0 1605 Church Regan Siler 26:45
 ; Right there. Okay. Did you attend, did you attend church growing up?
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 26:49
 ; Nazarene. We usually went to the Nazarene.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 26:50
 ; Went to the Nazarene. And do you remember any, I don't know, any details about going to church there, things that stuck, stuck out to you or favorite activities at church?
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 27:03
 ; No, really is just church mostly.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 27:06
 ; Just church.
 ; Kattie and her family attended the Nazarene Church. She says they had a place for the children at the church that kept growing. Nazarene Church Church 0 1652 Holidays Regan Siler 27:32
 ; Okay, um, so what were holidays like for your family? Can you just describe a typical Christmas at your house?
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 27:42
 ; When I was growing up?
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 27:43
 ; Yeah.
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 27:43
 ; Yeah, dad would go cut a big Christmas tree and bring it in, and we decorated it. Oh, yeah, they's all into Christmas.
 ; Kattie says that at Christmas her father would cut a tree, and they would decorate it. She says her older sisters would come back home and bring their families to celebrate. Kattie says her mother bought lots of gifts for everyone. Holidays were a big deal in her home. Holidays ; Christmas ; Sidney Vern Russell ; Clara Ellen Gross Russell Holidays 0 1737 Jobs Regan Siler 28:57
 ; Okay, well, so we've touched a little bit on the different jobs you've had in your life, and obviously B& ; F Body Shop was a big deal because you did that for 30 years. Can you, can you tell me
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 29:08
 ; Well, when he slowed down, though, the mayor called me one of oh, I worked for the city for 14 years. Let's see, what year was that? He called and wanted me to take over, because the woman that was head of the senior citizens center passed away just with a heart attack all at once. And he knew that I helped her every now and then, taking the people here and there, you know, and helping her get stuff ready. So, he asked me if I'd take that over. So, I was 14 years as head of the senior citizens center, and we had busses back then, Bristow busses. And this desk up here is my desk. And whenever they first open this in January in 2006, I was up here, senior citizen, up here.
 ; Kattie worked at her and her husband's body shop (B& ; F Body Shop) for 30 years. She also helped later on at the senior citizens center. B& ; F Body Shop ; Creek County (Okla.) ; Bristow (Okla.) ; Oilton (Okla.) ; Kellyville (Okla.) ; Drumright (Okla.) ; James Raney ; Blackie's Body Shop ; James Albert Farris Jr. Jobs 0 1964 Husband, James Albert Farris Jr. (Blackie) Regan Siler 32:44
 ; Right, okay, um, and, okay, so, let's talk about your husband a little bit. I I know you've told me a little bit about him, and I know you said that you wrote letters, and that's how you but how did you actually first meet him?
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 33:01
 ; Well, he went to, they signed up together. I didn't even know him. They signed up together with my brother, and that's what to say they that's how I met him. And that was Saturday night, and we wrote them letters for two years.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 33:13
 ; So, you basically just met him once? 
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 33:15
 ; Right. Can you tell me his full name, so we can have that on record?
 ; Kattie married James Albert Farris Jr. "Blackie" when she was about sixteen. He was going to be sent off to Camp McCoy, Wisconsin and she decided to go with him. They were tired of being apart and communicating by letters. They were married by the justice of the peace. James Albert Farris Jr. ; Husband ; Camp McCoy (Wis.) ; Fort Bliss (Tex.) Husband 0 2041 Marriage Regan Siler 34:01
 ; So, there really wasn't an engagement or anything? You just decided to get married? Okay. And then you were married
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 34:15
 ; Well, we knew we was going to get married. We just had to wait till we could afford it.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 34:20
 ; The logistics of it?
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 34:22
 ; Yeah.
 ; Kattie kept busy after she was married by working in a cafe. She was away from her family and living in Wisconsin. Marriage ; Wisconsin ; James Albert Farris Jr. Marriage 0 2107 Children Regan Siler 35:07
 ; Right. Okay, um, so how many children do you guys have?
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 35:12
 ; Four.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 35:12
 ; You have four children. Can you tell me each of their names, please?
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 35:17
 ; My oldest was Darlene Kay Farris Pierson. P I E R S O N.
 ; Kattie has four children. Their names are Darlene Kay Farris Pierson, James Albert Farris III, Sharon Rena Farris Campbell and Rhinda Jo Farris Knight. Children ; Darlene Kay Farris Pierson ; James Albert Farris III ; Sharon Rena Farris Campbell ; Rhinda Jo Farris Knight Children 0 2224 Grandchildren Regan Siler 37:04
 ; Okay, alright, um, do you have any grandchildren?
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 37:10
 ; Yeah, I have 11. The three of them was that last one that I told you was nuts, just about she was only one of my kids that was on the honor roll all through high school. And she made the worst decisions, so she graduated as any kid could possibly make, but the last guy that she was with, those girls come around once in a while, you know, but they're kind of like strangers, but outside that they was eight, eight that lived around here.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 37:42
 ; Around here, okay. 
 ; Kattie has eleven grandchildren. Many of them are still live close to her. Grandchildren Grandchildren 0 2267 Important Invention Regan Siler 37:47
 ; They're all over. Okay, well, I'm going to ask you a hard question, and this might make you think a little bit.What would you consider to be the most important invention during your lifetime?
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 38:01
 ; Probably the washing machine. With that many kids, I used that thing more than I did anything that was really handy. Because I remember my mom had a rub board.
 ; Kattie believes that the washing machine was the most important invention in her lifetime. She says it made things easier with having children. She says her mother had to use a rub board to wash her family's clothes. Invention ; Washing machines Invention 0 2293 Nation's Biggest Problem Regan Siler 38:13
 ; Yeah, man, I bet. Okay, well, that's a good answer. Um, so what do you feel is our nation's biggest problem right now, and how do you think it can be solved?
 ; 
 ; Kattie Farris 38:28
 ; Well, as long as they keep social security going, as far as I'm concerned, for older people, that's the way to go, and if they'll work till they get up social security age, they've got her made. Because you can live on that if you want to.
 ; 
 ; Regan Siler 38:42
 ; Rright.
