Governor Raymond Dancel Gary
1908 ~ 1993

Raymond Gary's death is a great loss for Oklahoma. Long after he left elected office, he continued to be an important and influential adviser to many elected officials and community leaders.

Raymond Dancel Gary, Democrat. Served from 1955 to 1959. He was the first Governor to be born Oklahoma since statehood. His birth date was January 21, 1908, and his birthplace, a farm midway between Madill and Kingston. He was educated in the local schools and Southeastern State College. After five years of teaching he was elected county superintendent of schools and served for four years. In 1936, he began his business career, first in school and office supplies, later as president of the Sooner Oil Company. He was a State Senator from 1941 until he became governor January 10, 1955.

Raymond Gary was governor during Oklahoma’s semi-centennial year and during his administration courageously brought a peaceful end to segregation in Oklahoma’s public schools, colleges and universities.

Raymond Gary, 15th Governor of Oklahoma, was memorialized Thursday [October 2007] during a luncheon in the Heritage Room of the Oklahoma Memorial Union in Norman when a Memorial Scholarship was announced.

Raymond Gary State Park is located in southeast Oklahoma on the shores of Raymond Gary Lake in the area of  Fort Towson, Choctaw County, Oklahoma.

During Gary’s gubernatorial administration, the state’s public schools were integrated and a constitutional amendment was adopted abolishing state financing of segregated schools. Gary also worked toward the elimination of other racial restrictions in the state, which helped to prevent the kind of violence that erupted elsewhere in the south. 

Gary was devoted to improving Oklahoma’s roads, and between 1955 and 1959 more than 3,500 miles of new highways were constructed and roughly 800 miles of the new interstate system were planned.

 He died December 11, 1993, and is buried in Madill.

Gov. Gary died in 1993 in Madill. He was the first native-born Oklahoman to be elected to the state’s executive office.

The body of former Gov. Raymond Gary will lie in state on the second floor of the state Capitol from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today. U.S. Sen. David Boren and former state Attorney General Robert Henry, now dean of the Oklahoma City University law school, will speak during a noon ceremony.

Gary, 85, died Saturday of congestive heart failure. He was elected in 1954 as Oklahoma's 15th governor and served from 1955 to 1959.

Burial will be at Woodberry Forest Cemetery in Madill.

Survivors are, son Raymond J. Gary and his wife Anne Hamill Gary of Denison, Texas; daughter Mona Mae Waymire and husband Joseph D. Waymire of Madill; brother Joe F. Gary, Durant; sister Ruby Kemp, Yuba City, Calif.; sister Mary Jane Coe, Odessa, Texas; five grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

Gary was preceded in death by his wife, Anna Mae Purser, on May 15, 1992.

Daily Oklahoman, The
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
December 17, 1993, page 1

Gary Mourned, Eulogized In Kingston Church Service

KINGSTON - An entire community and notable state leaders crowded into the First Baptist Church on Thursday to mourn the passing of former Gov. Raymond Gary. Gary, 85, died Saturday of congestive heart failure. It was James Hamill, longtime family friend now of Washington, D.C., who eulogized Gary.

On their way to the service, most passed along the road from Madill to Kingfisher where the Baptist Children's Home stands. It was Gary and his wife, Emma, who donated $200,000 and a 37-acre tract of land for the home. 

On their way to the service, most passed along the road from Madill to Kingfisher where the Baptist Children's Home stands. It was Gary and his wife, Emma, who donated $200,000 and a 37-acre tract of land for the home.

An obituary taking up nearly half of the front page in the local newspaper noted a multitude of other accomplishments, including his quiet success in integrating Oklahoma schools with little fanfare.

The lengthy story also noted Gary was "a devout Baptist (who) avoided liquor throughout his lifetime."

The Rev. Joe Ingram of Oklahoma City commented that Gary always was in church but never would sing.

He brought tears to a few eyes when he surmised that Gary might be singing in heaven, now that he's been reunited with his "Miss Emma."

Daily Oklahoman, The
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
December 14, 1993, page 4

Marshall County's Son

Gary never forgot his roots in Marshall County, and the circumstances of the Great Depression. Born south of Madill, in the Archard community, he married his high school sweetheart, Emma Mae Purser, and worked for a while as a teacher at Rocky Point school. Later, as a legislator, he pioneered the state's free textbook policy for public school students.

regarding his induction into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1970 as the highlight of his life. He also received Oklahoma State University's Henry G. Bennett Distinguished Service Award in 1976.

A devout Baptist, Gary and his wife (who died last year) were exemplary church members, making repeated gifts of time and resources, including principal support for the Baptist Children's Home.

Works Cited

Marshall County's Son." Daily Oklahoman [Oklahoma City]14 Dec 1993: 4

"Gary Mourned, Eulogized in Kingston Church Service." Daily Oklahoman 17 Dec. 1993: 1. Archives. Metropolitian Library System, Choctaw, OK. 1 Nov. 2007.

http://www.heralddemocrat.com/articles/2007/10/28/local_news/news13.txt

http://www.odl.state.ok.us/oar/governors/Gary.htm 

National Governors Association 1908-2008

Sobel, Robert, and John Raimo, eds. Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789-1978, Vol. 3. Westport, CT: Meckler Books, 1978. 4 vols.

The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. I. New York: James T. White & Company.