January 2022

At the end of 2021, the SWOSU Digital Commons at Southwestern Oklahoma State University passed another major milestone with 750,000 downloads made from the repository.

Readers and researchers at 16,774 institutions in 221 countries have downloaded 23,892 items since the SWOSU Digital Commons opened in March 2016. Topping the list of downloads were two SWOSU-published items that were accessed more than 30,000 times each:

“KEY CHARACTERISTICS OF TEACHER LEADERS IN SCHOOLS,” which appeared in 2014 in the SWOSU-produced Administrative Issues Journal.

The Oklahoma Department of Commerce (Commerce) has hired Jimmy Cagle to serve as the State Automotive Director.

Cagle is retiring after 37 years on the communications staff of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, 12 of which were spent at the company’s Lawton facility. In his role with the Commerce Business Development Team, he will lead the state’s efforts to grow Oklahoma’s automotive sector and supply chain.

Memorial services for Helen Irene Maher will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022, at El Reno Wesley United Methodist Church.

Helen passed away Dec. 25, 2021, in Lakewood, Colo. She was born Dec. 31, 1934, in Lawrence, Kan., to Dorothy and James Weed. She grew up in El Reno, living in housing at the Federal Penitentiary where her father was an officer. She loved telling people she grew up at “a penitentiary.”

Memorial service with military honors for Wallace G. Beckley Jr. will be held at 10 a.m. Monday, Jan. 31 at First Christian Church with Rev. Colton Lott officiating. Services are under the direction of Huber-Benson Funeral Home.

Wally died Jan. 11, 2022, at Ranchwood Nursing Center in Yukon. He was born Feb. 16, 1930, in El Reno, son of Wallace G. Sr. and Ruth Gadberry Beckley.

The early years of his life were spent in Clinton. He returned to El Reno living at the family farm on East Foreman Road before moving to South Williams Street.

Funeral services for James Wayne Pedro Sr. were held Monday at the Concho Emergency Response Center with Rev. Waylan Upchego officiating. Burial was in the Concho Cemetery under the direction of Huber-Benson Funeral Home.

James died Jan. 19, 2022, at Oak Hill Care Center in Jones. He was born Nov. 17, 1938, in Clinton. A former resident of El Reno, he was a grant writer for the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes. He was involved in tribal ceremonies and tribal politics including serving as tribal chairman.

Jeff Charles Walker, 64, passed away Jan. 19, 2022, in Oklahoma City. He was born in Okarche to Albert and Marlene Walker. He spent most of his life in California, moving back to Oklahoma in 2003 and settled in Fort Gibson, Okla.

Jeff married Judy L. McClaskey on April 24, 1993.

He enjoyed boating on Lake Arrowhead, Calif., gardening, being in nature and especially cooking and grilling. Jeff was a spiritual man and found God in nature.

MARRIAGE LICENSES

Thomas Victor Gray, 62; Brenda Kaye Ditmore, 60.

Gary R. Underwood, 76; Joy Jenean VanHooser, 62.

Bradley Thomas Angel, 36; Mattie Elizabeth Rankin, 31.

Alan Paul Fowler, 53; Melissa Jayne Hoyden, 41.

Xavier Andrew White, 26; Jasmine Marie Terrell, 22.

Bruce Joel Alder, 68; Susan Moore Reedy, 60.

Cheyenne Taylor Steele, 28; Sarah Nicole Sample, 27.

Damian Ellis Ross, 45; Courtney Tenille Adams, 37.

Jeffrey Alan Johnson, 33; Charity Renee Stephens, 37.

To the Editor:

Regarding the guest column by Dr. Paul Kengor in the Jan. 19 issue of the Tribune.

I wonder who are the “growing number of advocates” of critical race theory?

CRT is taught as a legal theory in university law schools and nowhere else. CRT is not taught at the K-12 level anywhere in the United States. All you have to do is look through your K-12 children’s textbooks. You will not find CRT.

A bid for a third straight trip to the Class 5A dual state championships hit a pothole last week as El Reno High School’s wrestling team dropped a narrow 39-35 outing to Elgin in the finals of the 2022 District 3 Championships.

The fifth-ranked Owls (8-0) grabbed one of the eight passes to state, while second-ranked El Reno slipped to 6-4 on the season. The Indians defeated Southeast (72-12) and Woodward (83-0) to reach the district finals.

El Reno High School’s girls basketball team made its second straight tournament finals but fell short of another title with a 47-32 loss to Class 6A’s eighth-ranked Mustang in the 2022 Shawnee Invitational. The Indians, ranked fourth in Class 5A, slipped to 11-3 on the season with the loss but completed their tournament schedule with no worse than a fifth-place finish.

El Reno reached the title game in Shawnee with a 76-33 win over Ardmore in the first round, followed by a 53-51 victory over Class 5A’s second-ranked Sapulpa.