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Notable Alumni

Jack Hartman (October 7, 1925 – November 6, 1998) Graduated from Shidler in 1946. Coached Shidler High School Boys Basketball 1952-53.

 

Hartman played basketball and football collegiately at Oklahoma State University with his basketball tutelage under famed coach Henry Iba. After college, he played quarterback in the CFL before becoming a basketball coach. After leading the Coffeyville (Kansas) Junior College basketball team to the NJCAA National Championship with a 32–0 season in 1962, he took his high-octane offense to Southern Illinois University, replacing the successful Harry Gallatin, who had taken the head coaching job with the St. Louis Hawks. In 1967, passing up the NCAA Division II tournament after two successive second-place finishes, Hartman's Salukis won the NIT Championship, which was much more highly regarded then than it is today. He led Southern Illinois University into Division I before taking over at Kansas State when Cotton Fitzsimmons left to coach in the NBA.

Hartman spent 16 seasons as head coach at Kansas State University, where he won 294 games and finished in first or second place in the Big Eight Conference in 10 of those 16 seasons. After his retirement, he worked local television color commentary for Kansas State games, and his former player and assistant coach Lon Kruger took over as head coach at Kansas State.

Hartman is credited for introducing a unique two-tone uniform for Kansas State to wear during away games – lavender tops and purple shorts, which the Wildcats used from 1973–1982. During that stretch, KSU posted a record of 186–81 (.697), appeared in five NCAA Tournaments, and won the 1977 and 1980 Big Eight postseason tournaments. Lavender jerseys have since been associated with success at Kansas State, and the school has brought back lavender jerseys on certain occasions as a throwback uniform.

In 1996, when Kansas State fired its women's coach for NCAA violations, Hartman came out of retirement to coach the team for its last seven games, winning three.

Coach Hartman was inducted into the Southern Illinois University Hall of Fame in 1986, Kansas State University Hall of Fame in 1990, State of Kansas Sports Hall of Fame in 1990, and National Junior College Hall of Fame in 1991.

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Rance Howard (born Harold Engle Beckenholdt; November 17, 1928 – November 25, 2017 He changed his name to "Rance Howard" when he became an actor. Howard graduated from Shidler High School in 1946 and studied at the University of Oklahoma.

While in the Air Force, Howard directed plays in Special Services, a unit that provided entertainment for service members. His professional acting career began in 1948 when he went to New York City, auditioned, and landed a job in a children's touring company. The role that got him noticed nationally for television and film was playing the part of Lindstrom in the touring company of the play Mister Roberts with Henry Fonda in 1950, portraying the character for about a year-and-a-half in major cities across the U.S. Howard appeared in over 100 films, including the 1967 movie Cool Hand Luke, The Music Man (in an uncredited bit part playing "Oscar Jackson"), and many other films. Howard acted in many of his son Ron's films including Splash, Cocoon, Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, Cinderella Man and Frost/Nixon. He also appeared as Dottie and Kit's father in A League of Their Own.[7] In 2013, he played Woody Grant's brother in Nebraska.  He often took parts as a priest or minister, county sheriff, or western marshal, and made numerous appearances in films by Joe Dante.

His final film role, completed in September 2017, is also the largest in his career. He plays the role of Carl Robbins in the Michael Worth road-trip drama, Apple Seed, playing on film for the first time the father of his real-life son Clint.

Delores (VanCamp) Etter is a former United States Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Science and Technology from 1998 to 2001 and former Assistant Secretary of the Navy for research, science, and technology from 2005 to 2007. She graduated from Shidler High School in 1965.

Delores M. Etter attended the Oklahoma State University–Stillwater and the University of Texas at Arlington before going on to receive two degrees from Wright State University (B.S. in Mathematics, 1970; M.S. in Mathematics, 1972). She attended grad school at the University of New Mexico, receiving her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering in 1979.

Upon receiving her Ph.D., Etter joined the faculty of the University of New Mexico's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. As a professor, Etter's research interests focused on adaptive signal processing; speech recognition; digital filter design; engineering education and software engineering. She would ultimately author several well-known textbooks on software engineering and computer languages. While a faculty member at the University of New Mexico, she served as Associate Chair of her department 1987–1989, and as the university's associate vice president for academic affairs in 1989. She also spent two summers working at Sandia National Laboratories (where her work focused on seismic signal processing) and was the National Science Foundation Visiting Professor in the Electrical Engineering Department at Stanford University for the 1983–84 academic year. A member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Etter served as president of the IEEE Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing Society from 1988 to 1989, and was editor-in-chief of the IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing from 1993 to 1995.

