Toni Garner is the daughter of a Cherokee educator and a first-generation Lebanese homemaker. Having grown up with flower shops on both sides of the family, she learned the ins and outs of the trade from her grandmother and her aunt.

Toni graduated from Northeastern State University and opened Toni’s Flowers & Gifts in Tulsa in 1983 when she was 26 years old.

Toni was one of a hundred floral designers invited to do the inaugural flowers for George W. Bush’s second term. 

Locally, she has given her time and resources to many community organizations, non-profits, museums, and universities. She and her good friend, Charles Faudree,  published a book titled Country French Florals and Interiors. 

Listen to Toni talk about the challenges of Valentine’s Day, her friendship with Charles Faudree and Pat Gordon, and the story behind “Merry Christmas Anyway” on the podcast and website of VoicesOfOklahoma.com.

Vietnam veteran, Rick Ogden, was born and raised in Pryor, Oklahoma. Rick worked in the family business, Chouteau Lime Company, which was started by Rick’s grandfather when he discovered limestone leading to a quarry in Chouteau.

Coming from a military family, Rick joined the Army in 1966 during the Vietnam War. As a U.S. Army paratrooper, his first mission was to stop the Detroit Riot in 1967, which lasted for five days. In September 1967, he arrived in Phan Rang, Vietnam, home of the 101st Division headquarters.

While on patrol, along the Cambodian border, he was wounded, an injury that marked the beginning of a long journey of healing. While Rick’s wounds eventually mended, the emotional impact of war stayed with him. But he found a path forward, and Voices of Oklahoma is honored to preserve and share his oral history for future generations.

Listen to Rick talk about his face-to-face encounter with the Viet Cong, including the day he suffered a major wound, on the podcast and website VoicesOfOklahoma.com.

Bob Blackburn, a native Oklahoman, served as executive director of the Oklahoma Historical Society from 1999 until 2021. He joined the OHS in 1980 as editor of The Chronicles of Oklahoma and became deputy director for agency operations in 1990.

Blackburn is a 1973 graduate of Southwestern Oklahoma State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history. He earned his M.A. & Ph.D. in history from Oklahoma State University. He grew up in Edmond and graduated from Putnam City High School in 1969.

Blackburn published several articles and his first book while still in graduate school, and has since written or co-authored more than 25 books and numerous articles, journal entries, and screenplays. He is a steady source of historical information for the media and has appeared numerous times on The History Channel.

He was instrumental in planning and building the Oklahoma History Center, a 215,000-square-foot museum and research center.

Listen to Bob talk about his mother and the TV show Romper Room, Killers of the Flower Moon, and how writers shape the image of Oklahoma on the podcast and website of VoicesOfOklahoama.com.

Joe Robson grew up on a cattle ranch east of Tulsa. After graduating from SMU, Joe came home to start his real estate career. In 1986, he formed the Robson Companies and began to develop part of the family ranch into the master-planned community of Forest Ridge.

Joe promoted infrastructure improvements in the Tulsa metro area—roads, water, and sewer. He helped in the efforts to widen the Broken Arrow Expressway, the extension of the Creek Turnpike, and the breakup of the old University Center at Tulsa in favor of the now stand-alone satellite universities.

Joe joined the local home builders association, which led to two terms as President of the Tulsa Home Builders Association, President of the Oklahoma Home Builders, and, in 2009, Chairman of the National Association of Home Builders. Joe was also Chairman of the Board of RCB Bank.

Listen to Joe talk about Sam and Helen Walton, the family ranch, and the Forest Ridge development on the podcast and oral history website VoicesOfOklahoma.com.

Donna and Roger Hardesty grew up in the western Oklahoma town of Fort Cobb. They each knew the meaning of hard work when they met at age 15. Donna comes from a large family, many holding teaching degrees. 

After graduating from the University of Tulsa, she taught for a year at Sperry High School. She then joined Roger, becoming a real estate agent, as his construction company became the largest single-family construction company in the area with divisions in nine midwestern states. 

When The Hardesty Foundation was established in 2005, Donna placed a significant emphasis on the value of education in her grantmaking endeavors, which included the Hardesty Library.

