Virgil R. Cooper - 

was my elementary school principal and coach at Edison elementary school.  Actually he was principal and/or coach to all my brothers and sisters, though we didn't move into the Edison school district until 1952.  My oldest brother, Bobby, was in the eighth grade, Phyllis in the 5th, Donna in the 4th, and me in the first.  Jerry and Billy, my younger brothers, all attended and graduated from Edison to Drumright High School.  We all have specific and unique memories of Mr. Cooper.

A picture of Cooper as Edison coach can be found at: 
http://marti.rootsweb.com/photogallery/schools/drumright1.htm

Rev. and Mrs. M.A. Malone -  

were my pastors at the First Assembly of God Church in Drumright.  

M. A. Malone's Funeral Set This Friday

The Reverend M. A. Malone, 65, Drumright Assembly of God minister for approximately 21 years, will be given funeral services at 2 p.m. Friday in the Assembly of God Church here.

The Rev. W. J. Ellington, pastor, will officiate.

Burial will be in the Cushing Fairlawn Cemetery under the direction of the Smith Funeral home.

Mr. Malone died Tuesday evening in the Cushing hospital. He was taken to the hospital from his home at 1123 East Walnut, Cushing, Sunday evening by Smith Ambulance of Drumright. He had been in ill health 13 years.

Born May 31, 1903 in Beaver County, Mr. Malone moved to Drumright 23 years ago from Wewoka where he had pastured 16 years.

Active in the Drumright Ministerial Alliance, Mr. Malone was Drumright's oldest pastor in point of service when he retired in January, 1967. He moved to Cushing at that time.

Survivors are his wife, Sarah Lydia of the home, one daughter, Mrs. Norma Jean Morris, of Woodward. His mother, Mrs. Alfa Malone, of Elmwood, Oklahoma. One sister, Mrs. Maude Stevens of Arlington California, and two brothers, Clarence Malone of Springdale, Arkansas, and Frank Malone of Elmwood.

Memoirs

"Brother Malone was my pastor from earliest childhood until I was a young man. It was during my teen years that I really began to get to know him. 

He was always willing to allow me to spend time at the church playing the piano during those years when the piano became such an outlet for me as a young person.  Also, occasionally, on Sunday afternoons, I would stay after church to spend the afternoon playing the piano.  Bro. Malone would at these times invite me over for lunch.  We would sit side by side in his matching recliners and talk.  He was very interesting and he didn't talk down to me.  He would sometimes talk about his experiences as a young man starting in the ministry and other times we'd talk about Bible prophecy or some other Bible questions that I was struggling with. 

Once, he asked me to drive him to Tulsa to visit his blind sister.  I got to drive his new Oldsmobile.  It was a real treat for a young person.  I also remember noticing a picture in his sister's home.  I didn't recognize the person in the photo, so I asked him who it was.  He said it was his first wife.  After my initial shock, I realized that he was talking about his first and only wife, Sis. Malone, as I knew her.

Brother Malone spent a lot of time in prayer and Bible study.  His office he called his "study".  His preaching was old-time holiness style.  I guess that today I would find his preaching style quite foreign; but he blessed me in so many ways while I was growing up.  I remember that he used to sing a solo on request: "That One Lost Sheep".  In the middle of the song, which was a story in itself, he'd stop and give a short testimony of his conversion as a young man.  It always touched my emotions deeply when he would come in on that last verse: "It was there in the night, He heard a faint cry...from that lost sheep just ready to die; Safe in his arms to shield from the cold, He brought that lost one safe back to the fold." 

Brother Malone was very encouraging.  He was a loyal and faithful pastor.  After he retired, I visited him again in Cushing just months before he passed away.  He was bedfast at the time, but he appeared so happy to see me and was a great encouragement to me in the situation of my own life at the time. He was a dear man and I'll always remember him and be thankful for his pastorage, his loving counsel, and his faithful example.

Sister Malone was also a great Christian example.  She was also a great cook and made the best mashed potatoes ever.  She built the Intermediate Boys Sunday School class from about 2 of us to over 30 by cooking hamburgers for us once a month.  I never her saw her as anything but love personified.  She'll always be in my heart.  

A few years after Brother Malone died, she married another A/G preacher, Bro. Nolen, continuing to be a blessing until her death.

Emma E. Akin - 

A teacher that taught at Lincoln School just before I started first grade.  She was a favorite of my sisters.  She is mentioned in this article from the Drumright Gusher, Thursday, February 20, 2003:

I remember when the Dunbar pupils were transferred to Drumright elementary schools.  I was attending Edison elementary, in the 4th or 5th grade, and most of the black students came there because they lived in the same ward as Edison. We thought it was neat to have them with us.

Eileen Coffield Huff - 

(I was referred to Mrs. Huff for information about Drumright cemeteries when I was gathering genealogical information.  I later met her, probably in 2001, while visiting the Drumright Oil Field museum.  She immediately spoke of having known my uncle, Bryan Carroll, and later recalled knowing my grandfather, Ham Carroll, who had died almost forty years earlier.  Made me feel good to have them remembered.)

Bullfrog Charley - 

 We weren't the only family that had Bullfrog drop by for dinner, as you'll read about in the article below. Bullfrog also lived with us for awhile while he was helping Dad with chores around the farm.  Our "wash house" was converted into a makeshift bunk house.  I'm sure that he died later than 1953 as the article states, more like 1963 to my thinking, but I'm going to ask my brothers and sisters to help me and I'll publish our composite memories of Bullfrog Charley here at a later date.   For now, here's the article by Dan Fulkerson, a former Drumrighter.  The article was published in the Drumright Gusher on April 23, 2003.