In 1990, Etter left New Mexico to become professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulder. In 1991, while still a professor at the University of Colorado, Etter became a member of the Naval Research Advisory Committee, and would go on to chair that committee 1995–97.

Etter left the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1991 after President of the United States Bill Clinton nominated her as Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Science and Technology,[4] a post she held from June 1998 through July 2001. In this capacity, she was responsible for American Defense Science and Technology strategic planning, budget allocation, and program execution and evaluation for the United States Department of Defense Science and Technology Program. She was the principal U.S. representative to the NATO Research and Technology Organisation's Research and Technology Board and also oversaw the Defense Modeling and Simulation Office, the High Performance Computing Modernization Office, the Software Engineering Institute, and the Department of Defense's high-energy laser research program.

Upon leaving office, Etter joined the Electrical Engineering faculty of the United States Naval Academy. There, she became the first-ever Office of Naval Research Distinguished Chair in Science and Technology.

In 2000, Etter was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering for the authorship of textbooks on computer applications in engineering, contributions to digital signal processing, and service to the profession.

President George W. Bush nominated Etter as Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development and Acquisitions) on September 6, 2005, and she subsequently held this office from November 7, 2005, until November 15, 2007. In this capacity, she was senior acquisition executive for the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps and the Navy's representative for joint acquisitions with other branches of the United States Armed Forces (for example: the F-35 Lightning II and the MRAP). She was responsible for the Navy and Marine Corps' acquisition of ships, aircraft, vehicles, and information technology. The Dr. Delores M. Etter Top Scientists and Engineers award was named for her.[7]

In June 2008, Etter joined Southern Methodist University in a joint appointment between the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science departments. At Southern Methodist, she became the Texas Instruments Distinguished Chair in Engineering Education; director of the Caruth Institute for Engineering Education; and a Senior Fellow of the John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies. She retired in 2017.

 

Ray L. Smith is a highly decorated retired United States Marine Corps major general. He graduated from Shidler High School in 1964. Smith was a combat veteran — receiving the Navy Cross for his heroic actions during the Vietnam War, as well as two Silver Stars, the Bronze Star, and three Purple Hearts. Smith retired from the Marine Corps in 1999 after almost 34 years of service. In 2003, after nearly four years of retirement, Smith went to Iraq with the 1st Marine Division; and penned an eyewitness account of the march from Kuwait to Baghdad — The March Up: Taking Baghdad with the 1st Marine Division.

Smith deployed for his 1st tour to Republic of Vietnam with the 1st Marine Division from 7 October 1967 to 25 October 1968. During this time Lt. Smith served as a rifle platoon commander (4 months) and company commander (9 months) in Alpha Co, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, seeing combat action in Hue, Khe Sanh, the Rockpile, Con Thien, "Dodge City" and south of Da Nang. He was awarded the Silver Star for his actions during the Tet Offensive. He was awarded a second Silver Star for actions on hill 689 at KheSanh in early July. His next assignment was in the 5th Marine Division at Camp Pendleton, California where he served in 3/28 as a Platoon Commander, Company Commander and as interim Aide for General Ross Dwyer. In November 1969, Lt. Smith was assigned to a one-year Vietnamese Language School in Arlington, Virginia. In late 1970, he returned to Camp Pendleton for duty on an Interrogation Team for four months and was then assigned to 2/5 until he was sent to the John F. Kennedy School of Special Warfare at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. Captain Smith returned to Vietnam in November 1971 for duty with the Marine Advisory Unit. He was with the Vietnamese Marines during the Easter Offensive and Counter Offensive of 1972.

Captain Ray L. Smith was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions on April 1, 1972, when he was acting as an advisor to the Vietnamese Marine Corps.

After this tour Captain Smith was assigned as a student at the Amphibious Warfare School in Quantico, Virginia and then, from 1973 to 1976, as a company XO, SPC and tactics instructor at The Basic School. In July 1976, he was ordered to MEPCOM at Ft. Sheridan, Illinois, where he served two years as the secretary to the General Staff. He was promoted to major in August 1977.

Major Smith was selected to participate in the Bootstrap Program and reported to Oklahoma State in August 1978. He earned a bachelor's degree in Asian studies in January 1980 and was then transferred to the Armed Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Virginia.