 ; Kattie believes things will be okay in our nation as long as social security keeps going. She says it is great for people to have worked hard and then receive it when they get to that age. Kattie says her and her husband worked hard and played hard. Her husband owned a Harley. Social security ; Harley Davidson motorcycle ; James Albert Farris Jr. Nation ; Problem 0 MP3 Kattie Farris was born December 13, 1934, in Depew, Oklahoma. Kattie's parents, Sidney Vern Russell and Clara Ellen Gross Russell, were a pumper and a housewife. Kattie had six siblings, including two brothers and four sisters. She attended Bristow Schools until the 10th grade and worked at J& ; J Cafe. Kattie married James Albert Farris Jr. after exchanging letters during his army service. They had four children: Darlene Kay Farris Pierson, James Albert Farris III, Sharon Rena Farris Campbell, and Rhinda Jo Farris Knight. Kattie worked at B& ; F Body Shop for 30 years and later at the senior citizens center. NOTE TRANSCRIPTION BEGIN 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:26.000 This is Regan Siler with the Bristow Historical Society in Bristow, Oklahoma. This interview is part of the Historical Society's ongoing oral history project. The date is September 6, 2024 and I'm sitting here with Kattie Farris at her home at Woodland Village. She's going to tell us a little bit about her life and her history living in the Bristow area. Can you please state your full name? 00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:30.500 Kattie Jo Russell Farris. 00:00:30.500 --> 00:00:33.109 Okay. And do I have permission to do this interview? 00:00:33.109 --> 00:00:33.679 Yes. 00:00:33.679 --> 00:00:39.100 Okay. Can you tell us when and where you were born? 00:00:39.100 --> 00:00:45.909 Yeah. Out of Depew. Depew, Oklahoma. It was out in the country. 00:00:45.909 --> 00:00:47.679 So, you were born at home? 00:00:47.679 --> 00:00:48.100 Yes. 00:00:48.100 --> 00:00:49.119 Okay. 00:00:49.119 --> 00:00:51.880 Dr. Harz was the doctor. 00:00:51.880 --> 00:00:52.780 Harz like? 00:00:52.780 --> 00:00:53.000 H A R Z. 00:00:53.000 --> 00:00:58.280 H A R Z, okay. And what was your date of what's your date of birth? 00:00:58.280 --> 00:01:01.579 December 13, 1934. 00:01:01.579 --> 00:01:11.439 Okay, so let's talk a little bit about your family. Can you tell me both of your parents full names? 00:01:11.439 --> 00:01:18.730 My dad is Sidney Vern Russell [3/3/1893-12/2/1956] and my mother is Clara Ellen "Kate" Gross Russell [9/14/1897-1976]. 00:01:18.730 --> 00:01:27.129 Okay, now, when I looked them up, I have your father's birth date as 3/3/1893. Does that sound right? 00:01:27.129 --> 00:01:27.819 Yeah, mm-hmm. 00:01:27.819 --> 00:01:32.480 And then I have your mother as September 14, 1897? 00:01:32.480 --> 00:01:32.780 Yes. 00:01:32.780 --> 00:01:33.530 Does that sound right? 00:01:33.530 --> 00:01:33.859 Yeah. 00:01:33.859 --> 00:01:38.540 And you had told me, how do you spell her name? Gross? Is it G R O S S? 00:01:38.540 --> 00:01:42.799 I'm not really sure. I thought it was G R O S E. 00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:47.000 Okay, when I looked online, it said G R O S S. I wasn't, I wasn't sure. 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:52.000 Now that might be it. Going about what she said at school and stuff like that. 00:01:52.000 --> 00:02:01.959 Well, sometimes the stuff online isn't correct, so that's why I wanted to ask. Okay, well, what type of work did your parents do? 00:02:01.959 --> 00:02:06.040 My dad was a pumper all of his life, and my mom was just a housewife. 00:02:06.040 --> 00:02:06.430 Okay. 00:02:06.430 --> 00:02:17.680 Well, not all of her life, because when he retired, they moved to Bristow, and he was retired, but she went to work for Jack Abraham at J & J Cafe. 00:02:17.680 --> 00:02:18.129 Okay. 00:02:18.129 --> 00:02:21.520 And she worked there probably for 20 years, at least. 00:02:21.520 --> 00:02:23.259 Like as a cook or? 00:02:23.259 --> 00:02:29.710 No, no, she worked in the kitchen. Yeah, I think she, I don't know, in the kitchen is all that they told me. 00:02:29.710 --> 00:02:33.050 Okay, okay. And your dad was a pumper around Bristow? 00:02:33.050 --> 00:02:46.129 Between Bristow and Depew. Well, and then the the last pumping job that he had when I was at home was on the old Red Bank Road. I caught a bus out there, you know, so I'll remember that as out on the old Red Bank Road. 00:02:46.129 --> 00:02:50.509 Okay, and so, has your family always been in the Bristow area? 00:02:50.509 --> 00:02:51.139 Yes. 00:02:51.139 --> 00:02:51.889 Okay, so. 00:02:51.889 --> 00:02:58.129 Well, between Bristow and Depew. He was pumper one time way back there between Bristow and Depew. 00:02:58.129 --> 00:03:05.719 Okay, so your your parents have always lived here. What about your great grandparents? Did they live here as well? 00:03:05.719 --> 00:03:09.330 No, they lived in Arkansas, and I'm not for sure where. 00:03:09.330 --> 00:03:13.199 Or, I guess I said great grandparents. That would be grandparents, that would be grandparents. 00:03:13.199 --> 00:03:13.860 Yeah, right. 00:03:13.860 --> 00:03:15.509 Okay, okay. 00:03:15.509 --> 00:03:26.939 My mom was part, half Indian, so some of her way back there was on reservation out by Jay, Oklahoma. Jay and there's another little town next to Jay that it was right in between there. 00:03:26.939 --> 00:03:31.199 Okay, and what do you remember what type, what tribe, she was? 00:03:31.199 --> 00:03:32.189 Cherokee. 00:03:32.189 --> 00:03:33.330 Because I'm part 00:03:33.330 --> 00:03:37.740 You're part Cherokee. Okay. Do you have any siblings? 00:03:37.740 --> 00:03:40.400 Oh, not left, but they were seven of us. 00:03:40.400 --> 00:03:42.460 Oh, my goodness, you had seven or six, or you had six siblings? 00:03:42.460 --> 00:03:46.689 Are you talking about brothers and sisters? 00:03:46.689 --> 00:03:46.870 Yes. 00:03:46.870 --> 00:03:51.400 Yeah, yeah, yeah, I had two brothers and five sisters. 00:03:51.400 --> 00:03:52.990 Oh, my goodness, so you had a big family. 00:03:52.990 --> 00:04:03.189 No, four sisters, counting me was five. I told you that tape don't work all the time. Yeah, there was five girls, two boys in our family. 00:04:03.189 --> 00:04:03.819 Five girls. 00:04:03.819 --> 00:04:05.289 And I was the youngest. Yeah. 00:04:05.289 --> 00:04:06.000 So, you're the baby? 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:06.240 Oh, my goodness! 00:04:06.240 --> 00:04:13.590 Yeah. Mom had four kids, the four girls, and then she waited until she was in her 40s, to have us the last three. 00:04:13.590 --> 00:04:17.579 Yeah. And they was all gone before, you know, I got up any age. 00:04:17.579 --> 00:04:19.000 So, it was almost like she had them in sections, didn't she? 00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:24.730 Yeah, she did, because my sister, that's next to me was 20 years older than me. 00:04:24.730 --> 00:04:25.149 Oh, my goodness! 00:04:25.149 --> 00:04:30.339 Yeah, but then I had a brother three years older me, and a brother that's three years younger. 