TIGER TRACKS . . .
See what’s up with your fellow alums
- 1960s -
Earl Waters (’62) taught English for 34 years in Colorado and Kansas, first in junior high and then in junior college. He has a master’s degree from the University of Northern Colorado in Greely. The Memorial Student Union at ECU was his favorite place to hang out, and in particular, The Corral, which was a room off to the side that had booths and a small dance floor. They would drink coffee and smoke lots of cigarettes (everybody did then), engage in endless discussions, listen to the juke box, and, if a few game girls should amble in, they might even do a bit of dancing. Waters met his wife Frieta at ECU.
- 1970s -
Ralph Turner (‘71) is proud to be an ECU graduate. The business education major has many positive memories of people including Dr. Bill Tillman, Dan Marker and his Pi Kappa Alpha house mother Mom Anderson and places like Pizza Hut, LaFraqua, Oak Hills DriveIn, Folgers and the ZTA, Alpha Gam and Chi O lounges. Homecoming was always a fun time working on floats and participating in the homecoming parade. “It has been almost 40 years, since I graduated from ECSC and I consider those years in Ada, among the most fun years in my life.” Rodney Gray (’72) became the 52nd inductee into the Oklahoma Accounting Hall of Fame during the Oklahoma Society of Certified Public Accountants’ annual awards ceremony. Gray is a principle/shareholder with Gray Blodgett & Company PLLC in Norman. He passed the CPA exam in July 1974, joined the OSCPA within three months and has been actively serving since then. Gray has served on the OSCPA’s Taxation Committee for 12 years and has chaired it for three years. He also has served on the Personal Financial Planning, Government Relations, Peer Review and Planning Committees, chaired the Insurance Committee and is currently the bylaws chair. Gray also has served three terms on the OSCPA’s Board of Directors. He’s a past president of the OSCPA and of the OSCPA Norman Chapter, which named him its 2003 Distinguished CPA.
52 The Columns
Dr. Betsy Ballard (’73) retired at the end of this school year after dedicating 36 years of her life to teaching. She taught English, speech, drama and debate at Norman High School. Ballard won the Medal for Excellence in Secondary Teaching from the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence. Ballard is a National Board Certified teacher who has won numerous national honors, including the National Forensic League’s Five Diamond Coach Award. Pam Deering (’73) is the new superintendent of Mid-Del Public Schools. Deering has worked for the district since 1995, most recently serving as deputy superintendent of fiscal services and human services. She has also worked at Moore and Oklahoma City Public Schools and the State Department of Education. She is married to Maj. Gen. Myles Deering, the adjutant general for the Oklahoma National Guard. Born in Pauls Valley, Deering graduated from Elmore City High School and earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from ECU. She received a master of education in supervision and special education from Texas Woman’s University and a doctor of philosophy in education administration-curriculum and instruction from the University of Oklahoma. Earlier this year President Barack Obama welcomed the 1985 Chicago Bears, including Clifford Thrift (’79), to the White House to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their Super Bowl XX championship. They never got the opportunity to visit the White House because the space shuttle Challenger tragedy occured two days after Super Bowl XX. For Thrift it was an honor and privilege to meet the President while enjoying an entire day at the White House. He said Obama was a gracious and friendly guy who seemed as excited to meet the Bears as they were to meet him.
- 1980s -
Paula Tooman (’81), principal of Paoli Elementary School retired at the end of the school year after working for more than three decades in education. Other than going to college to earn her degrees from ECU and the University of Oklahoma, and four years as a teacher at Whitebead, she hasn’t spent too many years away from Paoli. Her favorite subjects to teach were science and math. Tooman plans to enjoy all the time she can with her grandchildren Ruett and Sophie. She’ll also continue to volunteer at the First Baptist Church where she sings in the choir and plays the piano. Lieutenant Colonel Michael Simpson (‘87) is a career officer in the U.S. Army having served primarily in Europe in his 24 years of duty. He is currently working as the Chief of Plans, Programs and Policy for USARAF G1 which is the Human Resources function and has been assigned to Italy for two years with one more year to complete. He and his wife Kimberly have been married 24 years and are both from Stroud. They have one son, Miles age 13, and an Irish terrier named Jimmy. While at ECU Simpson enjoyed participating in ROTC and taking classes from Dr. Bill Zellner, who always made him think and influenced him to major in sociology.
- 1990s Latricia Trammell (’92) has been tapped to be the head coach for the Oklahoma City University women’s basketball team. She served as an assistant coach for the Stars from 2005 to 2007. Trammell returns to Oklahoma City after serving as Western State’s head coach the past five seasons. She led her teams to a 170-121 record. Trammell led Western State to five consecutive Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Shootout appearances, including the championship game this past season. She majored in biology at ECU. Jayme Karrel Jackson (’97) and Jeff Murray exchanged wedding vows July 23, 2011, at the Morris Memorial Baptist Church. Jayme is
a 1992 graduate of Latta High School and graduated from ECU in 1997. Jeff graduated in 1988 from Campus High School in Wichita, Kan., in 1993 from the University of Louisiana-Monroe, and in 2009 from Webster University-St. Louis, Mo. Holly Stuart (’98) is a vice president/accounting officer for Vision Bank in Ada. The certified internal auditor said her most significant business achievement was obtaining her CPA. She said her most significant personal achievements are “marrying the man of my dreams and taking care of my two wonderful boys.” Stuart is a volunteer for the House of Hope, a member of Young Professionals of Ada and is a board member of Big Brothers / Big Sisters of Ada. She is also a member of Trinity Baptist Church where she serves as a greeter, nursery worker and a preschool aide. Stuart is a graduate of the Graduate School of Banking at Colorado. She was named a Trailblazer by the Oklahoma Society of Certified Public Accountants which honors the innovation, professional dedication and community commitment of the OSCPA’s New CPAs, defined as members who are under 40 or have five or fewer years of CPA experience.
- 2000s -
Hillary Farrell (‘00) has been named co-president of Ackerman McQueen advertising agency. An eleven-year veteran of Ackerman McQueen, Farrell had served as the firm’s chief operating officer since 2009. Farrell began her career with the agency in broadcast production and has rapidly advanced through a series of positions with increased responsibility. Active in the Oklahoma City community, Farrell currently holds leadership positions with a number of community organizations, including the Junior League of Oklahoma City, United Way of Central Oklahoma and Allied Arts and serves on the board of the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition. She is former president of the ECU Alumni Association Board of Directors. She was a mass communications major and George Nigh Scholar at ECU. Brad Lucas (‘00) teaches history and coaches baseball at Purcell High School. He is a Wayne High School graduate and HPER major at ECU. Lucas and his wife, Shelby, have two children, Tinley and Presley.