In July 1980, Major Smith reported to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and was assigned as the executive officer (XO) of 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines until July 1981 when he was assigned as the operation officer (S-3) of the 8th Marine Regiment. In 1983, now lieutenant colonel Smith, after assignments as the executive officer of the 8th Marine Regiment and as the Assistant Chief of Staff (G-3) OPS of the 2nd Marine Division, took command of the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment. He commanded BLT 2/8 in Grenada during Operation Urgent Fury and Beirut.

Smith next attended the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, where he earned a master's degree in military science. While there, he also earned a master's degree in international relations from Salve Regina College. In July 1985, he reported to Headquarters Marine Corps for assignments in training and then in Operations. Returning to Camp Lejeune in May 1988, Lieutenant colonel Smith took command of the 8th Marine Regiment from colonel John J. Sheehan on 17 May 1988. He was promoted to Colonel in November 1988. Smith relinquished command of 8th Marines to Col Larry S. Schmidt on 19 June 1990. In July 1990, Colonel Smith was assigned to the Joint Staff at The Pentagon where he was Chief, Asia-Pacific Branch, J5. He was selected for promotion to brigadier general in December 1991.

As a general officer, Smith's his assignments were: Deputy Commanding General (CG), Marine Corps Bases, Japan; CG, 3rd Marine Division; Assistant Chief of Staff for Plans and Policy, CJ-5, Combined Forces Command, United States Forces Korea; Deputy CG, II MEF; CG, Marine Corps Base, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

Major General Smith retired on September 1, 1999. On his last day of active duty, he gave the Convocation address at Campbell University and received an honorary Doctorate of Laws.

Since retiring, MajGen. Smith opened a consulting business, E-tool Enterprises, and was a partner in Neuse Timber Land Company. Smith served as the president of the board developing the Marine Corps Museum of the Carolinas, on the Board of BOLD, and the Board of Caring Communities. He has served on the Jacksonville USO Executive Council, and the Board of Jacksonville-Onslow Chamber of Commerce 2000–2001 He was also inducted into the Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame and received the Downeast NCOA Mack McKinney Award. He was also a member of the North Carolina Advisory Commission on Military Affairs.

Smith is the co-author, with Bing West, of The March Up: Taking Baghdad with the 1st Marine Division. The book is an eyewitness account of the 1st Marine Division's march from Kuwait to Baghdad at the beginning of the Iraq War.

Smith is a founder and currently serves as Chairman of Sandboxx, a company dedicated to providing communication and life style management tools for military members and their families.

John D. Parker class of 1953 A member of Shidler’s 1953 graduation class, John was a participant in all of the opportunities afforded by the school for music-band, chorus, glee club - and sports – football, basketball and baseball. H earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Oklahoma A&M College (now Oklahoma State University).

John’s lifelong vocation was as a businessman. He began his career with a major department store in Houston, Texas and after a few years moved to Lufkin , Texas as a partner in a local clothing store he helped establish. He also established with his sons a home-building business in Lufkin and was a director of the National Association of Builders.

He served as a deacon in his church for 23 years, regularly attending services and serving also as an active member of his church choir. His love and passion for wildlife, woods and waters led to an appointment by the governor as a commissioner of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. He also served as a national trustee and state chairman of Ducks Unlimited.

He pushed for increased funding of state parks, championed youth outreach programs and encouraged expansion of hunting opportunities and incentives for young Texas so they could experience nature and the outdoors. His love for fishing led him to support a successful campaign that brought a freshwater fish hatchery to East Texas, named the “John Parker Fish Hatchery” in recognition of his services.

James D. Dodson Relocating to Shidler during his high school years, he was a three sport athlete, winning particular recognition as an all-conference running back during his senior year. Upon graduation, in 1954,  he attended the University of Oklahoma on a Phillips Petroleum scholarship, majoring in accounting and earning his BBA in 1958. His sophomore year saw him married to his sweetheart, a union that lasted for 56 years, until Jeannie’s death in 2012.

At the age of 47, Jim retired from the corporate world as president of a major corporation and following a career of successes as chief executive officer of several large public and private companies. He and Jeannie relocated to California and shortly thereafter joined with two partners, establishing a jointly owned private equity fund that acquired ownership or control of a multiplicity of business enterprises. Blessed with an uncanny ability to assess the long-term prospects of a business and to absorb and analyze its financial condition, strengths and weaknesses, Jim provided the investment and management guidance that enabled the fund to grow to a very impressive size.

