Month: August 2010

GAROLD OBERLENDER

 

After graduation I went to Oklahoma State University and completed my BS and MS in Civil Engineering.  While at OSU my wife, Jana, and I were married.  Upon graduation we moved to Texas where I worked as a structural engineer.  While in Texas I also completed my Ph.D in Civil Engineering at the University of Texas-Arlington.  Although it was not planned we moved back to Oklahoma in 1974 when I accepted a faculty position at OSU.  I retired from OSU after 35 years on the faculty of Civil Engineering.

My wife, Jana, and I were married as we both completed our bachelors’ degrees at OSU and will celebrate our 46th wedding anniversary this fall.  We have 3 sons;  a school teacher in Grapevine, Texas, a civil engineer in Irving, Texas, and an urban planner for the City of New York.  Our first grand-daughter was born in 2009.  It has been different, but nice, to have a girl in the family after raising 3 boys.

I have had a very enjoyable career and family life.  My earlier years involved the practice of engineering in the electrical power and petro-chemical industries.  My academic career was balanced between teaching and research, especially working with students.  In recent years my time has been occupied in writing textbooks.  I have 3 books published by McGraw-Hill, each with multiple editions and translations into Chinese.

The past 4 years we have enjoyed our log home, which we had built near Covington, Oklahoma.  It is located next to a pond full of fish and surrounded with lots of wild life.  We spend time at the log home and in Stillwater.  Jana and I have also enjoyed traveling in our motor home.  Now that I am retired I hope to spend more time with my earlier hobby of cars, my 1970 corvette and 1930 Model A Ford.

Unfortunately I have not done a good job of keeping contact with classmates since our graduation.  I wish all of our EHS60 graduates the very best in life.

Garold Oberlender

JUDY LADD RYLANDER

 

In August of 1963, I graduated from Phillips and began my teaching career in Harper, Kansas.  Unfortunately it was with high school students and I learned very quickly that I did not like them.  The next year I moved to Wichita and beagan teaching middle school in Haysville.  I spent 6 years there and in 1970 Ron’s company moved us to Dallas.  Since then we have lived in the Dallas Metroplex in numerous places.
I married Ronald Rylander (class of ’59) in 1964.  We have one daughter, Jennifer, and 2 grandchildren.
In 2004 I decided it would be more fun to play with grandbabies than to teach, so I retired. At that point we moved from Grapevine to Aubrey, Tx.(beautiful horse ranch country).
For the last 20 years I have been working with a partner doing  “teacher training” …the state of Texas requires that all teachers have training in how to teach Gifted and Talented students..that is the training that we provide.  It keeps me busy and I enjoy the time spent with other teachers.

Judith (Judy Ladd) Rylander

DELORES FLAMING WIENS 

 

After graduating from Enid High, I worked a year, then, attended Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kansas where I met my husband, Paul Wiens.  We both transferred to Bethel College and were married after our Junior year.  We finished college with degrees in music in 1965.
After Paul earned a Master’s Degree in Music Education and I taught 6th grade in Tennessee, we settled in Atlanta, Georgia, where we both taught music in the Atlantic Public School System.
Our three children, Scott, Julie and Jacqui were born in Atlanta; I left public school teaching to become a mom at home who taught piano for 20 years.  We left Atlanta, trekked through Kansas to Iowa where Paul earned a Doctorate in Choral Conducting.
Moving on to Madison, Wisconsin, I continued to teach piano and be the Mom at home while Paul taught at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.  After 3 years, he accepted a position at the Wheaton College Conservatory.
After moving to Wheaton, IL, I once again taught piano.  However, when our kids were in high school and college, it became apparent that the time had come to respond to a call to ministry; I began seminary and graduated in 1990 with an M.Div. from Bethany Theological Seminary.  Although we were in the Mennonite Church at the time, I was called into the Episcopal Church where I completed Anglican Studies and was ordained a priest in 1994.
For 15 years, I served as Chaplain at Rush University Medical Center, first as Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplant Chaplain and later as Chaplain of the Surgical Intensive Care unit.  During that time, shortly after 9/11 I was named Chair of the Psychosocial Emergency Preparedness Team, a group healthcare professionals responsible for emergency psychosocial services in the event of a major crisis.  I held that position concurrently with chaplaincy until I retired from Rush in 2007.
Currently, I serve as priest and pastor for St. Barnabas in the Dunes Episcopal Church, at the base of Lake Michigan in Indiana (stbdunes.org).
My children are all married and we have six beautiful grandchildren; our daughter Julie is expecting a baby and this will bring the number to 7 . . . the number for perfection!  They all live out of state so the older ones fly, summers, sans parents, to Wheaton from Portland OR for Granny and Granddad Camp!  The younger ones come another time, from Clearwater, Fl and Logan Utah, with their parents for Jr. Granny and Granddad Camp.  Life is rich and fulfilling!  God is good!