00:04:30.339 --> 00:04:44.110 So, she pretty much had kids her whole life, then, didn' t she? Okay, um, growing up, did you have family that lived nearby you? 00:04:44.110 --> 00:04:45.250 You mean, like, what? 00:04:45.250 --> 00:04:46.000 Like aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents. 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:46.120 Really? 00:04:46.120 --> 00:04:46.149 Yeah, oh, yeah, we did, yeah. We had no, no grandparents. they was all gone time I was born, but yeah, I had aunts and uncles. Yeah, because dad had some sisters and brothers that was one, the brother was at Dustin, Oklahoma, and his name was William Bill, William Russell, and his wife was Indian. She was geranium (ph), but I don't know her, her maiden name or anything, but geranium (ph) was her. And, then, I had Uncle Carl, and Aunt Nat (ph), and they had a cafe in in Tulsa, because I've, then you could get on the bus here in Bristow for a quarter because I was in junior high school, and I'd ride over there and work at the cafe, and they'd bring me home on Sunday night. There's a big Cafe there in Red Fork. 00:04:46.149 --> 00:04:49.000 Yeah. 00:04:49.000 --> 00:05:05.949 So, you would just ride a bus all the way to 00:05:05.949 --> 00:05:10.360 Red Fork, Tulsa. 00:05:10.360 --> 00:05:15.699 Right. 00:05:15.699 --> 00:05:49.149 And get off, yeah, and then they'd bring me back to go to school the next day, because we lived out on the old Red Bank Road, which is three miles from Bristow, two miles and then a mile back in the country. 00:05:49.149 --> 00:05:54.730 So, you when you're saying two or three, which direction is because that I'm not familiar with Red Bank Road. 00:05:54.730 --> 00:05:55.629 The old Red Bank Road. 00:05:55.629 --> 00:05:56.649 I'm not familiar with that. 00:05:56.649 --> 00:05:59.410 Well, it's like you go out to Mid America. 00:05:59.410 --> 00:05:59.829 Okay. 00:05:59.829 --> 00:06:00.819 You cut off back. 00:06:00.819 --> 00:06:03.699 Okay, gotcha, gotcha. So, you lived out that way. 00:06:03.699 --> 00:06:04.180 Yeah. 00:06:04.180 --> 00:06:12.379 So, and you, do you remember the name of the cafe in Tulsa by chance? 00:06:12.379 --> 00:06:18.829 Well, the guy owned the whole block. He had a movie place, and he had an apartment place and everything. Fred Losi (ph). 00:06:18.829 --> 00:06:20.269 Fred Losi (ph) was his name? 00:06:20.269 --> 00:06:26.269 Yeah, and he owned the whole block, and they just rented the cafe, I guess, or whatever. 00:06:26.269 --> 00:06:30.170 So, what did was there a bus system here for quite a while? 00:06:30.170 --> 00:06:38.990 Yeah, there where the liquor store is, you know, where, oh, what's that place right next to it, the, oh. 00:06:38.990 --> 00:06:40.670 The liquor store, currently? 00:06:40.670 --> 00:06:47.899 It's right on Main Street, right there, and the, oh, what is that cafe on the corner there right next to it? 00:06:47.899 --> 00:06:49.819 The one that's changed names a whole lot. 00:06:49.819 --> 00:06:56.810 Yeah, you go around the corner there and you go Fourth Street. What is the name of that? Subway. 00:06:56.810 --> 00:06:57.600 Oh, okay. 00:06:57.600 --> 00:07:00.180 Yeah, the liquor store right next to the Subway. 00:07:00.180 --> 00:07:01.439 Oh! The old liquor store. 00:07:01.439 --> 00:07:05.490 Yeah, yeah, that that used to be Greyhound Bus Station. 00:07:05.490 --> 00:07:06.569 Well, I'll be darned 00:07:06.569 --> 00:07:07.199 Yeah. 00:07:07.199 --> 00:07:08.819 And, so, do you remember? 00:07:08.819 --> 00:07:21.209 I think Gus Hayes (ph) owned that, but I'm not for sure, but I think he did, because he owned all the, he put cigarette machines and stuff like that, and pop machine stuff in every place in Bristow just about. 00:07:21.209 --> 00:07:22.079 What was his name? 00:07:22.079 --> 00:07:22.920 Gus Hayes (ph). 00:07:22.920 --> 00:07:30.449 Gus Hayes. And, so, the, do you remember how long the Greyhound Bus Station was in Bristow? 00:07:30.449 --> 00:07:32.310 Well, it was there for a long time. 00:07:32.310 --> 00:07:34.139 So, most of your youth then? 00:07:34.139 --> 00:07:35.519 Yeah, yeah. 00:07:35.519 --> 00:07:43.740 Well, okay, I guess cars, people, getting cars changed to where there wasn't a need for it, is that what it left? 00:07:43.740 --> 00:07:54.420 I don't know how come it left. You noticed all Bristow was really booming back that time. I bet they had probably 12 or 13 factories and everything. You know, Main Street was buzzing. 00:07:54.420 --> 00:07:54.810 Right. 00:07:54.810 --> 00:08:05.519 JC Penneys, Anthony's Shamus has a great big old department store. There was everything in Bristow had something in it, cafes, you know, and everything. 00:08:05.519 --> 00:08:07.600 So, you've seen a lot of changes in Bristow? 00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:27.279 Yeah, because back then they was cafes, all up and down, about three beer joints. There's all kinds of stuff all up and down Main Street, you know. And the bakeries, you know, we probably had a couple of bakeries. One of them was Cox Bakery, because that's where I got stuff all the time. There's another one. We had two jewelry stores, uh, Harvat's. 00:08:27.279 --> 00:08:28.000 I remember Harvat's. 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:34.960 Yeah, and Silvers. You know, the little guy is foreigner that was on this side, him and his wife was on. 00:08:34.960 --> 00:08:39.000 Well, that's interesting. 00:08:39.000 --> 00:08:52.409 We deliver Magic Freight for, I don't know how many years, 13 years, while we was in the body shop. So that's how I got acquainted with all because we take frieght to everybody in Bristow just about. 00:08:52.409 --> 00:08:54.570 So, you, you hauled frieght? 00:08:54.570 --> 00:09:00.419 Well, they brought it down from Tulsa and dropped it off of our body shop, and it was just extra income for us. 00:09:00.419 --> 00:09:02.190 So you just, you were, like, a distributor? 00:09:02.190 --> 00:09:03.570 Yeah, we just distributed it. 00:09:03.570 --> 00:09:05.970 And what was that called? What was your business called? 00:09:05.970 --> 00:09:11.000 Magic Freight, well, that was Magic Freight. My, our business was B&F Body Shop for 30 years. 00:09:11.000 --> 00:09:13.850 So, Magic Freight was just something 00:09:13.850 --> 00:09:21.350 Yeah, right. We had, we had B&F Body Shop for like, almost 30 years. Right there on Fifth Street. It's still got the sign up. 00:09:21.350 --> 00:09:42.320 Right. Yeah, I know that. Okay, well, let's, let's back up a little bit before we get get into that and talk about your childhood and your home life. So, do I'm going to take you way back. So, do you remember any of your favorite toys or childhood games that you played? 