Jim’s wealth was deployed in a wide number of philanthropic endeavors, particularly in support of educational institutions and student scholarships. Among the primary beneficiaries of this philanthropy is the University of 0klahoma’s business school. That institution has benefited not only from major contributions to its physical plant, but also from the endowment of chairs on its faculty and many scholarships. Upon his death in 2014, the bulk of his estate was transferred to a private foundation bearing his name. The corpus of the foundation provides a continuing source of funds for philanthropy, and under the direction of the Dodson children continues to make major bequests annually, including continued scholarship support to 0U’s business school and its students.

David McCollum was born in Shidler in 1946 at the Shidler General Hospital which was located on the northeast corner of Cosden and Broadway (the old Shidler Bank building). He attended first grade in Mrs. Harned's class in the small building now occupied by the superintendent's office. Then his family moved to Phillips Camp 40 west of Webb City where he attended second grade in Mrs. Adams‘ class. In the third grade, all the third-graders from Shidler were bused to Webb City while the new Ward Elementary school was under construction. As a result, David was reconnected with all his former first grade friends from Shidler. In the fourth grade the Ward Elementary building was completed and all elementary students returned to Shidler and the Webb City school was closed.

In the fifth and sixth grades, David began to develop his love for sports, playing for Mr. Bias‘ grade school football, basketball and baseball teams. In the fifth grade, he won the Shidler school's spelling bee and competed in the Scripps—Howard regional spelling bee in Tulsa. That year he also began his young journalism career when he started writing a weekly column in the Shidler Review, under the guidance of pioneering publisher, Mitzi White, who, at the time was one of the few woman newspaper publishers in the country. David also learned to read music and, along with many of his Shidler friends, took piano lessons from Mrs. Julia Hunt.

In junior high school, David continued his participation in sports and also was hired to be a sports stringer for the Tulsa World, Daily Oklahoman and Ponca City News for which he was paid one dollar per report. It was during this time that he also was initiated into the Order of Del\/Iolay where he advanced through all the chairs and eventually was selected to serve as Master Councilor. Wanting to be in the Shidler High School band, David then traded his piano lessons and music—reading skills to learn to play the trumpet, through Mr. Steve Williams’ semi- private lessons over the summer with friends Charles Wheeler, Charles Cox and jerry Kindle.

David was active through his high school years, playing basketball, baseball and football, serving as basketball captain his sophomore and junior years. He played trumpet and french horn in the marching, concert and dance bands. He led the sales for the school's annual magazine campaign. With support from journalism teacher, Peggy Whitt, David started a school newspaper, Tiger's Tale, where, as a junior, he was editor.

During David's senior year, he was editor of the Gusher yearbook. In DeMolays, he was honored with the rare Chevalier Degree for service to the organization and to others. He, along with Buddy Cumutt, was named "Salutatorian", both of whom had only one "B" during their high school years. (Delores VanCamp was "Valedictorian" with a perfect record of all "A"s.) David was awarded a prestigious Phillips Scholarship by the Phillips Petroleum Company, along with OSU Regents and Oklahoma Press Association scholarships. Also for his academic excellence, he was also offered a generous grant from the Scottish Rite organization.

David attended Oklahoma State University where he received Bachelor of Science degrees in Iournalism and Psychology. While at OSU David joined the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity. He worked throughout his college career, writing for the campus newspaper, the Daily O'Collegian, selling advertising for the local newspaper, Stillwater News-Press, and serving as advertising manager for the OSU Alumni Magazine. During the summers of 1968 and 1969 David interned at the Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise dafly newspaper. In 1968 he started a monthly newspaper, The Greek Torch, which was distributed among the OSU campus fraternities and sororities. Upon graduation, David gifted the newspaper to the Interfraternity Council, so that they might use it as a fund~raiser and communications medium on campus.

In 1981 David joined the Journal Record Publishing Company as Vice President,

Director of Marketing. There he directed the creation of the nation's first local daily business newspaper. He also led the sales effort to double sales for the company's Air Force newspaper at Tinker AFB. After these well-publicized successes, he then was recruited to an executive position with a $30 million advertising agency with offices in Dallas, Oklahoma City and Tulsa. There, he personally handled strategic marketing activities for diverse accounts including Sonic Drive—In, Kerr McGee Corporation and several other national and international clients.

