Meaningful Veterans Day celebration

Last year our Veterans Day celebration was held on a press day, so I could not attend. This year was not the case and during the service I realized how much I missed the event. It literally brought tears to my eyes. So many in my family have served including a cousin that was killed in Viet Nam trying to escape after being caught leading the enemy away from his wounded soldiers. Michael was much older than me, but I looked up to him. Afterall, he was a United States Marine just like my dad.

I very much remember the day he dropped by the house to tell my dad that after graduating from the Naval Academy he had decided to join the Marine Corps. You would think my dad would have been happy about it but instead he literally yelled at Michael and told him to keep his $%# in the Navy. I was confused.

What I did not realize as a ten-year-old is that having served and been wounded in Korea, dad realized all too well the dangers my cousin was facing. Dad was not angry at Michael but rather he was terrified for him. My cousin, along with 58,220 U.S. service members gave the ultimate sacrifice in that foreign land. That is the reason I continue to tear up at that ceremony.

What you as an Edmond resident may not know is that at Gracelawn Cemetery in Edmond there is a Veterans Memorial. Here is some information on it should you decide to visit.

History of the Gracelawn Veterans Memorial

The Veterans’ Memorial at Gracelawn Cemetery was a community wide project conceived in the late 70’s by members of Edmond Kiwanis Club and the American Legion Post 111 and the Edmond VFW Post 4938. It was supported by Edmond Mayor Carl Reherman. The project took several years to design, to plat and complete the grounds for the memorial and raise funds for the construction. It was dedicated on Memorial Day May 1981.

A special part of the Veteran’s Memorial was a time capsule that contains four scrolls. The 1st Scroll lists the Veterans buried at Gracelawn. The 2nd Scroll list City Officials and terms of office. The 3rd Scroll honors the Pioneers and maps the sites they claimed during the Great Land Run of 1889. The 4th Scroll contains the signatures of residents, who donated to fund the memorial.

Collecting the names of the Veterans buried at Gracelawn for the Scroll in 1981 was a special task. Most of the records at that time were maintained by the Baggerley Funeral Home and they provided the list for the 1981 Veterans Scroll. The City now maintains this information. Accounting for the Veterans, many Edmond residents have worked to honor their service. One resident, Larry Rankin, documented all Veteran records through 2000. These records are extensively referenced in our updated Veterans Scroll. We also want to recognize the Staff at the Edmond Museum for their support. The updated Veterans Scroll is 6 ft long and contains details about most Veterans service including facts found in their Military records.

A special thanks to the Edmond City Council and City Staff for the expansion of the Gracelawn Cemetery and for the 2021 improvements of the Veterans Memorial. These improvements caused it to reopen the Time Capsule after 40 years. The records contained in the Time Capsule were in perfect condition and were photographed by the Edmond Museum. The Edmond Kiwanis Club members resealed and reburied the Time Capsule with the support of the Gracelawn Staff shortly after Memorial Day 2022.

Veterans Day 2025, presenters included:

Clint Rohr, Director UCO Jazz Lab

Amy Stephens, Dir. Edmond Museum

Mark Nash, Edmond Mayor

Rex Ice, American Legion Post 111

Vaghn DeWolfe, Chaplin Post 111

Norm Jason, Knights of Columbus

Janis Schwager, VFW Post 4828

Dan O’Neil, Edmond Kiwanis

Dee Ann Anderson, Regent NSDAR

Adam Pugh, OK State Senator Dist.41

Participating Organizations were:

City of Edmond Gracelawn Staff

Edmond History Museum

American Legion Edmond Post 111

Edmond VFW Post 4938

Edmond Kiwanis Club (Est 1926)

Cordelia Steen Chapter, NSDAR

UCO ROTC Color Guard

Derek Turner was inducted into Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame

Our very own long-time resident Derek Turner was inducted into the Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame. It is a great honor for Turner and his family. It would have been great to have kept our friend in Oklahoma for his football career, but Baylor was blessed with not only Derek but participation by his entire family.

The 2025 Hall of Fame banquet was held Friday, Nov. 14, 2025, in the Hurd Welcome Center Grand Ballroom on the Baylor University campus.

The Hall of Fame inductees and Wall of Honor recipient were honored on the field at McLane Stadium during the Baylor-Utah football game on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025.

Organized in 1960, the Baylor Athletic Hall of Fame recognizes and honors individuals whose participation and contributions have enriched and strengthened the university's athletics program. Student athletes are required to wait 10 years after completing their eligibility before they can be nominated for the Hall of Fame.

Beginning with the inaugural 1960 class that included coach Floyd Crow and baseball's Ted Lyons, 281 honorees have been elected or already enshrined in the Hall of Fame.

After coming to Baylor as a walk-on, Turner developed into one of the Southwest Conference's top defensive ends, earning all-league honors as a junior in 1984 and unanimous first-team accolades as a senior in '85. Voted a team captain as a senior, he had seventy-five tackles, a team-high nine for losses and a blocked kick for a nine-win team that upset LSU in the Liberty Bowl.

An all-state pick at Deer Creek High School in Edmond, Turner backed up Ervin Randle his first two years at Baylor before blossoming as a junior, when he recorded seventy-seven tackles, fifteen for losses, five fumble recoveries and four blocked kicks. After earning his MBA from Baylor in 1986, Derek returned to Edmond to work with his family's real estate development firm.

We congratulate him on his induction but most of all thank him for all his work in our community. He does come by it honestly folks. His mother and father, Bob and Martha Turner, have done so much for our community. Many of you who are new to Edmond should know that this family not only have been some of the very best developers, but they have given back so much to Edmond. This community will always be in their debt.

I can expect all three of them to call me not happy with me writing about their success. They are the humblest of people as well.

(Ray Hibbard, publisher of Edmond Life & Leisure , may be reached for comment at ray@edmondpaper.com)