Services for Nancy and Earl Adams of El Reno will be held in the Benson Memorial Chapel at 2 p.m. Friday, Jan. 9, with Rev. Mark Watson officiating. Burial will follow in the El Reno Cemetery under the direction of Huber-Benson Funeral Home. 

Nancy Jean Adams died Dec. 30, 2025, in Edmond, and her husband, Eldon Earl Adams died Jan. 3, 2026, in Edmond. 

They are survived by their son, William Durham of Midwest City.

Longtime El Reno resident Nadine Arvella Harsey died Jan. 2, 2026, in El Reno. 

A vigil service for Dean will be held at 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 16 in the Benson Memorial Chapel with Deacon Louis Nix officiating. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. Joseph Church in Union City on Saturday, Jan. 17 at 1:30 p.m. with Rev. Lance Warren officiating. Burial will follow in St. Joseph Cemetery under the direction of Huber-Benson Funeral Home.

Dean, as she was known to family and friends, was born in Calumet on Feb. 21, 1938, to Herb and Hazel (Haggy) Wartchow.

The City of El Reno has formally appealed to the state’s highest court District Judge Paul Hesse’s ruling that declared El Reno’s annexation of property into its city limits was mostly invalid.

A “petition in error” was filed Dec. 22, 2025, at the Oklahoma Supreme Court in Oklahoma City. A certificate of appeal signed by Office of the Appellate Courts Clerk Selden Jones was filed Dec. 29 in Canadian County District Court.

Editor’s Note: As we move from 2025 to 2026, we'll take a look back at some of the stories that made headlines locally. This is the final installment looking back at the past year. Happy New Year!

September

El Reno’s animal shelter would be made more friendly for its guests after improvements were mapped out. 

City officials gathered with members of the Friends of the El Reno Animal Shelter to celebrate the beginning of those improvements.