The agency business required significant travel assignments. With a growing family (three young children), David chose to leave the advertising agency business and return to the newspaper business which allowed him to remain closer to home. In 1987, he accepted a job as Chief Operating Officer for the family-owned dafly newspaper in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, the Bethlehem Globe-Times. The newspaper was failing as a business and needed a quick turnaround. At that time, David also was selected to participate in the American Management Association's "Presidents" Council", an intensive two-year "weekend" program designed to develop management skills for aspiring corporate presidents and CEOS. Using the management skills from this program along with the strategic skills he developed while at the advertising agency, David was able to lead the newspaper back to profitability after which the family chose to sell the newspaper to an international corporate publishing group. When the newspaper was merged with another, he was named General Manager and was placed in charge of marketing the new newspaper, the Express-Times, with distribution in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

While in Pennsylvania, David served on the board of the Pennsylvania Press

Association. He also was recruited to join Leadership Lehigh Valley, an organization he later chaired from 1993 to 1995. He participated on the boards of Musikfest (a regional celebration of music venues in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania) and Celticfest (also a regional event featuring Celtic music and Highlands competition). At the urging of former boxer and community activist, Larry Holmes, David volunteered to facilitate the two-year strategic planning effort to redevelop downtown Easton, Pennsylvania. This multi-community action resulted in Binney 8.: Smith (the Crayola company) investing in a major Disney-type attraction in downtown Easton.

The Express-Times newspaper was sold to a larger newspaper corporation, Media-News in 1993. Among the Media—News newspapers was the dafly newspaper in Las Cruces, New Mexico, the Las Cruces Sun-News. It was in need of a make-over and a new strategic direction. 50, in 1996, David was transferred to publish and lead the turnaround of the New Mexico

property. After a year of success, McCollum was promoted to President of the New Mexico division where he not only continued to lead the strategic turnaround of the Las Cruces Sun- News, but also coordinated the acquisition of several other New Mexico newspapers, including those in Farmington, Deming, Silver City, Carlsbad, Alamogordo and Ruidoso.

In 2001, David was recruited to join Community Newspapers Holdings Inc. (CNHI), which, at the time, owned more newspapers than any other publishing company in the country. His role there was to head up their southeast Texas division with newspapers in Port Arthur, Orange, Huntsville, Mexia, Palestine and Corsicana.

Deciding to leave the corporate newspaper world in 2003, David and his wife, Jaki, working together, formed FIG Publications, LLC, and began to purchase newspapers in New Mexico. Their first acquisition was the Las Cruces Bulletin. Later they bought the Rio Rancho Observer and then secured the contract to produce the newspaper for the Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque. (Note: "FIG" stands for "Faith in God".)

The Bulletin was expanded from about 2,000 circulation on newsstands to 20,000 newspapers delivered to homes throughout Las Cruces. David also developed and introduced several new magazines, one of which, the New Mexico State Legislative Guide, was judged in 2007 by the National Newspaper Association (NNA) to be the "Best New Idea" in the newspaper industry. During the time that David owned and operated the Bulletin, it won a plethora of state and national awards for writing, advertising, design, photography and special editions. David, himself, won several individual awards for column—writing and photography.

In 2012, FIG Publications published a 300—page photo history book for the Centennial of the state of New Mexico. The large format, hard cover "coffee table" book titled "Las Cruces: a Photographic Journal", chronicled the history of Las Cruces over 100 years of New Mexico statehood. The project received praise from governors Bill Richardson and Susana Martinez, and received the "Heritage Preservation" award from the state of New Mexico in 2012.

David was deeply involved in the Las Cruces community and received several recognitions, some of which were Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce "Citizen of the Year", NMSU Athletics "Superstar" for being the top fundraiser, "C.B. Smith" award for support of

Downtown Las Cruces, "Community Spirit Award" from the NMSU Foundation, "Business of the Year" from both the Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce and the Hispano Chamber of Commerce, "Community Service Award" from the Dona Ana Arts Council, and was named a "Paul Harris Fellow" by the Rotary International organization. He also was elected Chairman of the Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce, and served terms as president of Las Cruces Sales and Leads and the Las Cruces Forum, the latter of which he served two terms.

Statewide in New Mexico, David was recognized by the New Mexico Business Weekly in Albuquerque, first as a state "Power Broker" (along with former governors Bill Richardson and Garrey Carruthers), and then as a "Top Performing CEO" after his publishing company posted several consecutive years growth of more than 20% each year. David participated in the Leadership New Mexico organization and is now a lifetime member. He served on volunteer boards in New Mexico, including March of Dimes, United Way, Hospice and the Las Cruces Public School Foundation. He supported his profession as President of the New Mexico Press Association and later as the President of the NM Press Association Foundation. In 2006, his newspaper, the Las Cruces Bulletin, was named "Newspaper of the Year" by the New Mexico Farm and Livestock Bureau. In 2007 David received the prestigious "Viva Award" from the NM Association of Commerce and Industry for his leadership role in developing business and new jobs in the state of New Mexico.