00:09:42.320 --> 00:10:12.200 Well, we didn't have TV back then, so we had an imagination, and we played outside, and I had them two brothers, we played a lot of football and stuff like that, yeah. But the most of the dolls I had, well, I had four older sisters. They brought me dolls and stuff. Yeah, I can remember I had a good life, because, you know, it's just dad being a pumper. He got a check every month, and our electric and gas and all that was free because, you know, so that for all the years I, you know. 00:10:12.200 --> 00:10:14.700 And then you had older siblings that probably, really, took care of you, too. 00:10:14.700 --> 00:10:20.340 Yeah, yeah, I did. Four older sisters. And they was all, of course, they was scattered. One of them lived in California forever, and we just seen her on holidays and stuff, you know. And the other one was in Galveston, Texas for a long time. So they just kind of scattered. Two of them pretty well stayed around here, but 00:10:20.340 --> 00:10:20.879 That you would see. 00:10:20.879 --> 00:10:53.970 Yeah, well, Marie was the one that lived up there and worked for my Uncle Carl at that cafe I was talking about that I went up there. Well, she worked for him and lived in an apartment up over the cafe, and I'd stay with her whenever I was up there. 00:10:53.970 --> 00:10:55.379 So, in Tulsa? 00:10:55.379 --> 00:10:56.070 Yeah. 00:10:56.070 --> 00:11:03.330 Okay, um, do you remember having any chores that you were expected to do whenever you were a young person? 00:11:03.330 --> 00:11:09.480 No, not really, because I had all them older people that done all the chores. I never done nothing. 00:11:09.480 --> 00:11:11.669 You were the spoiled baby, weren't you? 00:11:11.669 --> 00:11:14.309 Yeah, I was because I didn't really have to do nothing. 00:11:14.309 --> 00:11:17.940 So, did you have friends that would come over and play at your house? Or did you mainly play with siblings? 00:11:17.940 --> 00:11:53.850 Well, when I got older, I had friends. Now, then, we lived out in the country, and we didn't have, you know, that many friends, but we moved, when we moved to town, dad changed jobs for some reason or other and started working on drilling rigs. Back then, Bristow had drilling rigs all the way around, and he was a boss, so he made a lot of money doing that. So, whenever he got in between doing that out there, he moved, we moved to town, and moved up on Pecan Street, and by that time, I was probably almost in junior high school, you know. And then I had a lot of friends, because I was here forever. 00:11:53.850 --> 00:12:01.659 Right, right. Um, did you have any favorite activities or hobbies as a child that you that you did? 00:12:01.659 --> 00:12:19.929 Well then we had a skating rink and stuff like that here at Bristow and and, and when I got in junior high school, they had, you know, dances and stuff back then for the school did. The teachers would sponsor them and stuff. You know, we had a lot of activities like that that they don't have now. 00:12:19.929 --> 00:12:27.850 I know that's what I was going to say. It seems like it was a lot of, there was a lot of fun and activities. 00:12:27.850 --> 00:12:30.519 There was just a whole lot of stuff going on in Bristow. 00:12:30.519 --> 00:12:30.960 Right. 00:12:30.960 --> 00:12:38.580 You know, they had a bowling alley, and they had a, of course, I didn't do any bowling, but I done a lot of roller skating. 00:12:38.580 --> 00:12:40.049 And that's at the skating rink [indecipherable] 00:12:40.049 --> 00:12:52.559 Yeah, that was open all the time from the time I was old enough to skate on up. And then our, that was on Sixth Street, and our body shop was just right, we walked over there, my kids and us walked over there. 00:12:52.559 --> 00:13:02.000 Yeah, that was okay. Um, well, can you tell me about your school life? Now, didn't you tell me you just went from first to 10th grade? Is that what you said? 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:02.039 So, you wrote to him for how many years total? 00:13:02.039 --> 00:13:15.769 Yeah, I quit in the 10th grade. Yeah. I started dating Blackie [James Albert "Blackie" Farris 10/11/1929-4/17/2017]. I met him one Saturday night with my brother, and they both had to go to the army that Monday, Camp Chaffee, Arkansas. And we started writing. And I didn't even know him, but he asked my brother for my address, and he said he would, she won't write to [indecipherable] she said, you might as well forget it. But, we wrote it for two years. We wrote and then when he did get out, he though,t for a month, this was 1950. He had to go to Camp Chaffee, Arkansas. Well, he was at Fort Bliss, Texas, two years. And we wrote two years there at Fort Bliss. Then when we thought he was out, they called him right back two or three weeks, and he had to go to Camp Chaffee, Arkansas, so I just told mom and dad. I thought I'm going with him without permission or not. I'd like to get married, if you'll sign the papers. And they did. 00:13:15.769 --> 00:13:57.080 Probably about two years, two years before and about two years after, because he was in the army the first two years, and I didn't get to be 00:13:57.080 --> 00:14:02.960 So, you basically got to know each other through letters? 00:14:02.960 --> 00:14:26.480 That's exactly right, mostly, because he would just come in for a weekend once in a while. But you talk about love at first sight, it was that away for both of us. I guess because he was, everybody said he was a real rounder. That's how come my brother didn't even want me to write to him. 00:14:26.480 --> 00:14:27.000 He was looking after you! 00:14:27.000 --> 00:14:32.820 He didn't want him to write to me either. Blackie Farris, he was known as a rounder, you know. 00:14:32.820 --> 00:14:37.710 Well, that's kind of a neat story that you wrote letters for that long. 00:14:37.710 --> 00:14:38.700 We did. 00:14:38.700 --> 00:14:40.470 To get to know each other. 00:14:40.470 --> 00:14:44.460 He just come in once in a while, you know, for furlough for a weekend. 00:14:44.460 --> 00:14:45.090 Right. 00:14:45.090 --> 00:14:47.190 He never did get a whole vacation. 00:14:47.190 --> 00:14:51.389 So, can you tell me about your school life? Did you attend Bristow school? 00:14:51.389 --> 00:14:52.470 Yeah, the whole time. 00:14:52.470 --> 00:14:54.720 Okay, and that was grades one through ten? 00:14:54.720 --> 00:14:55.169 Yeah. 00:14:55.169 --> 00:14:59.820 And did you have any influential teachers during the time that you were in school? 00:14:59.820 --> 00:15:16.000 I had some real good teachers. All of them seem to be really good. Uh, math was one of my hardest subjects. And RC Lester was the best math teacher I had. I learned more from him than anything. It's a good thing, because I needed it, when I got up there, they opened that body shop and had to all them estimates and stuff. 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:18.220 Right, you had to, you had to use your math, didn't you? 00:15:18.220 --> 00:15:24.789 Oh, God, yeah, that was come in real handy, because they wasn't nothing like you got nowadays to help you. 00:15:24.789 --> 00:15:30.700 To figure it out. You had to do everything by hand. Well, do you remember how you got to school as a youngster? 00:15:30.700 --> 00:15:31.659 On the bus. 00:15:31.659 --> 00:15:39.700 Rode the bus, okay, yeah. And do you remember being in any clubs or organizations whenever you were in school? Were you involved in anything? 00:15:39.700 --> 00:15:45.000 Yeah, Pep Club was all I went to all the football. I love football. I still love football. 00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:48.990 You still love football. Well, did you like school? Did you enjoy school? 