February 2022

Harold Eldon Turpin went home to Jesus on Jan. 30, 2022, at noontime, just in time for a heavenly tamale! “Turp” was born in Dustin, Oklahoma to Ted Wallace Turpin and Audrey Gilcrease Turpin on May 4, 1933.

Carlos Eugene (Gene) Sears was born in Bristow on Feb. 15, 1931, and passed away Feb. 2, 2022, at the age of 90.

Gene moved to El Reno in 1939. He graduated from El Reno High School and married Betty Lou Cunningham on Dec. 17, 1949.

He started trapshooting in 1952 and won numerous national championships.

He was inducted into the National Trapshooting Hall of Fame in 1983 and later into the National Sporting Clays Hall of Fame.

He was an avid shooter and traveled around the U.S. making numerous friends.

Prior to the game with Kingfisher, El Reno High School girls basketball coach Jennifer Douglas told her players they needed to win the next four games to assure themselves a home regional.

The Indians are one step away from that goal, using a 23-11 run in the fourth quarter to pull away from No.7 Piedmont for a 49-35 victory – the team’s third in a row.

Teams in the upper classifications statewide are to report win-loss records on Monday to be used for bracketing for the upcoming playoffs.

Schools were separated into the East/West split in late January.

Using both its small and large lineups in the second half, El Reno High School’s boys basketball team held off two comeback attempts by No.11 Piedmont to complete the season sweep of the Wildcats.

The Indians scored six of the game’s final eight points to pull away for a 64-52 victory in which the Indians never trailed their cross-county rival.

El Reno, which jumped a spot to No.7 among the 16 teams on the West side of the state, improved to 9-8 on the season with the win. The Indians are now 4-2 in Suburban Conference standings.

Funeral services for Doris Jean Watts of El Reno were held Wednesday at First Pentecostal Church of God, under the direction of Wilson Funeral Home.

Doris passed away Jan. 27, 2022, at Mercy Hospital OKC with her family by her side.

She was born June 17, 1941, in Edmond. Doris married her true love, Gene Watts, on Dec. 23, 1955, a 65-year marriage before his recent passing.

She was also preceded in death by her parents, Lois and Mildred Powell; brother, Johnnie Powell; and sister, Carol Anne Williams.

From the small town of Union City where they first started their playing careers, all the way to state and national Hall of Fame inductions, brothers Lloyd and Wendell Simmons are considered baseball royalty in Oklahoma.

Now a third Union City legend, though infused later in life as a coach, has joined the brothers as elite players to have donned a University of Central Oklahoma jersey.

Dorothy Lucille Warren died Jan. 31, 2022, at her home in El Reno. She was born June 3, 1943, in El Reno where she lived most of her life. She was a 1961 graduate of Sacred Heart High School and earned a bachelor of business degree from Central State University. 

Dorothy was an administrative analyst for IBM. After retiring from IBM, she worked at Warren’s Studio, Correctional Corporation of America in Weatherford, and was part of the opening staff at Sugar Creek Casino in Hinton, currently working in security.

Breaking the recent chains on offense, Calumet High School’s girls basketball team snapped a three-game losing streak with a 72-23 victory over Crescent.

The Chieftains improved to 14-10 on the season with the win.

Calumet, which had not scored over 47 points in its three previous games, put up double-digit points in all four periods. Kyle Axton’s team led 16-13 after one frame but outscored Crescent 56-10 over the final three.

Lonnie Earl Johnson, 84, of Tuttle, left this earth on Jan. 31, 2022. He was born in Chickasha on April 11, 1937, to Earl and Marie (Hickney) Johnson. Lonnie met and married the love of his life, Linda Joyce Ratliff, sharing 56 years of marriage.

Lonnie is survived by his wife, Linda of Tuttle; son, Roger Johnson of El Reno; daughter, Keli Grubisa of Tuttle; five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

J.D. Riley knocked down a trio of 3-pointers en route to a team-high 30 points as Union City High School’s boys basketball team jumped back into the win column with a 76-42 decision over Cement.

The Tigers improved to 13-8 on the season with the win.

Riley scored 13 baskets in the win, 10 of those coming from inside the arc, but had just one bucket in the fourth period. He was 1-of-3 from the free-throw line.

The remaining 46 points were spread among 10 players, led by Kaden Cummings with nine points, Rustin Dawson with eight and Jaden Straka with seven points.