David's leadership style and dedication to helping aspiring journalists and marketers proved to be a boon to students and graduates of New Mexico State University. David has been a regular guest lecturer at NMSU in the School of Mass Communications and the College of Business. He provided valuable internships for undergraduates and always paid them for their work, even though many would have worked for free, just to gain experience. The Bulletin also served more than 35 new college graduates over 10 years by providing them with their first fulltime job after graduation. Many of those "first—timers" have now moved on to highly successful careers in journalism, marketing, public relations and management, and attribute their work experience at the Bulletin as a primary reason for their success.

In late 2012, David and Jaki sold the assets of their publishing business to the Osteen Publishing Company based in South Carolina. David planned to retire at that time, however, the president of New Mexico State University asked him to join the university's athletics department as Deputy Director of Intercollegiate Athletics. He accepted the challenge and for four years was responsible for managing marketing, strategic and financial planning, scheduling, ticket sales, game management and fundraising for the athletics department. During his tenure at the university, the operating deficit was eliminated, old debt was retired, and multiple conference championships were won. Additionally, David reached out to former NMSU players and initiated a new "A" Club, an alumni association for former student-athletes.

After retiring from NMSU, David accepted the offer to serve as Nafional Leadership Advisor for his college fraternity, Phi Kappa Tau, a job where he traveled across the country to hold regional leadership conferences to encourage young university men to develop their

personal leadership skills.

Today, David and Jaki are focused on philanthropy for charitable/non-profit organizations like Cowboys for Cancer Research, March of Dimes and NMSU among others. They spend time with their three children and six grandchildren and enjoy hosting family and friends at their home in New Mexico and their summer getaway in the mountains of North Carolina near Asheville.

David is always quick to point out that his professional and personal success has come from his early life experiences and education in the Shidler schools. He always interjects that he learned about life and what it takes to be successful from teachers, mentors, disciplinarians and spiritual leaders like W.G. Ward, Helen Head, Gladys Snyder, Peggy Whitt, Nelle Stebler, Steve Williams, coach Paul Smith, coach Jess Page, coach Butch Bouher, Herb Bias, Joy Worthington, Anita Himbury, Harold Pool, Bea Harned, Mildred Oglesby, Letha Wade, Maude Ward and many others who were always encouraging and contributed to his excellent education in Shidler schools.

At every step of his career, David has reiterated that the soul of everything he has accomplished has emanated from his experience in town of Shidler, its schools, its churches, its businesses its local newspaper and its people -- all of which are dependent on each other for a community to be successful. He also has pointed out that this concept is true regardless of where one chooses to live.

Harvey Payne  An Osage County rancher, land manager, lawyer, and judge, he played a pivotal role in the Preserve’s creation in 1990, served as its Director until 2008, and now is its Community Relations Coordinator. His photos have appeared in hundreds of newspapers including the New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and USA Today and magazines including Alaska Magazine, Oklahoma Today, The New Yorker, Southern Living, Travel and Leisure, Sierra Magazine, Outside, Natural History, and Nature Conservancy. His work also appears on many calendars including Audubon Wild Bird Calendar, Nature Conservancy Calendar, and Alaska Calendar. Harvey has had photos featured in many books including America on My Mind, Nature Travel, The Walker’s Companion, Oklahoma and Lat Stand of the Tall Grass Prairie. As well as being featured in books titled Big Blue Stem: Journey into the Tall Grass, Tall Grass Growing and Washington County Centennial History. Over 100 of Harvey’s photos can be found in a permanent prairie exhibit at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. Harvey graduated from Shidler High School in 1965.

Dan Peters  Partly to escape the draft, and partly to be with his sweetheart Juanene Givens (of Foraker), after graduating from Shidler, in 1949, Dan enrolled at Oklahoma A & M. In addition to earning a couple of degrees, Dan worked as a designer for the college. That combined training allowed him several options for his career. Dan moved to California into the booming aerospace industry and by God's grace moved up the ladder pretty quickly. Dan was raised by very godly parents and went to the Church of Christ in Shidler every Sunday, and somehow missed meeting Jesus Christ, the One who started the whole thing. (This next part of his career may sound weird but it is true). One day a woman showed up at Dan's door saying that she had seen my house in a vision and a voice told her to come and tell me about Jesus. Long story short, that afternoon he invited Him into his heart and his life has never been the same. Jesus “hit Dan's career out of the park”; by His leading, Dan's art group developed a mini-Disney world complete with a museum, first class electronic showroom and multimedia battleground. Dan left there to become AD for one of the largest Christian publications in America, and then, at the height of his career, God called him out of the art field and asked him to start a Christian school. With an ‘army of helpers, Dan and Dan's wife, Juanene started Hillcrest Christian School in Thousand

Oaks, CA for 20 years, Dan was administrator/principle of the school. Mr. Ward was, and always has been, Dan's model for a principal (and thankfully, he had the opportunity to tell him so).