00:15:48.990 --> 00:15:50.789 Oh, yeah, I loved school. 00:15:50.789 --> 00:15:55.830 Did you have a favorite subject? 00:15:55.830 --> 00:16:09.990 Well, I think I liked Carolyn Foster that taught English, because that gave me the option that I want to go overseas as soon as they get [indecipherable]. Well, my oldest daughter did, too. So, we have went everywhere, overseas. 00:16:09.990 --> 00:16:10.590 Oh, really? 00:16:10.590 --> 00:16:17.070 We loved it. Every two years there for about 30 years, we went overseas some place. 00:16:17.070 --> 00:16:24.000 Well, Mrs. Foster is somebody that is brought up a lot as a favorite teacher when I've interviewed people. She sounds like a very beloved. 00:16:24.000 --> 00:16:29.371 We knew her husband. He was Arthur Foster at the bank, you know, President, we liked him, too. 00:16:29.371 --> 00:16:29.509 Right. 00:16:29.509 --> 00:16:32.029 That's where we've always banked. 00:16:32.029 --> 00:16:39.529 Um, well, so can you tell me about the house that you grew up in? I know you said you lived in the country, and then you moved to Pecan Street. 00:16:39.529 --> 00:16:39.889 Yeah. 00:16:39.889 --> 00:16:46.070 Can you tell me about the which house did you live in the longest? 00:16:46.070 --> 00:16:48.710 Probably out here that I remember. 00:16:48.710 --> 00:16:49.639 In the country? 00:16:49.639 --> 00:16:56.929 Yeah, we've always lived in the country. Then they moved to town when dad retired, but that was after I was already married. 00:16:56.929 --> 00:17:00.110 So, can you tell me about your house in the country? What was it like? 00:17:00.110 --> 00:17:14.869 It was always a big house, and all the utilities was free, so we could just do anything we wanted you. You didn't have all the stuff, like TVs and stuff like they do now, though, so I'm sure didn't, didn't hurt their pocket book that much. 00:17:14.869 --> 00:17:17.269 Right. The utilities probably weren't too much, then? 00:17:17.269 --> 00:17:18.829 Yeah. 00:17:18.829 --> 00:17:21.000 And did you have your own room growing up? 00:17:21.000 --> 00:17:27.599 Yeah, yeah, because it was always a big house. Yeah, they always furnished a big house for dad on the being a pumper. 00:17:27.599 --> 00:17:30.509 Right, right. Sounds like that was a good living for him. 00:17:30.509 --> 00:17:33.240 Yeah, it was for him, because it was a steady check. 00:17:33.240 --> 00:17:33.480 Right. 00:17:33.480 --> 00:17:38.000 Now, Blackie's dad was a farmer, and that was a lot different. Blackie and I got married, and I thought, I'm glad [indecipherable]. 00:17:38.000 --> 00:17:49.789 And did you spend most of your time outside as a, as a young person, or did you have, I mean, did you? 00:17:49.789 --> 00:17:56.930 In the summer we probably did, you know, and we went out to that, they had the swimming pool out here at Bristow, and we went out there a bunch. 00:17:56.930 --> 00:18:04.000 So, you you enjoyed the swimming pool? So, what were meal times like for your family? Did everybody sit down together? 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:37.750 Oh, yeah, dad had it to everybody in the house, no matter who it was, it would have been a salesman. He had everybody at the table. Cause mama cooked all that, her and, usually, that one older sister of mine lived with us the biggest part of her time. She she was married to a guy that was a boss of Bass Ross (ph) in Oklahoma City, but he traveled all over everywhere, and she didn't like the traveling, so she stayed with us the biggest part of time. But she loved to cook, so her mom cooked all the meals. Naturally, back then, that's all they had to do. They didn't have tv. 00:18:37.750 --> 00:18:42.009 Right, right. So, did you have to help clean up? 00:18:42.009 --> 00:18:46.150 I didn't really have to, unless I wanted to, but like I said 00:18:46.150 --> 00:18:48.460 You might have been spoiled just a little bit. 00:18:48.460 --> 00:18:50.900 I probably was, because I didn't have to do none of that. 00:18:50.900 --> 00:18:58.279 Well, do you remember your mom making like a favorite recipe or meal? What was your favorite? 00:18:58.279 --> 00:19:15.349 Well, I like breakfast with because she made the best biscuits and gravy, and, you know, all of that, because she made a lot of stuff, you know. They we, we had so much beans, though, back then, you know, beans was that, now I don't even look at beans. 00:19:15.349 --> 00:19:22.250 Well, so did you get, did you come away with any of her special recipes that you have today? 00:19:22.250 --> 00:19:22.819 No. 00:19:22.819 --> 00:19:28.039 Not really? Okay. Did anybody teach you how to cook? 00:19:28.039 --> 00:19:30.019 Well, I just watched them enough to know how. 00:19:30.019 --> 00:19:31.369 That you kind of figured it out? 00:19:31.369 --> 00:19:31.880 Yeah. 00:19:31.880 --> 00:19:48.740 Well, thinking about your life growing up in Bristow, do you remember, like, what were your favorite community activities? For instance, like, I know you said you were at the pool a lot. What about Western Heritage Days or day camp or fairs, or anything like that? 00:19:48.740 --> 00:20:07.250 Well, now they had a they had the fairs every now and then, but we didn't have any - main street, now, they had one thing every year, but they didn't have that Western Heritage Day back when I was growing up. I don't remember what it was they had. It might have been a Christmas something or something. It was a holiday thing that they had. 00:20:07.250 --> 00:20:15.500 Okay, well, do you remember any of the biggest or most popular businesses around town when you were younger? 00:20:15.500 --> 00:20:36.619 Oh, yeah, every store was full. Like I said, we had JC Penney, Anthony's, you know, and a couple of banks. It was American National then. And Spirit was something else. What was that before? Spirit, whatever it was. And every town, I mean, everything up and down Main Street had something in it. 00:20:36.619 --> 00:20:40.000 Did you have a favorite? Did you have a favorite business that you would frequent? 00:20:40.000 --> 00:21:05.559 Well, now I ate mostly at that little cafe that was right behind the American National Bank. It was just small mom and dad thing. Their hamburgers was 10 cents. Daddy gave me a quarter to eat on. Ten cents for that, and then I could have a pop for nickle and a candy bar for a nickle, so a quarter. But you had to get in junior high to get to go downtown, otherwise, you had eat at the cafeteria or bring your lunch. 00:21:05.559 --> 00:21:06.880 Okay, okay. 00:21:06.880 --> 00:21:12.009 And it was a quarter for cafeteria back then, too, so you could have your you know. 00:21:12.009 --> 00:21:20.079 Right. Did you have a favorite place to hang out as a teenager? 00:21:20.079 --> 00:21:33.910 Well, they had a Teen Town that I went to over Penneys. I can't remember the teachers, I think, is one that took turns to sponsor it up there, and they they played music, and they had games and stuff up there. 00:21:33.910 --> 00:21:42.359 There was an interview I did yesterday, and that person was telling me about Teen Town, and I had never heard anybody talk about it. So I think that's funny 00:21:42.359 --> 00:21:54.660 Yeah, but, but back then, you know, they had teen dances like out at the country club and stuff like that, you know, that the like I said, there's always teachers and stuff that was there to 00:21:54.660 --> 00:21:56.069 Chaperone. 