Our old friend and Oklahoma’s best known governor died the other day. He was 98. I’m speaking, of course, of our George Nigh. He had been around and in public view all this time and we all thought he would last forever. But now he is gone.

George Nigh graduated from Eastern Oklahoma University down at Wilburton and later graduated from East Central over at Ada. Nigh taught school in his hometown of McAlester for about three years and also served three terms in the Oklahoma legislature. While in the legislature he introduced and got the bill passed that made Rogers and Hammerstein’s song “Oklahoma” our official state song. George carried the pen he used to sign on this bill in his shirt pocket the rest of his life.

Nigh later become governor of Oklahoma during time periods of 1979 through 1987. But in 1962 he moved from being a Lt. Governor to being appointed Governor when and so he could appoint then Governor J. Howard Edmonson to finish up the term of the deceased Senator Robert S. Kerr. In 1966 Nigh was again, elected Lt. Governor. Then in 1979 Nigh was elected Governor, again.

While all this may be as clear as mud just let me say that Nigh went on to serve as President of The University of Central Oklahoma. Nigh also was an excellent and enjoyable public speaker and was in great demand around the U.S. as an after-dinner speaker. Also, Governor Nigh also became well known and appreciated as a big promoter of new highways and he built a lot of them.

I think most Oklahoman’s felt they knew Nigh personally. He was just that way. But this brings me to 1978 — a year in which our OU Sooners played the mighty Nebraska Cornhuskers in the usual annual football game. Nebraska beat OU 17 to 14. Those of us in Sooner-land were unhappy but not as unhappy as the Cornhuskers became when the Orange Bowl Committee down in Miami invited both Nebraska and Oklahoma to their big Orange Bowl game. A replay!

Miami fans were livid but never-the-less, had to accept the bid and did so. This caused me and my son Ron to want to go down and see this game. We felt the Sooners would win this time. So, I decided (and I confess to being a little cheap) and managed to get two tickets and booked a “cheap” trip arrangement to the bowl that provided us a space on the OU equipment plane and a place to wait for the game as well as transportation to the actual game.

So, Ron and I made the trip. We won the game 31 to 24. Boy, were those Cornhusker people mad! But getting home brought chaos. At the airport we found ourselves squashed up in a moblike crowd of confused Sooners. It seems that “our” aircraft had been commandeered and uploaded with Cornhuskers. The Sooners there were demanding the Nebraskans be kicked off our plane and loaded with us.

Standing next to us in this crowd I heard a woman repeatedly saying, “Tell them who you are George.” It was the governor’s wife, Donna. I managed to get to visit with him too, siding with wife Donna, but I think he thought I was somebody else. At any rate, Nigh finally managed to get the Nebraska fans off the plane. It turned ugly but he did it. On the other side of our squashedup Sooner Fans, I saw a few fists fly. But Ron and I were able to board the plane then and soon found ourselves winging our way back to our beloved and icy Oklahoma.

Like Nigh, I needed to be home too and was. We got there OK, I worked the next day but, boy, was I tired. And uh, I never spoke to or saw George Nigh again. Ever. Like I say, he was a nice guy and I’m glad he was there so I could get back to Allen.

Enjoy our summertime. Be sure and be in church Sunday.

Wayne Bullard, DPh cwaynebullard@gmail. com