BY JIM JONES
For the first
time in 70 years there
is not a Montgomery living in
Picher,
Oklahoma.
It all began in
1917 when Dee and
Lena Montgomery moved with
their
children Ethel, Georgia, Paul,
Dennis,
Lucinda. Bob and Bill from
Welch, Okla. to a dwelling on
North
Main Street in Picher. The
rich lead and zinc deposits
had been discovered and she
was- a “Boom" Town.” There was
a job for every man that
wanted one, even back then
farming was a hit and miss
proposition. The Eagle-Picher
Mining Company paid every week
and that was quite an
inducement
for Dee and
Lena to move their
family to
Picher.
All of the children attended
the Twins or Whitebird
Elementary Schools and later
the original Junior and Senior
High School located on West
"A" Street.
The Montgomery
family has
always been actively involved
in the community affairs,
supporters of the
Picher-Cardin school system
and their church. Dee and Lena
Montgomery were two of the
original
founders of the Union
Church, the
largest attended church during
the years that Wesley Post was
the minister. His son Charles
later married Ethel
Montgomery.
Bill followed
in the footsteps of his older
brothers and was an all-around
athlete at Picher High
School, playing football,
basketball and track. He
also played trumpet in the
band, and was a member of the
Hi-Y Club, Glee-Club and
Student Council. |
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He graduated
from Picher High School in
1935 and went to work for the
Eagle-Picher Mining Co. The
following year his high school
sweetheart, Rita Lightfoot,
also graduated and they were
married. He worked for the
Eagle-Picher Mining Co. until
1954 when the mines closed and
then commuted to Joplin, Mo.,
where he worked for the
Vickers Co. as a machinist
until he retired in 1979.
Dee Montgomery
and his sons, Bob and Bill,
have all been Worshipful
Masters of Picher's Ottawa
Masonic Lodge #478. Bill is
also a 32nd Degree Mason being
a member of the Scottish Rite
of Tulsa. At the present Bill
is Worthy Patron of Picher's
Order of the Eastern Star and
Rita has been secretary for
the past 23 years.
They are also active members
of the Cardin Christian Church
where Bill serves as a deacon.
With the church filled with
friends, in 1986 Bill and Rita
repeated their vows on the
50th anniversary of their
wedding. Their best friends,
Harold and Helen Sigle served
as best man and matron of
honor.
Bill and Rita have two
children. Lucinda K. Renick of
Baxter Springs, Kansas and
William D. Montgomery of
Roswell, New Mexico, six
grandsons and four
great-grandchildren.
Bill's parents, brothers and
sisters are all deceased and
are buried in the area.
A few years ago Bill and Rita
began spending more time at
their home on Grand Lake near
Bernice, Oklahoma and live
there full time. Their
interests and activities are
still in Picher and Cardin and
they travel frequently "back
home".
They are still
active and serve on the
organizational committee of
the P.H.S. multi-class
1921-1941 reunions and
thoroughly enjoy seeing their
former classmates and friends
who return for the events. A
good friend recently revealed
the "Real Bill Montgomery",
that he was solid and
dependable and that if you
ever needed him, that he was
always there."
If it is true
that a family can be judged by
the quality of their friends,
the Montgomerys have always
been at the top of the list. |
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