Raymond Gary
| Raymond D. Gary | |
|---|---|
| 15th Governor of Oklahoma | |
|
In office January 10, 1955 – January 12, 1959 |
|
| Lieutenant | Cowboy Pink Williams |
| Preceded by | Johnston Murray |
| Succeeded by | J. Howard Edmondson |
| Member of the Oklahoma State Senate | |
|
In office 1941–1955 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
January 21, 1908 Between Madill and Kingston, Oklahoma |
| Died | December 11, 1993 (aged 85) |
| Political party | Democratic Party |
| Religion | Baptist |
Raymond Dancel Gary (January 21, 1908 – December 11, 1993) was the fifteenth Governor of Oklahoma and the first Governor to be born in Oklahoma since statehood.
Born in southern Oklahoma, he became a state senator in 1941, until he assumed the office of governor in 1955. One of his accomplishments was to order the desegregation of the Oklahoma State Capitol restrooms.
One of his first actions was to order the "whites only" and "colored only" signs removed from the Capitol's restrooms. He also declared his intent to make the state comply with the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which declared segregation in the public schools unconstitutional.
Gary died December 11, 1993, and is interred at Woodbury Forest Cemetery, Madill, Oklahoma.
Born January 21, 1908, on a farm midway between Madill, Oklahoma and Kingston, Oklahoma, he was educated in the local schools and graduated from Madill High School in 1927. He married Emma Mae Purser in 1928, and they had two children. After five years of teaching and attending Southeastern State College from 1928 to 1932, he had earned his Bachelor of Science degree. He was elected Marshall County Superintendent of Schools and served four years.
In 1936, Gary established Gary Manufacturing Company, to make school and office furniture. He purchased Kingston Commercial Oil and Gas in 1946 and renamed it Sooner Oil Company of which he was president. He also purchased a 120-acre ranch outside Kingston which grew to hundreds of acres.
Gary was a member of the Oklahoma Senate from 1941 until he became Governor January 10, 1955, for a four-year-term. During his time in the state senate, he served as chair of the appropriations committee and president pro tempore.
As governor, Gary was able to get legislative support for his endeavors, most notably his proposed state budgets, which included neither raised taxes nor large spending increases. He also led and supported efforts to improve the state highway system, particularly the major highways that criscrossed the state and expressway routes through the two largest cities, Oklahoma City and Tulsa. It was during Gary's tenure that the Oklahoma Department of Transportation oversaw efforts to survey and approve the routes of the Interstate Highway System through the state including east-west Interstate 40 and north-south Interstate 35.
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