About 20 years ago, God released him from that assignment to develop The Picture Smart Bible teaching kids and adults how to draw each book of the Bible on one page.  Dan taught The Picture Smart Bible in 7 different nations and the materials are now in almost every country. Only God!

Joe Rash and Barbara Dozier Rash  Class of 1949 and Class of 1951.    One would be hard pressed to find two people who exemplified a higher commitment of citizenship or contribution to their alma mater and community than Joe and Barb. They were married 52 years and served alongside each other, using their individual strengths and talents, to benefit, enhance and support their alma mater and community.  Any attempt to summarize a lifetime of service, dedication and love is feeble, at best. It is extremely difficult to put into words, or even begin to abridge, the human element that was present in the gift of time, resources, commitment and care Joe and Barb contributed to their community, their alma mater and their friends and family.

In 2004 Joe received one of only three Shidler Area Chamber of Commerce Lifetime Achievement Awards, as he was known for his tireless civic work in the Shidler area. The words of his peers, colleagues and friends, who worked alongside him each day, speak volumes. “Without a doubt, the most popular and best liked citizen of the Shidler area within the last 50 years was Joe Rash. His always pleasant demeanor, and boyish All-American grin set Joe apart from most of us. His devotion to the town and surrounding area is well known to all long—time residents. Business wise, his charges for appliance services were often dictated by the heart and not standard mark-up practices. Many of his elderly, or ‘down on their luck’ customers suddenly found that his charges were surprisingly affordable. Joe never mentioned this. He didn’t have to. His customers did. Joe always had time to help and support. Whether it be our public school system, city government representative, golf club, chamber of commerce, or whatever, Joe was there.” Additionally, Joe was known as the Voice of the Tigers for more than 30 years, thus the press box was dedicated in his honor.  And Barb was always right by his side. Barb, often lauded as the First Lady of Shidler in her own right, showed her dedication and love for her community time and time again, in much the same as Joe. But her favorite avenue was through music. Barb played tenor sax and piano throughout school and during her time at OU. She also attended the prestigious Interlochen Center of the Arts. But it was upon her return to Shidler, that two of her loves, community and music, came together. Barb was the musician behind, “Pomp and Circumstance” for countless SHS graduating seniors spanning five decades, including their three children, Gene, Jeri and Jodi as well as their grandchildren, Carmen, Aaron, Leslie and Lindsay. Barb also knew the “Alma Mater” by heart and enjoyed playing for fellow alumni every year at homecoming. She could often be found behind the scenes, as well. Her love of music and desire to inspire and encourage young music students was evident in the countless hours she spent practicing with them as their accompanist for music contests. For 50 years she traveled with young musicians to countless local, regional and state level contests. She accompanied her oldest granddaughter, as she played the flute, countless times for a variety of community events and contests. Barb attributed the performances and contests of these young musicians as the second largest highlight of her life behind only her family.

In 1965 Barb was named an Outstanding Young Woman of America. A young, outstanding woman and her high school sweetheart, who chose to make their home in Shidler, and, alongside one another, poured their hearts into their community.  Joe and Barb owned and operated Shidler TV and Appliance from 1956-2004. From making donations to innumerable fundraisers, to designing and building floats for community organizations, to attending every school and community event, Joe and Barb always supported the school and community in every way possible. Joe and Barb both served as Executive Officers of District 11 Alumni Association, Barb for 20 years and Joe having served as past president. Both were lifetime members of the Shidler Booster Club and Lakeview Golf Association; Joe having been past president. Joe also served on the Shidler Volunteer Fire Department, served as Civil Defense Director and as a long-standing member of the Shidler City Council.