Roger and Donna were truly a team, leading to the success of the Hardesty company and the foundation, making a major impact on the Tulsa community.

Monsignor Greg Gier was 17 years old and enjoying his high school days when the thought came to him, “There must be more to life than this, there must be, and that’s when I decided to see if, in fact, I was being called to be a priest.” 

Monsignor Gier was ordained on May 27th, 1967, and was the pastor at Christ the King Church in Tulsa for 13 years. He also served churches in Oklahoma City, Bartlesville, Dewey, Muskogee, and Ponca City.

He led or taught at Bishop Kelly and Bishop McGuiness High Schools, Marquette, and the Holy Family Cathedral School.

Monsignor Gier was rector for 17 years for Holy Family Cathedral in Tulsa.  He was on the board of directors for Catholic Charities of Tulsa and was vocational director for the Diocese of Tulsa.
The 50th anniversary of Monsignor Gier’s ordination was observed in 2017.

Listen to Monsignor Gier as he talks about his favorite people of the Bible, the challenges of the church, and Pope Leo on the podcast and website VoicesOfOklahoma.com.

Doug Dodd, a life-long Tulsan, was a television news reporter and documentary producer for KOTV and KTUL-TV before graduating from law school, and is one of a very few Tulsa attorneys who regularly represents national and local magazines, newspapers, and television stations, and media companies with an emphasis on First Amendment and defamation issues.

Doug served on the Tulsa Public Schools Board of Education for 11 years and was a candidate for Oklahoma’s First Congressional District seat in 2002 and 2004. 

Doug is a veteran of the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command, where he served as a Deputy Missile Combat Crew Commander.

Doug has been fortunate enough to meet, know, or cover many of Tulsa’s most notable people. Before entering private law practice in 1982, Doug served as a Law Clerk for United States District Judge James O. Ellison in the Northern District of Oklahoma.

You can hear Doug’s oral history on the podcast and website VoicesOfOklahoma.com.

2025 marks the 85th Anniversary of This Land Is Your Land. 

In this special edition of Voices of Oklahoma, we share the story of what motivated Woody Guthrie to write the song.

Woody Guthrie's daughter, Nora, reveals Woody's views on "God Bless America" and offers insight into his mindset when writing "This Land is Your Land."

After graduating from Antlers High School, Charles Stephenson attended the University of Oklahoma and earned a degree in petroleum engineering.

Following service in the U.S. Army, where he became an officer, he joined Amerada Petroleum Corporation.

Between 1973 and 1982, Stephenson was part-owner and president of privately-held Andover Oil Company.

After the sale of Andover, he co-founded Vintage Petroleum, Inc., where he served as president, chief executive officer, and chairman of the board. 

The company grew from three employees at start-up to more than 750 with operations in four countries and reserves of approximately 500 million barrels.

Stephenson is a founder of the Sarkeys Energy Center and, through his foundation, has funded the construction of two research facilities at the Research Campus at the University of Oklahoma. C

harles and his wife Peggy made a $12 million donation to The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, and in recognition of their support to the institution, a center has been named the Peggy and Charles Stephenson Oklahoma Cancer Center.

Listen to Charles tell his story and how his uncle interested him in the Energy business on the podcast and website VoicesOfOklahoma.com.

Voices of Oklahoma interviewed Nancy and Ted Kachel because their careers significantly impacted Tulsa. They were asked to write an introduction to their story. It is being read as written.

We are Ted and Nancy, two lives entwined by shared ambition and curiosity. Our paths first crossed at Iowa University, where we married in 1961 and set out together on a journey that took us from New York to San Francisco, Ann Arbor, Bogota, Tulsa, and beyond.

Along the way, we built careers in higher education of campus ministry and teaching religious studies, in social services with runaway kids and reproductive services, and in advocacy for psychedelic mysticism and healing domestic abuse, adopted three wonderful children from Bogota, Colombia, and devoted ourselves to church and community.

Through every move and milestone, we found in each other the missing pieces that made us whole. At every turn, we became the moving parts to click in place in each other’s lives, pushing forward together in this adventure of life and love. Our motto braves: “We’ve only just begun!”

Listen to their story on the podcast and website of VoicesOfOklahoma.com.