00:21:56.069 --> 00:21:58.349 But I don't think they have any of that now. 00:21:58.349 --> 00:21:59.440 I know. 00:21:59.440 --> 00:22:05.000 My grandkids all go to, great grandkids, all goes to school, and they, they don't go to nothing. 00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:12.680 Well, whenever he was talking about the Teen Town, I thought, man, that would be something that would be fun to have now. 00:22:12.680 --> 00:22:17.930 Yeah, it was. We had a lot of fun up there, because it was kind of like a great big game room, you know. 00:22:17.930 --> 00:22:19.549 Where was it located? 00:22:19.549 --> 00:22:25.250 Over Penneys. Like that one I went to was over Penneys. Now, this was 100 years ago. 00:22:25.250 --> 00:22:27.000 So, it was Penneys on Main Street? 00:22:27.000 --> 00:22:39.450 Yeah, because it was right on the corner right there where, well, there's nothing in that now. That would be, this is what, Ninth? Oh, that'd be Eighth, probably, or something. 00:22:39.450 --> 00:22:40.470 So, at Eighth and Main? 00:22:40.470 --> 00:22:53.309 In that empty building there that used to be, what was there? But it was that Teen Town was up over that. Now our Penneys was, maybe, that was Penneys underneath there. I believe it was. 00:22:53.309 --> 00:23:08.940 Okay, okay. Um, so did you, as far as your clothes, your clothing that you were as a youngster did is, did you usually get to shop for your clothes? Or did your mom make your clothes? Do you remember? 00:23:08.940 --> 00:23:28.319 Yeah, well, if anything special came up, now, my sister bought me stuff at Stanford's, Stanford's there, I don't where you they anyway, it was a little boutique that she thought was really neat. But yeah, we had JC Penney's and everything. My older sister made sure I was dressed properly. 00:23:28.319 --> 00:23:31.000 So, you you always wear dressed cute then, because 00:23:31.000 --> 00:23:34.000 Well, back then you had to wear dresses to school. You couldn't wear pants. 00:23:34.000 --> 00:23:40.869 Right, right. Do you remember your family's first car? 00:23:40.869 --> 00:23:57.220 Well, it was a mile away. Daddy always had to wear, have a Model A [Ford Model A], because he had to go to the wells, and it was back then, he didn't have jeeps and stuff, you know. And we had a Model A, because it would, it was up high off the ground, and he could make it in the winter time and stuff to his wells. 00:23:57.220 --> 00:24:01.019 Boy, I bet that was something in a Model A though. Can you imagine? 00:24:01.019 --> 00:24:13.619 Well, there's two great big old oil tanks that he had to make, and he had to call him every morning and sometime in the evening, too, and report what he had, you know, was a gauges. 00:24:13.619 --> 00:24:13.920 Right. 00:24:13.920 --> 00:24:15.299 Had to gauge them and 00:24:15.299 --> 00:24:15.750 Right. 00:24:15.750 --> 00:24:16.319 Turn it in. 00:24:16.319 --> 00:24:19.779 So, did you get to take any vacations? 00:24:19.779 --> 00:24:22.029 Back when we as kids? Very few. 00:24:22.029 --> 00:24:22.539 Very few. 00:24:22.539 --> 00:24:37.599 I can't remember. We might go across Oklahoma, there to one of the girls' house or something other. My sisters all married and had kids, you know, because they was so much older than I. We might go there for a couple of days or something. And no, no vacations overseas or nothing like that. 00:24:37.599 --> 00:24:42.559 Right, right. Do you remember who taught you how to drive? 00:24:42.559 --> 00:24:55.549 Yeah, Mose LeForce, the the coach at Bristow, had drivers education. My dad never let you touch his car, and he's the one that I had drivers education. 00:24:55.549 --> 00:24:57.259 And what was his name? 00:24:57.259 --> 00:24:58.250 Mose LeForce. 00:24:58.250 --> 00:25:02.809 Okay, alright, and do you remember your first car? 00:25:02.809 --> 00:25:04.759 Well, I didn't have one till I got married. 00:25:04.759 --> 00:25:05.210 Oh, you didn't? 00:25:05.210 --> 00:25:09.289 We didn't have cars back then. Dad had one car, and that was it. 00:25:09.289 --> 00:25:10.700 You guys had to share that? 00:25:10.700 --> 00:25:11.180 Yeah. 00:25:11.180 --> 00:25:22.279 Yeah, or they took you places. Alright, so do you remember how old you were when you got a TV in your house? 00:25:22.279 --> 00:25:29.000 Well, we didn't have whenever I had then. I mean, we my folks got one later on, but, you know. 00:25:29.000 --> 00:25:31.490 At home? No. You never did whenever you were a young person? 00:25:31.490 --> 00:25:35.990 Okay, alright, so what type of entertainment did you have at home? 00:25:35.990 --> 00:25:43.609 Well, we had a radio, and we played games. We was big into just card games and stuff. 00:25:43.609 --> 00:25:47.660 Do you remember having any particular music that you liked or any? 00:25:47.660 --> 00:25:48.710 Yeah, country. 00:25:48.710 --> 00:25:50.509 You listened to country music? 00:25:50.509 --> 00:25:51.440 Yeah. 00:25:51.440 --> 00:25:52.329 Alright. 00:25:52.329 --> 00:25:57.970 Faron Young, Ernest Tubb. Well, back then it would be like Ernest Tubb and some of them older guys. 00:25:57.970 --> 00:26:05.099 Yeah, right. Um, so what was medical care like for you growing up? Did you have a family doctor or did you mainly handle things at home? 00:26:05.099 --> 00:26:07.400 Well, mostly Dr. Hars (ph). 00:26:07.400 --> 00:26:08.240 Oh, really, okay. 00:26:08.240 --> 00:26:15.859 Yeah, but they might have had a few more, but he we knew him almost personally, because Dr. Hars was there. 00:26:15.859 --> 00:26:18.230 Okay, and he was a Bristow doctor? 00:26:18.230 --> 00:26:18.619 Yeah. 00:26:18.619 --> 00:26:19.000 Okay. 00:26:19.000 --> 00:26:34.750 And our dentist was, well, Johnson (ph) would will pull your teeth for $1 a tooth. But if you wanted anything else to do, mom took us to East to start with. Then me and Blackie moved on up to Petit, though, when we got married. 00:26:34.750 --> 00:26:37.210 So, there was a Dr. East that was a dentist? 00:26:37.210 --> 00:26:45.789 Yeah, right down from the on Sixth Street there where the post office is. He is just right there. 00:26:45.789 --> 00:26:49.839 Right there. Okay. Did you attend, did you attend church growing up? 00:26:49.839 --> 00:26:50.000 Nazarene. We usually went to the Nazarene. 00:26:50.000 --> 00:27:03.619 Went to the Nazarene. And do you remember any, I don't know, any details about going to church there, things that stuck, stuck out to you or favorite activities at church? 00:27:03.619 --> 00:27:06.710 No, really is just church mostly. 00:27:06.710 --> 00:27:07.400 Just church. 00:27:07.400 --> 00:27:13.849 Yeah, they had a place for smaller kids, and then we just kept getting bigger and bigger. 00:27:13.849 --> 00:27:24.710 Just grew up in that, okay. Well, and I failed to ask, do you remember or recall any serious illnesses or epidemics that either you or your family went through? 00:27:24.710 --> 00:27:30.950 Just in the school we had mumps, measles and that sort of thing. No, no, we didn't have anything. 