The tenth of fifteen children, Leona Mitchell began her musical journey by singing in her father's church choir. She received a scholarship from Oklahoma City University in 1971, earning a bachelor's degree in music. Leona debuted with the San Francisco Spring Opera Theater in 1972, and on December 15th, 1975, she made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Micaela in Bizet's Carmen, the same role she had sung at her San Francisco debut. This marked the beginning of her many performances in opera houses all over the world, including Geneva, Paris, Madrid, and Sydney. Mitchell performed for eighteen ..read more

Tulsa civic leader and oilman Robert LaFortune was born at St. John Medical Center in Tulsa, January 24, 1927. In 1920, his father Joseph Aloysius LaFortune and his mother Gertrude Leona Tremel LaFortune, had moved to Tulsa from South Bend, Indiana. Joseph LaFortune worked for Warren Petroleum Company for approximately 30 years, retiring as executive vice president. Before and after retirement, he maintained a significant community presence and funded the development of LaFortune Park in Tulsa. Among his many gifts to the University of Notre Dame, he donated funds to renovate the Science Hall ..read more

Cyrus Stevens Avery was a businessperson, oilman, and highway commissioner. He created the U.S. Route 66 while being a member of the federal board appointed to create the Federal Highway System, then pushed for the establishment of the U.S. Highway 66 Association to pave and promote the highway. As such, he is known as the "Father of Route 66". And by the way, Cyrus chose the numbers 66 for the famous highway. He was 57 when the book Oklahoma Leaders was published in 1928 ..read more

When Peggy Josephine Varnadow was signed by Universal Pictures in 1949, the public relations staff whittled down her name to the barest essentials, and thus Peggy Dow was born. Born in Columbia, Mississippi, her family eventually settled in Louisiana where she attended Louisiana State and Northwestern University in Illinois. Local modeling and radio opportunities captured the attention of a talent agent who cast Peggy in February 1949. This resulted in additional TV exposure that led Universal to offer her a seven-year contract. She made her 1949 debut in the thriller Undertow followed by 195 ..read more

Oklahoma native John L. Massey grew up in Boswell, Guthrie, and Durant and graduated from Southeastern State University (now Southeastern Oklahoma State University) in 1960. While a senior in college, he won his first race for the State House of Representatives, serving two terms in that body and two additional terms in the state Senate. Mr. Massey left the Senate in 1970 to devote full attention to business interests. He has owned and established over 20 businesses, operated Holiday Inns and other motels in southeastern Oklahoma and north Texas, and developed apartment complexes in both Dura ..read more

Centenarian Dr. Herb Lipe was born February 10th, 1924, in Claremore, Oklahoma, growing up during the Depression and Dust Bowl. His Father, Clark, and Mother, Virginia, owned a grocery store in Claremore and were proprietors of acreage near Oologah, where they had a pecan orchard.Herb joined the Navy in 1943 during World War II, serving in the Pacific Theatre. Shortly before completing his military service, he read an advertisement for the Southern College of Optometry in Memphis, Tennessee. After earning his Doctor of Optometry degree, he began his practice in Drumright, Oklahoma, before mov ..read more

Voices of Oklahoma presents Oklahoma Leaders, a book featuring stories of influential men written in 1928. You'll be introduced to names you'll recognize and we will learn about interesting details of their lives. Notably, these men lived many years beyond the publication of this book to make even more contributions to our society. Listen to another episode in the series Oklahoma Leaders ..read more

Petty’s Fine Foods was a specialty food store in Tulsa, Oklahoma's Utica Square. It closed in February 2016 after more than 70 years of being a staple of Tulsa shoppers. The grocery store was established in 1945 by L.G. Rowan and Robert Petty. The business, which was then called Rowan & Petty, opened at the corner of East 21st Street and South Wheeling Avenue. The store quickly became known as the best purveyor of meats and groceries in Tulsa.During the 1940s and 1950s, Rowan & Petty established itself as a specialty food store offering charge accounts, delivery services, quality mea ..read more

In 2011, Harry Kaiser’s World War II medals were finally issued to him. An Army corporal during the war, Kaiser served with the 60th Infantry Regiment attached to the 9th Armored Division and saw combat during the Battle of the Bulge, including the defense of Bastogne, then across central Europe, and finally at the firefight over the Remagen Bridge. It was at Remagen in March 1945 when the force of a German artillery shell blew him off a second-floor balcony, sending him crashing to the ground, dislocating a bone in his right leg. He spent the next six weeks in a French hospital, and by then ..read more

Through strong friendships, hard work, and pure salesmanship, entrepreneur Denny Cresap grew a one-truck, one-employee beer distributorship in Bartlesville into one of Anheuser-Busch’s top 20 distributors in the United States. Premium Beers of Oklahoma became a large, multi-location company providing services to 27 counties in the state prior to its sale in 2012. With proceeds from the sale, Cresap and his family established the Cresap Family Foundation, awarding over $10 million to more than 90 nonprofit agencies focusing on animal welfare, arts, culture and humanities, city/county governme ..read more