Both were instrumental in leading the restoration of the Shidler Area Chamber of Commerce in 1982. Barb was named the Shidler Area Chamber of Commerce Member of the Year in 1988 and became Shidler Area Chamber of Commerce President 1989, having filled this role after working alongside Joe during his presidency from 1985-1987. In 1989 Joe received the Chamber of Commerce Leadership Award. Joe’s leadership and outgoing demeanor were ever present. He was a Member of the 45“‘ Division of the National Guard during his high school and junior college days. In high school, he played trombone and traveled with esteemed music director, Ashley Alexander, around the United States performing with the quartet 3 Drips and a Drop, of which he had fond memories. Joe was a member of the IOOF and Junior IOOF Lodges and a member of the Jaycees.

It wasn’t just their professional lives that made such an impact on people. Personally, their door was always open, and a pot of coffee was always on standby. Joe would give you the shirt off his back and made everyone who walked through his door feel like family. Barb showed her love by being the unsurpassed Hostess with the Mostess and got great joy from hosting events with family and friends. As most anyone in the area from the 50s to the 2000s knows, The Rash’s was THE hub in town for visiting alumni and friends, both young and old, and for newcomers just joining the community.

In 2013 The Shidler School Foundation, with leadership from Jim Laborde, placed a marble bench on the lawn of Shidler High School in honor or Joe and Barb. This was followed by the 2013 Shidler High School Yearbook dedication. Excerpts from the dedication are most telling.

“Joe and Barbara Dozier Rash spent all but four years of their lives in Shidler and were happily married for 52 years. Both grew up in Shidler, graduated from Shidler High School and were local business owners. Their love for their alma mater and community is part of their legacy.”

“Because of their love for each other, family, community and their alma mater it is only fitting that this year’s Shidler High School yearbook be dedicated to Joe and Barbara Rash. May their legacy live on in the students and future graduates of Shidler High.”

James L. LaBorde class of 1953. Jim graduated with the class of 1953. From elementary school through college, he enjoyed playing trumpet in the marching band and was called upon to play “taps” for many military funerals. He was pleased to have been on the basketball team coached by Jack Hartman, a celebrated athlete and NCAA coach and also a Shidler-Webb City graduate, who Shidler Team was one of the most successful in school history. Jim earned his undergraduate degree in accounting from Northeastern state College in Tahlequah and a masters degree in accounting from Oklahoma State University.
Upon graduation in 1959, he joined the Tulsa office of Arthur Andersen & Co., a pre-eminent national and international accounting firm and spent his whole career with that firm. He became a partner in the firm in 1970 and was managing partner of its office in Tulsa, a position he held for seven years. He then moved to the firm’s world headquarters in Chicago to undertake a strategic planning role and was soon put in charge of worldwide finance and administration, travelling between Chicago and the firm’s offices in Europe. He served as the firms chief financial officer until 1987, when he requested a return to the role he enjoyed the most, office managing partner. He managed the Albuquerque office until retirement.
In any setting where Jim identified a need. He was ready to help however he could. In business, he was recognized as a problem-solver, builder and mentor. Long after his retirement, former colleagues contacted him to get his “straight talk” and thoughtful advice. He was instrumental in establishing scholarships and endowments at Northeastern State University, Oklahoma State University and the University of New Mexico. He also took leadership roles in civic endeavors, working with Junior Achievement in Oklahoma and United way in New Mexico.

Stan Betzer a member of the 1955graduation class, stan was captain of the football team during his senior year and a multiyear member of the band and chorus. He also enjoyed participating in plays and dramatic competitions and in the editing of the school annual. After graduating from the University of Oklahoma was a B.A. in Letters, while serving a two-year commitment with the U.S. Army he joined the Central Intelligence Agency. After “basic training” he was assigned to a program to identify and support young leaders of non-governmental organizations in developing countries. Under non-official cover, he was elected an executive officer of an internation organization that sought to educate its audience in democratic values and provide training and support for youth and student leaders. His career with the agency suffered an early termination after seven years when his non-official cover status was blown, and he returned to school, earning a juris doctor degree from the University of Texas law school. Thereafter, he practiced law with major law firms in Los Angeles, Tulsa and Albuquerque.
Stan’s legal focus was the various aspects of business law-the formation and organization of business entities such as corporations and partnerships, contracts, securities, secured transactions, joint ventures, the purchase and sale of businesses and issues involving the obligations of he relationships that arise among business partners. He played a role in a major amendment of corporation law in Oklahoma and the original creation of rules governing limited liability companies in New Mexico. His forte was finding ways to solve unique issues and problems.
During his years in Tulsa, he served on the board of trustees of a private school and as chair of a non-governmental program to provide legal services for the poor. In New Mexico, he helped form and served on the board of a foundation that provided private financial support for community services in his village of residence.

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