00:27:30.950 --> 00:27:32.119 But other than that? 00:27:32.119 --> 00:27:32.539 Nothing, yeah. 00:27:32.539 --> 00:27:42.470 Okay, um, so what were holidays like for your family? Can you just describe a typical Christmas at your house? 00:27:42.470 --> 00:27:43.750 When I was growing up? 00:27:43.750 --> 00:27:43.960 Yeah. 00:27:43.960 --> 00:27:50.859 Yeah, dad would go cut a big Christmas tree and bring it in, and we decorated it. Oh, yeah, they's all into Christmas. 00:27:50.859 --> 00:27:51.000 They loved Christmas? 00:27:51.000 --> 00:27:58.049 Yeah. Everybody, all of my sisters and their kids and stuff always came to mom and dad's for holidays. Yeah. 00:27:58.049 --> 00:28:03.000 So, did you make gifts? Did you buy gifts for each other, or was it mainly about having a big dinner? 00:28:03.000 --> 00:28:16.140 Well, some of them probably did make stuff, because two of my sisters sewed really good and they made stuff, you know. But I think, best I can remember, Mom always just bought us toys and stuff like that. 00:28:16.140 --> 00:28:20.849 Okay, alright. Were there any other holidays that were a big deal in your home? 00:28:20.849 --> 00:28:29.430 All of our holidays was big. All of those girls came back with their kids and stuff. Because Dad always had a big house. They always furnished him a big house. 00:28:29.430 --> 00:28:32.000 Right. Well, it sounds like it was, it was pretty fun growing up there. 00:28:32.000 --> 00:28:32.900 Well, do you remember as a kid thinking about what you wanted to be when you grew up? Did you have any aspirations when you were a little kid? 00:28:32.900 --> 00:28:51.740 Yeah, it was. I really enjoyed it. I couldn't gripe about my growing up or my marriage with my 67 years with my husband. That was good, too. So, I had a good life. I really did. 00:28:51.740 --> 00:28:53.480 No, I don't think I did. 00:28:53.480 --> 00:28:55.099 You couldn't, can't remember anything? 00:28:55.099 --> 00:28:57.140 Nothing that I really wanted to do. 00:28:57.140 --> 00:29:08.000 Okay, well, so we've touched a little bit on the different jobs you've had in your life, and obviously B&F Body Shop was a big deal because you did that for 30 years. Can you, can you tell me 00:29:08.000 --> 00:29:50.509 Well, when he slowed down, though, the mayor called me one of oh, I worked for the city for 14 years. Let's see, what year was that? He called and wanted me to take over, because the woman that was head of the senior citizens center passed away just with a heart attack all at once. And he knew that I helped her every now and then, taking the people here and there, you know, and helping her get stuff ready. So, he asked me if I'd take that over. So, I was 14 years as head of the senior citizens center, and we had busses back then, Bristow busses. And this desk up here is my desk. And whenever they first open this in January in 2006, I was up here, senior citizen, up here. 00:29:50.509 --> 00:29:52.700 So, do they still have the senior citizen? 00:29:52.700 --> 00:30:07.970 No, all of them in Creek County, just all of a sudden, six months after I retired from being well, I was also voted in as president of the Creek County Council on Aging by all the senior centers here in Creek County. 00:30:07.970 --> 00:30:08.000 Okay. 00:30:08.000 --> 00:31:08.390 Creek County, I was that for two terms. They, why they did, well, they did because I think I was always opened up their meetings. At that time, every month we'd go to somebody's. Ours was September here at Bristow, but every month we'd go to different ones, like Kellyville and all around, you know, that Oilton, and all up to Drumright, all of them like that. Once a month we'd take the busses, or however they brought their people, and we had them big senior meetings where they had to have a buffet and entertainment, and then a speaker. And all of us done that every month. And then on the last month of, like November or December, we had it at where they have that Creek County, oh, barn out there, that they have all the fairs and stuff. Well, they didn't call it that. They called it something else then, that's where we had had that at is that place. 00:31:08.390 --> 00:31:18.230 And, so, as far as circling back to your body shop days, can you tell me what a typical work day was like, working at the body shop for you? 00:31:18.230 --> 00:31:26.329 Well, we also had wreckers, so that was a thorn in the side, because you had to deal with that, yeah. 00:31:26.329 --> 00:31:28.000 So, you were definitely multitasking? 00:31:28.000 --> 00:32:09.190 Yeah, we, yeah, yeah, I can we, it was just when they had a wreck, you know, we, we knew, that's how we knew a lot of people in Bristow, because we picked them up with the wrecker, and then we would fix their car if we could. If it totaled out, I had to make an estimate, you know. I dealt with a lot of adjusters, you know, insurance adjusters always, you know. And you'd have to have an estimate ready, and then they'd make their own, you know, and you compared it and all. But you also had a crash book that told you the price of the part and also the labor. So, you made your own thing, and then he'd come and pair it with his. 00:32:09.190 --> 00:32:14.980 Right, and, so, you did that for 30 years, and then you sold it to James Raney? Is that? 00:32:14.980 --> 00:32:15.609 Yeah, yeah. 00:32:15.609 --> 00:32:19.390 And then you, but he opened another body shop, Blackie's Body Shop, right? 00:32:19.390 --> 00:32:23.589 No, it was Blackie's Body Shop. Well, it was B&F Body Shop. 00:32:23.589 --> 00:32:24.000 But I thought 00:32:24.000 --> 00:32:29.970 Then, when we was in the country, he'd had to change names, because I know James never did change it. 00:32:29.970 --> 00:32:30.299 Right. 00:32:30.299 --> 00:32:44.460 Yeah, we was six miles right there on, well, five from Bristow, you know, right on 66, and it was Blackie's Body Shop. We had to get our book work all changed to Blackie's Body Shop. He left it B&F, so we couldn't have the same name, you know. 00:32:44.460 --> 00:33:01.470 Right, okay, um, and, okay, so, let's talk about your husband a little bit. I I know you've told me a little bit about him, and I know you said that you wrote letters, and that's how you but how did you actually first meet him? 00:33:01.470 --> 00:33:13.000 Well, he went to, they signed up together. I didn't even know him. They signed up together with my brother, and that's what to say they that's how I met him. And that was Saturday night, and we wrote them letters for two years. 00:33:13.000 --> 00:33:15.000 So, you basically just met him once? 00:33:15.000 --> 00:33:15.779 Right. Can you tell me his full name, so we can have that on record? 00:33:15.779 --> 00:33:44.880 Well, yeah, he'd come in on the weekend or something. But then after two years, and he got sent to Camp McCoy, Wisconsin. Well, he was at Fort Bliss, Texas, and we wrote, but when he got sent to Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, that's when I told my dad and mom, and I wasn't quite 16, and I'd have been 16 in two months, but I went ahead and told them, I was going with him. We'd done had enough of that writing. 