Lawrence T. (Larry) Ortega passed away Jan. 23, 2021, in Oklahoma City. Larry was born Nov. 7, 1939, in Lansing, Mich., and was a longtime resident of El Reno.
He was a graduate of Southwestern State College in Weatherford and an Air Force veteran. He was retired from the Federal Bureau of Prisons and was a church music director.
Graveside services for Florita (Rita) Crawford of El Reno were held Friday in Calumet.
Rita passed away Jan. 23, 2021, at St. Anthony’s in Oklahoma City. She was born April 17, 1942, in Geary. She married Larry Crawford on June 7, 1960, in El Reno. Rita and Larry managed a small hotel and owned Crawfords Drive-In during the late 1970s and early ‘80s in Carrolton, Mo. After moving to Oklahoma in the early ‘80s, Rita worked for a short time for Mutual of Omaha Insurance and had a few more small business ventures later on in her life.
Graveside services for Joel Maynard Madbull were held Thursday at the Concho Cemetery with Rev. Eleanor Madbull officiating. Services were under the direction of Huber-Benson Funeral Home.
Joel died Jan. 24, 2021, in Oklahoma City. He was born Dec. 26, 1963, in Clinton. He was raised in Geary where he attended Geary High School and was on the wrestling and football teams. He later moved to El Reno and then to Oklahoma City where he lived most of his life.
He was employed as a commercial roofer.
Doris Jane Griffin, 83, passed away peacefully on Friday, Jan. 22, 2021, at her residence. She was born Jan. 14, 1938. She was a graduate of Yukon High School and had lived close to Chattanooga, Tenn., since 2009.
Doris was preceded in death by her parents, Harry and Frances Estep, and her husband, Donald J. Griffin.
She is survived by her sons, Donald W. Griffin (Cisse) of Chattanooga, Tenn., and Harry H. Griffin (Kim) of Readyville, Tenn.; sister, Harriett Garms of Yukon; six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
A planned 200-unit senior living housing complex got the full support of the El Reno Municipal Planning Commission last week even though some area residents fear the development could create problems, especially related to drainage.
Gary Owens Development Inc. intends to build the 55 and over market rate project on East Elm, just to the west of the El Reno Cemetery.
Owens has a similar development at SW 15th and Czech Hall in Mustang.
Delayed months by COVID-19 precautions handed down by the National Junior College Athletic Association, Redlands Community College opened up the 2020-21 basketball season over the weekend inside a bubble.
College administration determined earlier this month no fans would be allowed inside the RCC gymnasium for January.
“It’s a different way to start the season. It’s a lot quieter and the energy is hard to keep up when you don’t have fans to cheer on your team. It’s up to the players to cheer and push themselves,” said RCC Athletic Director Eli Zucksworth.
El Reno Public Schools faculty and staff will join other Canadian County schools in using a third party to administer the COVID-19 vaccination.
Superintendent Craig McVay said El Reno will use Passport Health to vaccinate the district’s 400 employees. He made the statement during the weekly El Reno Live program hosted by Mayor Matt White.
McVay said the timetable for administering the vaccines is not yet set, but the hope is that it will take place in February. El Reno will join Yukon, Mustang and Piedmont in turning to Passport Health for the vaccines.
When host Ardmore was hit with COVID-19 issues, the 2021 District 5A-4 Championships was eventually moved to El Reno and became a three-team race for a state berth.
After a first-round bye, El Reno High School’s wrestling team, ranked sixth in the state, knocked off 12th-ranked Carl Albert and No.8 Lawton MacArthur to punch a return ticket to the Class 5A Dual State Championships.
Playing one of the toughest schedules in Class 5A, El Reno High School’s boys basketball team avoided its second three-game losing streak of the season with a 72-45 win over Lawton Eisenhower in the seventh-place game of the Shawnee Invitational.
El Reno, ranked 13th in Class 5A, improved to 6-6 on the season.
The victory came on the heels of a setback to Class 6A’s 16th-ranked Broken Arrow (64-54) and Class 5A’s 20th-ranked Southeast (65-63).
Facing a lineup of three ranked teams, El Reno High School’s girls basketball team rallied from an opening-round loss to win the consolation title at the 2021 Shawnee Invitational.
El Reno, ranked seventh in Class 5A, improved to 8-4 on the season after a 59-40 win over Coweta in the consolation finals.
The win over the 10th-ranked (5A) Tigers came on the heels of a 41-31 victory over No.9 Shawnee (5A).
The Indians opened with a 43-36 setback to 5A’s fifth-ranked Ardmore.