 GARY YOUNG

 

Gary Young lives in Enid with his wife, Sherry.  They will celebrate their 48th wedding anniversary in December.

They have two sons, both graduates of EHS.  Kurt (’82) and his wife Cindy live in Stillwater and have two daughters and a son, Madilynn (12), Peyton (10) and Ashlyn (3).   Kurt manages rental property in Stillwater and is an avid OSU fan.  Rodney (’85) and his wife Susan live in Norman and have two sons Hunter (17) and Holden (13).  Rodney is Director of Golf at the Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club and is an avid OU fan.

Gary has been involved in the business of real estate since 1973, buying the RE/MAX franchise in 1995.  Together, he and Sherry have been named RE/MAX Oklahoma Broker/Owner of the year three times.  Gary was elected to the Enid City Council in the late ‘70’s and is still, today, an influence in issues involving the city.

He enjoys playing golf and going to movies and is looking forward to seeing everyone at the class reunion.

 My 50 Year Journey

 

By

 

Mary Cole Schultz

 

 

The day after receiving my M.S. in Nursing at the University of Colorado in 1965, I rolled my Volkswagen 5 times at 65 mph outside of Denver. My sister Ruth and her friend Sally traveling behind me saw it all! The car was totaled. Even though I wore no seat belt, only the palm of my right hand got injured from embedded glass.

Released from the emergency room with my right hand wrapped like a boxing glove, I could have headed immediately to Enid with Ruth and Sally. I did not. My father asked me to wait; he wanted to drive me home. The previous year Connie Gibson who had ridden in my new VW to Denver and typed all my term papers allowed me to stay with her.

Before my father and I returned to Enid, he wanted to see my wrecked car. I regret, though, I went to see it. When I saw my flattened vehicle, I realized then that I should not have lived but died! In my weakened moment fear entered me with great force. I believed in the next accident that I would die!

Three years later in Oklahoma City a lady ran into my car as I – a public health nurse – was on my way to see a patient. I began to experience abdominal pain. For 6 months the doctor said there was nothing wrong with me; I believed him.

My husband’s job transfer to Columbus, Ohio, saved me. Upon arriving there, I was seriously ill. The internist gave me the terrible news that I had ulcerative colitis and needed a colostomy. I was terrified! I was only 26 and had been married only 2 years. I wept! The doctor had mercy. He said, “Let’s try the right medicine since you never got it.”

GOD was merciful! The next test 4 months later showed I had recovered. The doctor warned me, though, this would only betemporary and to expect setbacks.

For the next 7 years I struggled with the diagnosis and fear of a permanent setback. It was a move to San Antonio that changed the course of the illness and my life. My new, young internist – Dr. Dennis Murphree – had been out of medical school only a few years. I deeply cared about him and his future because I was changing spiritually.

Four years earlier my beloved Christian father had died unexpectedly with a heart attack. I was temporarily very angry with GOD! My dad had only retired 6 weeks and never got to experience his dreams.

Seeing my great sorrow, my caring husband gave me a small book entitled The Twenty-Third Psalm for Today compiled and illustrated by Royal V. Carley. The book was simple; it consisted of Bible verses. Now I began to study the Bible verses seriously. For every day growing up the Bible had been read at mealtime and bedtime. I had not really listened as I should, but now I did. GOD began to be real to me in a personal way!

I had experienced GOD one time in a trying ordeal at C.U.! I had one semester left before graduation. When I got my grades from the previous semester, I learned that my “A” in Epidemiology and my “A” in Psychology were now both “C’s”. To graduate with a Master’s I could have only 6 hours. I had met my quota!

I confronted the professors. One was on the main campus at Boulder and the other was at the Medical Center in Denver. Their answer was identical. “Your handwriting is not acceptable for a graduate student”.

I didn’t know what to do! I was caught. There was one thing I wouldn’t do! I would not call home and tell my father. He would say “Mary, come home and go to Bible College and become the missionary that you promised GOD”.

I decided to do what I saw my dad do daily – pray in the hall closet off my sister Millie and my bedroom. The master bedroom that I rented did not have a walk-in-closet. That week day I went to the First Christian Church that I attended and knelt at the back pew and cried my heart out to GOD with my problem. “If I stay and one more professor gives me a “C”, I won’t graduate. If I quit now, it is all over for me in getting my Master’s”. GOD gave me the answer, “Stay”.

