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Abe E. Lemons
Born into poverty in Ryan, Oklahoma, on November 21, 1922, future basketball coach Abe Lemons was given the initials-only name "A. E." After graduating from nearby Walters, Oklahoma, High School in 1941, he joined the Merchant Marine and officially changed his name to "Abe." He later married Betty Jo Bills. Together they had two daughters, Dana and Jan.
Lemons attended college and played basketball at Southwestern State Teachers College (now Southwestern Oklahoma State University) and Oklahoma City University (OCU). Fulfilling his lifelong ambition to be a coach, Lemons won 599 games as one of the nation's premier major college basketball coaches from 1955 to 1990. Along the way, at OCU (1955-73), Pan American University (Edinburgh, Texas, 1973-76), the University of Texas at Austin (1976-82), and again at OCU (1983-1990) he produced several All-Americans and became the most quoted coach ever. One major publication chose Lemons's famous line, "Doctors bury their mistakes; ours are still on scholarship," as the sports quote of the twentieth century.
Behind the coach's funny-man exterior was a superb basketball mind. Some have said that Lemons's ability to coach basketball players on offense was unparalleled in the history of the game. He spent his life teaching young men the skills of basketball and life. One former player said, "He took me as a boy and made a man out of me. He taught me how to live and enjoy life."
Diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1990, Lemons retired from OCU, and in January 2000 the university dedicated Abe Lemons Arena in his honor. Abe Lemons died September 2, 2002, in Oklahoma City.
[Source: Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture]
CHARLES MCCALLUM, M. D.
Representing the first class ability and skill of his profession and enjoying a large general practice, Doctor McCallum is one of the young physicians and surgeons of Western Oklahoma who have quickly taken front rank in their profession. He began practice in this state ten years ago with an excellent equipment, and the test of real practice found him qualified for his important calling among the social professions. He resides and has his offices at Randlett.
Dr. C. McCallum was born in Dallas County, Texas, December 28, 1875. His grandfather, William McCallum, was a native of Scotland, emigrated from that country to South Carolina, and subsequently became one of the first settlers to locate in the Pleasant Valley community of North Texas, where he pursued his work as a farmer until his death. His wife was a native of Ireland. J. T. McCallum, father of Doctor McCallum, was born in South Carolina in 1839, went to Texas during his youth, spent many years as a practical farmer and cotton gin operator at Pleasant Valley, but since 1911 has lived retired at Garland. He is a democrat and an elder in the Presbyterian Church. He was married in Texas to Miss Bettie Kelley, a native of that state. Their family of children is as follows: William, who died at Pleasant Valley at the age of twenty-one; Dr. Charles; Ninner, wife of John Pace, a farmer at Garland; Elizabeth, wife of G. U. Jurdan of Pleasant Valley; Maude, wife of Mellard Fluke, a Garland farmer; Mack, a farmer at Pleasant Valley, married Euna Hubble, Pleasant Valley, Texas; Joe, a druggist at Temple, Texas; Gibs, who is employed as a bookkeeper at Garland; Ola and J. T., who live at home with their parents.
In the public schools, of Dallas County Doctor McCallum secured his fundamental training, followed by a three years' course in the Hillsboro Institute at Hillsboro, Texas, and for one year he was in the medical school at Dallas, and in 1904 and 1905 attended the Memphis Hospital and Medical College, where he was graduated in 1905 with the degree M. D. His entire professional career has been spent in Oklahoma, and from 1905 to 1912 he was in practice in Marshall County, Oklahoma. Since 1912 his home has been at Randlett, Oklahoma, where he has built up a promising practice as a physician and surgeon. His offices are on D Street. He is city physician of Randlett, Oklahoma, is a member of the Presbyterian Church, a democrat in politics, and besides his associations with professional bodies is affiliated with Randlett Lodge No. 374, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, with the Camp of the Woodmen of the World at Randlett, and with the Woodmen Circle at Pleasant Valley, Texas.
At Oakland, Oklahoma, in 1907, Dr. C. McCallum married Miss Nealey Van Pelt. Her father, G. F. Van Pelt, is a farmer at Royce City, Texas. To their marriage were born three children: Ralph and Ray, both now in the public schools at Randlett; and Orland. ["A Standard History of Oklahoma", 1916, By Joseph Bradfield Thoburn - Transcribed by Cathy Ritter]