00:33:44.880 --> 00:33:47.099 James Albert Farris, Jr. 00:33:47.099 --> 00:33:51.809 Okay, and I have his date of birth as October 11, 1929? 00:33:51.809 --> 00:33:52.000 Yeah. 00:33:52.000 --> 00:34:00.660 Does that sound right? Okay. Um, so whenever you decided to go with him, did you guys just decide to get married or what? How did that work? 00:34:00.660 --> 00:34:01.000 Yeah, we went to the justice of the peace. He didn't have no money. Had been in the army, and his dad was a farmer, and that's what we did. Just went to the justice of the peace. 00:34:01.000 --> 00:34:15.820 So, there really wasn't an engagement or anything? You just decided to get married? Okay. And then you were married 00:34:15.820 --> 00:34:20.980 Well, we knew we was going to get married. We just had to wait till we could afford it. 00:34:20.980 --> 00:34:22.780 The logistics of it? 00:34:22.780 --> 00:34:24.199 Yeah. 00:34:24.199 --> 00:34:28.489 So, what was early married life like for you? 00:34:28.489 --> 00:34:42.739 Well, we was in, like I said, Wisconsin, you know, and I had, I worked for 50 cents an hour, just like where I could eat, because he ate out of the camps. There was no problem with him, with me, though I've lived in an apartment up there. Well, he did, too. 00:34:42.739 --> 00:34:44.809 Well, were you lonesome to move away from 00:34:44.809 --> 00:34:47.809 No, because I worked in a cafe all day long and 00:34:47.809 --> 00:34:59.199 Well, it seems like coming from a big family, a big family that was family oriented, to go and move off to another state that young, it seems like you might be a little bit homesick, but I guess you rolled with it. 00:34:59.199 --> 00:35:07.039 There's people around, and I didn't, you know. I didn't get lonesome. I guess he was all I needed. I don't know what else? 00:35:07.039 --> 00:35:12.079 Right. Okay, um, so how many children do you guys have? 00:35:12.079 --> 00:35:12.559 Four. 00:35:12.559 --> 00:35:17.860 You have four children. Can you tell me each of their names, please? 00:35:17.860 --> 00:35:24.159 My oldest was Darlene Kay Farris Pierson. P I E R S O N. 00:35:24.159 --> 00:35:27.610 And I have her birthday as October 5, 1951. 00:35:27.610 --> 00:35:28.210 Yeah. 00:35:28.210 --> 00:35:30.250 And then who's the next one? 00:35:30.250 --> 00:35:33.099 James Albert Farris, III. 00:35:33.099 --> 00:35:37.630 I have him as January 24, 1954. Does he go by Buddy? 00:35:37.630 --> 00:35:38.739 No, yeah, Buddy. 00:35:38.739 --> 00:35:39.000 Okay. 00:35:39.000 --> 00:35:43.199 He has that Broken Arrow brewery, you know, up there, yeah. 00:35:43.199 --> 00:35:47.429 Okay. And, so, was that his correct birthday? January 24, 1954. 00:35:47.429 --> 00:35:48.300 Yeah. 00:35:48.300 --> 00:35:50.980 Okay. And then your next one? 00:35:50.980 --> 00:35:58.929 Sharon Rena Farris Campbell. C A M P B E L L. 00:35:58.929 --> 00:36:02.260 Okay, and I have her as June 9, 1960. 00:36:02.260 --> 00:36:02.800 Yeah. 00:36:02.800 --> 00:36:04.000 Okay. And then your last one? 00:36:04.000 --> 00:36:09.070 Rhinda Jo Farris Knight, and what'd I say that guy's name was? 00:36:09.070 --> 00:36:09.670 Knight. 00:36:09.670 --> 00:36:10.840 You told me 00:36:10.840 --> 00:36:15.099 Okay, that was her last one. She was married by five or six times. K N I G H T. 00:36:15.099 --> 00:36:18.250 Okay. And I have her as June 30, 1964. 00:36:18.250 --> 00:36:18.639 Yeah. 00:36:18.639 --> 00:36:27.000 Okay, um, so what would you say were some challenges of being a mom of of little kids, or, you know, throughout growing up? 00:36:27.000 --> 00:36:52.199 Yeah, well, we tried to get them involved in stuff that we knew they'd like when they grew up. Because we, you know, knew, already knew that if they could get involved in something, and the girls was, couldn't care less, but Buddy, right off the reel, he wasn't three-years-old, wanted a guitar, and it went amplified right on up to electric guitar on up the way. And he still has [indecipherable]. 00:36:52.199 --> 00:36:53.980 So, he and he enjoys music. 00:36:53.980 --> 00:37:04.199 And he's 70 years old or something now, and he still likes that. But he has two businesses, Broken Arrow brewery and Tulsa auto, I mean, Tulsa Fire & Police Supply. 00:37:04.199 --> 00:37:10.329 Okay, alright, um, do you have any grandchildren? 00:37:10.329 --> 00:37:42.219 Yeah, I have 11. The three of them was that last one that I told you was nuts, just about she was only one of my kids that was on the honor roll all through high school. And she made the worst decisions, so she graduated as any kid could possibly make, but the last guy that she was with, those girls come around once in a while, you know, but they're kind of like strangers, but outside that they was eight, eight that lived around here. 00:37:42.219 --> 00:37:44.320 Around here, okay. 00:37:44.320 --> 00:37:47.170 Well, they don't live all around here. 00:37:47.170 --> 00:38:01.559 They're all over. Okay, well, I'm going to ask you a hard question, and this might make you think a little bit.What would you consider to be the most important invention during your lifetime? 00:38:01.559 --> 00:38:14.219 Probably the washing machine. With that many kids, I used that thing more than I did anything that was really handy. Because I remember my mom had a rub board. 00:38:14.219 --> 00:38:28.690 Yeah, man, I bet. Okay, well, that's a good answer. Um, so what do you feel is our nation's biggest problem right now, and how do you think it can be solved? 00:38:28.690 --> 00:38:42.369 Well, as long as they keep social security going, as far as I'm concerned, for older people, that's the way to go, and if they'll work till they get up social security age, they've got her made. Because you can live on that if you want to. 00:38:42.369 --> 00:38:42.460 Rright. 00:38:42.460 --> 00:38:51.190 I mean, that's only thing I know, that just if you don't work, you know, my husband and I, we worked hard, but we played hard. 00:38:51.190 --> 00:38:53.440 Well, that's good. That's a good balance. 00:38:53.440 --> 00:39:00.099 Yeah, we did. We we loved to ride a motor, he had a Harley all the time that we got enough money to get one. NOTE TRANSCRIPTION END ]]> audio 0 https://bristoworalhistory.org/ohms/render.php?cachefile=OHP-0066_Kattie_Farris.xml OHP-0066_Kattie_Farris.xml
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Title
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Kattie Farris
Description
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Kattie Farris was born December 13, 1934, in Depew, Oklahoma. Kattie's parents, Sidney Vern Russell and Clara Ellen Gross Russell, were a pumper and a housewife. Kattie had six siblings, including two brothers and four sisters. She attended Bristow Schools until the 10th grade and worked at J&J Cafe. Kattie married James Albert Farris Jr. after exchanging letters during his army service. They had four children: Darlene Kay Farris Pierson, James Albert Farris III, Sharon Rena Farris Campbell, and Rhinda Jo Farris Knight. Kattie worked at B&F Body Shop for 30 years and later at the senior citizens center.
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OHP-0066
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2024-09-06
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audio