These encounters – my father’s death, 2 car accidents, and an almost missed Master’s Degree – now had me concerned for this young physician and not me. My yearly colon exam was due in a few weeks – the middle of August. I began to pray that somehow I could share JESUS with him. To do my part I decided to eat one raw carrot stick and 1 raw celery stick daily. Ihadn’t done this before because of fear of a setback. Now I charged ahead although at times I wanted to quit! When I did, I turned to GOD for courage and strength.

I never dreamed it but the impossible happened! GOD restored my colon back to normal! So much so that the doctor confronted me, “You never had ulcerative colitis! Your colon is perfectly normal.”

I responded, “Yes I did! You can write Dr. Richard E. O’Brien, 363 East Town Street, Columbus, Ohio. He will tell you thetruth!”

Even with this blessing, I still battled tiredness and fatigue. October 21, 1976 – 10 days before my 34^{th birthday – I asked GOD for strength to get out of bed to take care of our pets, our home, and myself. October 29th, 1976, HE granted my request.}

On Tuesday, November 30th, 1976, my husband was dressing for work. As I adjusted his collar to cover his tie, I said, “Honey, GOD has healed me over and above what I asked. I want to be a writer for GOD and tell the world of HIS LOVE”. Although no one has ever bought one of my writings, I keep at it.

In March 2003, GOD laid on my heart to write a musical play. I have to admit at times I doubted HIS calling and put it aside. Yet, now I am almost finished with the rough draft of the play. Then, I’ll have to decide where to put the songs that HE has laid on my heart. There is still a lot of hard work, but I want to do HIS will!

My prayer, most of all, is that GOD the loving Heavenly FATHER is real to you. HE loves you. HIS SON died for your sins. Ask for forgiveness, accept JESUS as your SAVIOR and LORD, and receive eternal life. Heaven, then, will be your future home.

Looking forward to seeing you – my classmates

The LORD willing

 

Mary Cole Schultz

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Postscript

Perhaps, U are concerned about our nation’s future as I am. There is hope because of GOD! He has said, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land”.

2 Chronicles 7:14 – Bible (from “New International Version”)

Our country needs GOD’S healing! In the pledge of allegiance we say we are “one nation under GOD”. May our actions reflect our devotion to the almighty GOD and not evil.

Achievements

 

B.S. University of Oklahoma. While there I was crowned Queen of the O.U. of School of Nursing.

M.S. University of Colorado. While there I served as Graduate Student Senator.

Assistant Professor in Public Health Nursing at the University of Oklahoma 1965-1967. While there I had an article published in Nursing Outlook.

 

Greatest Personal Achievement

 

The week of Thanksgiving 1974 my husband and I moved to Oaks

North Mobile Home Estates. From 1988-2002 I taught these children and youth about GOD’S love both at our home and church. The musical play is about this adventure that GOD allowed me to experience. It is the highlight of my life!

Thanks for taking the time to read of my experiences.

May GOD bless you in a special way today.

Mary

 

 Sophia (Butts) Befort

I started working at Central National Bank in June after graduation, worked until 1966 when our daughter Stephanie was born and Greg in 1969, stayed home until they both were in school.

I then went back part time and later started full time in the accounting department, where I worked until I retired in January, 2007 a total of 42 years. I am enjoying every day of retirement, doing the things I want and when I want to do them.

Bob and I were married June 1964, meeting on a blind date in 1960. He grew up in Lyons, Kansas and attended college in Kansas. He moved to Enid in January, 1964 beings we were getting married in June. He went to work at Vance and has worked under many different contractors. He hasn’t decided to retire yet. We celebrated our 46th anniversary in June.

Stephanie and Greg graduated from EHS. Stephanie went a semester to OSU, quit to marry Charles Garis from Garber, where they live. They have three children Luke 21, Sara 18 and Jacob 15. She graduated from NOC then continued her education full time and graduated from OSU with a teaching degree in secondary math and currently teaching in Ponca City.

Greg lives in Okmulgee, where his wife Deanne is from and they have a daughter Ariel, 17. He attended Okmulgee OSU Tech, graduating with a degree in Auto Technology. He worked for Stuart Pontiac until he moved to Okmulgee when he and Deanne married.

Our greatest joy is being with our kids and grandkids.

With my brother and two sisters being deceased Bob & I try to be here for my nieces and nephews.

I joined Beta Sigma Phi I 1960. It is a sorority for young women that weren’t in college. I have held several different offices and in May I received my 50 years of membership. I’m a charter member of Downtown Enid AMBUCS. I have held several offices and during the year 2008-2009 I served as District 5-B Governor. I just finished my second year on the Scholarship

Committee, which we meet the first week end of June in North Carolina to review applications from students wanting a scholarship to become a physical therapist, occupational therapist, hearing audiology, speech therapists or such other fields of therapy. The week end is busy, but when all is done, you have a rewarding feeling that you made it possible to help someone fulfill their dream of becoming a therapists.