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By Twyla Smith-Holloway Photos by Jessie Newell

At the age of 16, Joel “Jick” Holloway was told by his father it was time for Jick to leave home. Jick had graduated from Davis High School in May 1958, and could “make it on his own”. On his 17th birthday, Jick joined the Army and left for basic training from Oklahoma City. That is when Jick determined he would work hard, learn much and own his own home so that no one could ever dictate to him, “It is time for you to leave.”

Training in the Army included Combat Medic and Medical Specialist, which bought him a ticket to Korea along the DMZ in 1958 and then to Tripler Army Hospital in 1959. Receiving an Honorable Discharge in 1961, Jick returned to Oklahoma to attend Pharmacy School and then Medical School at the University of Oklahoma. Following a Residency in Dermatology at the University of Arkansas in Little Rock, Jick returned to Norman in 1974 where he treated patients with cancers and diseases of the skin for more than 50 years.

Meanwhile, Twyla Smith left her hometown of Bartlesville, Oklahoma in 1973 and moved to Norman to attend Pharmacy School, Medical School, and Residency in Psychiatry at the University of Oklahoma. Twyla has seen patients as a general adult Psychiatrist in Oklahoma City and Norman for over 30 years. Jick and Twyla met in June 1976, dated for 18 years, fell in love, and decided to marry and build their forever home in Norman where they live today.

After 2 years of meeting weekly with their architect they decided it was time to build. They bought 4 acres in Cinnamon Run, married on the land that would become their homesite and began construction. The house was built on an area of natural clearing but much of the land was densely covered with underbrush, greenbriar, and a variety of cross-timber trees. Construction of the house took almost 2 years, with the usual

Carefully clearing and caring of the land continues today, as does the cultivating of the vegetable and flower garden. Without a doubt, marrying on their land and moving into their forever home together were two of the happiest days in Jick and Twyla’s lives. Jick designed and oversaw construction of a guest house, “The Nest”, in 2017. This space has added an additional dimension to the peaceful sanctuary of “The Holloway Home.”

The natural sanctuary of their home has inspired Jick to write and publish several books pertaining to nature, including Dictionary of Birds of the United States: Scientific and Common Names which includes many never published pen and ink drawings by George Miksch Sutton, Fauna and Flora of Oklahoma, A Dictionary of Common Wildflowers of Texas and the Southern Great Plains, and A Book of Unrelated Facts, Things I Happen to Know.

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Their lives abruptly changed on October 12, 2020. Jick had seen patients at the office, changed clothes to go to the gym, made a left-hand turn on a green arrow, and was T-Boned at highway speed by a distracted driver in a near-fatal accident. Life-saving interventions were taken immediately upon his arrival at the OU Level I Trauma Center. At the age of 79, Jick had sustained multiple fractures to his pelvis and left leg, requiring numerous surgeries. Miraculously, Jick lived but is still confined to a wheelchair, despite ongoing intensive Physical Therapy.

Twyla recalls her prayers for Jick to just live long enough for her to get him home to the healing sanctuary of their home. “If he can get home, I know he and I can make it through this together.” Modern medicine, love, the prayers of people around the world, and a miracle helped make that happen. Though the recovery has been slow and painful, the day Jick was released to return home was again, one of the happiest days in Jick and Twyla’s lives. The caregiving they had given throughout their lives went to the next level. Now they would begin a new phase of caregiving for each other and are still learning. Part of the strength Jick and Twyla have drawn upon is their training in Judo.

Jick began training in Judo while in the Army. He became the head instructor at the Sooner Judo Club upon his return to Norman, eventually becoming World Grand Champion in Judo Kata, along with his kata partner, Ralph Sexton. He was then promoted to 8th-degree black belt. Twyla studied Judo with Jick as her Sensei, becoming the first female to be promoted to 1st-degree black belt in the Sooner Judo Club. The physical and inner strength they share through their training in Judo has given them the extra determination to keep going together through some very difficult days since Jick’s return home. That same inner strength and determination, along with their love for each other and their home, is once again being called upon to help fight the battle to save their forever home from the devastation of the construction of the proposed turnpike through their neighborhood of Cinnamon Run by the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority.

From the Editor: At this time your home and community may not be directly in the path of this proposed turnpike expansion. However, many of you understand all too well what this family is going through because you have been there yourself. Over 600 of our fellow Oklahoman’s homes are destined to be leveled to the ground if this project continues but there are other turnpikes planned. It’s estimated on current data that over 600,000 homes will be destroyed across the state before the proposed turnpike map projects are completed.

We were told that turnpikes are needed to alleviate congestion. We were also told the last extension of the turnpike would transport over 12,000 drivers a day but that never happened with only around 2,100 drivers utilizing it daily according to the state’s own data. Here’s the real clincher. Oklahomans were told in 1965 by then-Governor Henry Bellmon, “We propose to make it possible for the drivers of Oklahoma to have these better roads and pay as we go. These bonds we’re talking about are all self-liquidating bonds. They don’t cost the general fund a penny.” The toll roads of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority would be “pay as you go roads” turned back to the state and managed by ODOT and become public roads once the bonds were paid off and there’s the catch it seems. By continually building new turnpikes the bonds will never be paid off. It’s a business scheme the huckster Bernie Madoff couldn’t have concocted out any better.

We pay to travel on the toll roads, we are taxed for the roads and we are taxed again at the pump. We pay for the effects of what this does to communities, families, and our natural flora and fauna. There are serious and legitimate watershed concerns surrounding this turnpike expansion. Lake Thunderbird supplies drinking water to the residents of the area with the proposed toll path running adjacent to the shoreline. No impact studies have been completed to make sure the water supply will not be tainted due to runoff and other environmental construction factors. Lake Thunderbird is also one of the migratory nesting sites for the American Bald Eagle and no studies have been completed on how the current eagle population will be affected. Our Oklahoma state rock, the Rose Rock, is a stunning natural wonder. The only known place on earth this extremely rare geological beauty has been found is in the location where the OTA is planning to pave over with this turnpike.

In 1998 this OTA expansion was set to begin construction the then citizens of Norman and the surrounding communities came together to stop what at the time was called “Norman 2020 Land Use and Transportation Plan”. Now it appears they only postponed the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority and the planned expansion. Some of the original citizens along with the addition of a fresh group of homeowners, farmers, and businesses are standing together once again to stop the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority.

They are not against infrastructure and understand fully that almost 4 million Oklahomans need roads to travel but what is being proposed is the same route that would not relieve congestion then any more than it will now. They are simply wanting all the impact and viability studies completed first before the construction process begins. These families don’t want their homes destroyed for another toll road that is not justified. All Oklahomans deserve transparency.

If you would like to find out more about the Oklahomans taking a stand against the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority visit their website at: www.pikeoffota.com