May 2021

Okarche High School May Students of the Month are Ryen Wittrock and Madison Nance.

May Lion and Lioness are Karsyn Vallerand and Trey Gilles.

Baccalaureate services for Okarche High School Class of 2021 were held May 16 in the OHS gym. Platform guests honoring the seniors were, from left, Superintendent Josh Sumrall, Principal Lisa Munson, Pastor James Inman of First Baptist Church of Okarche, Pastor Kurtis Ivey of Light Your World Church of Okarche, guest speakers Larry Black and Bob Barnett, and Dr. Juanita Krittenbrink, moderator. The Apron Annies HCE group hosted the event and reception.

Eleven players from Canadian County were named to either the All-Star by Class or the elusive All-State team in voting by the Oklahoma Baseball Coaches Association.

The OBCA has branched out from under the banner of the Oklahoma Coaches Association to host its own All-State weekend and moved to three games instead of the traditional two.

The games have been moved up a month and will be played June 6 in Enid.

Nick or Grandpa Nick died May 4, 2021, after a lengthy illness. He was born May 11, 1935, to Earnest Nicholas Chechovsky and Laura Lorean Pilgrim in Oklahoma City. In 1955 he married Ruby Waynette Black. Waynette preceded Nick in death in 2018.

In 1956 with a new baby, they returned from California and opened a grocery store in Del City, “Nicks Lucky Dollar.” In 1959 they sold the store and moved to Yukon. Nick was a meat salesman for Harris Packing for over 35 years.

Graveside services for Doris Lavern Thomas (Walker) will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday, June 1, 2021, at the El Reno Cemetery. Come-and-go viewing will be held at Wilson Funeral Home on Saturday, May 29 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Tuesday, June 1 from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Doris was born May 25, 1930, in Calumet to Vula and Henry Walker. She had one brother, Louis Walker, and two sisters, Beatrice Walling and Juanita Marie Walker.

Doris married Albert “Junior” Thomas on Feb. 10, 1951, in Kingfisher.

Funeral services for Charles Boyd Sanders will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, June 1 at New Hope Baptist Church.

Charlie was born June 16, 1929, in Grandfield, and graduated from Cordell High School in 1946. Charlie began his career as an auto mechanic in Clinton and later moved to Oklahoma City where he was employed with Scott’s Chevrolet.

He moved back to Cordell where he owned and operated the Tastee Freeze Drive-In until 1968.

Funeral services for Terry Lynn Koehler of El Reno were held Wednesday, May 26, 2021, at First Baptist Church, with burial in the Fairlawn Cemetery in Chickasha. Services were under the direction of Huber-Benson Funeral Home.

Terry passed away May 21, 2021, at OU Medical Center in Oklahoma City. She was born June 20, 1932, in Missouri.

James Ray Tech, 62, peacefully passed away surrounded by family on May 24, 2021.

James was born March 19, 1959, in Okarche to Fred and Virginia Tech. He grew up in Calumet and graduated from Calumet High School in 1977. James went to El Reno Junior College and Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford and then returned to Calumet to work at Texas Oil & Gas.

An El Reno teacher has been honored by a not-for-profit organization that recognizes new teachers that show great promise.

The Teaching and Leading Initiative of Oklahoma (TLI) named 20 of the top novice teachers in the state in the Third Annual 20 Under 2 Novice Teaching Awards. The honorees include El Reno Public Schools teacher Ashli Robinson.