April 2025

Services for Judy A. Preston were held Monday, April 21 at Wesley United Methodist Church with Rev. Scott Keneda and Rev. Allen Carson officiating. Burial followed in the El Reno Cemetery, under the direction of Huber-Benson Funeral Home.

Judy went to be with her Lord and Savior on April 15, 2025, at her home in El Reno.

She was born Dec. 6, 1942, in Little Rock, Ark., to James “J.E.” and Charlotte (Martin) Wells. Her family relocated to El Reno when Judy was in junior high school.

Editor’s note: Brian Rukes is an El Reno High School AP English teacher and serves as District Historian.

Several weeks ago he asked his students to reflect on what they have learned about the Oklahoma City bombing. None of the teens were alive when the terrorist attack took place April 19, 1995, killing 168 people and injuring many more. 

The El Reno Tribune’s 2025 State of the School section contains the following content:

Working toward the best of the class

Pride of El Reno marching band taking group, individual honors

The El Reno Fire Department was one of the responding emergency units to the Oklahoma City bombing shortly after the blast on April 19, 1995.

Ron Martin was El Reno Fire Chief at the time. Kent Lagaly, who followed Martin as chief, said the department had 18 members at the time.

Lagaly said the El Reno firefighters would leave for Oklahoma City around 10 in the morning and return home the next day around 8 a.m.

This went on for an extended period.

I remember this day like it was yesterday.

Today, Jack Stewart represents parts of eastern Canadian County as a member of the Oklahoma State Senate.

Thirty years ago, Stewart was an engineer at the Oklahoma Department of Transportation and had many occasions to be at the Murrah Federal Building – including early mornings.

The 30th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing is April 19.

“April 19, 1995, brings back vivid memories and tremendous sadness at the senseless loss of life of the 168 souls that perished in an instant that day,” Stewart said.

El Reno High School Class of 2023 graduate Hayden Hefner, who is currently attending Oklahoma State University College of Engineering in Stillwater, has been inducted into Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society. 

Hefner is working on a double major in Mechanical and Petroleum Engineering. He has collectively completed 74 credit hours which classifies him as a junior, but he is currently in the second semester of his sophomore year at Oklahoma State University College of Engineering.

He has maintained a 4.0 grade point average in his studies. 

Graveside services for Johnna Faye Gentry of Chickasha were held Thursday, April 17 at the Evergreen Cemetery in Minco, under the direction of Huber-Reynolds Funeral Home.

Johnna died April 14, 2025, in Oklahoma City. She was born Oct. 3, 1941, in Coalgate.

She moved to Minco in 1966, later settling in Chickasha. She was employed with Walmart in Chickasha for some time and later the Oklahoma Box Company in Minco. 

Lamplighters OHCE of Canadian County met recently at Mount Zion Global Methodist Church with Carol Stine calling the meeting to order.

Donna Wehmuller read a devotional titled “Prosperity.”

Wehmuller was birthday honoree.

Maxine Little read minutes from the last meeting, while Patricia Morrison gave the treasury report.

A thank-you card was read from the Canadian County Sheriff’s Department thanking the group for the cookies delivered to them. 

Stine gave a report on the executive meeting she attended. 

The lack of key hits on offense and too many errors on defense may have cost El Reno High School’s baseball team a shot at hosting a regional for the upcoming Class 5A playoffs.

Needing to sweep its final two doubleheaders in District 5A-1 play, El Reno dropped a set to Noble last week by scores of 8-1 and 10-0 to slip into third place in the league standings.

El Reno, now 12-7-2 on the year, is tied with Guthrie at 8-4 but currently holds a 54-51 edge in tiebreaker points over the Bluejays. The teams open a two-game set Monday at the Hub Reed Complex.