MidAmerica Industrial Park, which is Oklahoma's largest industrial park, the third largest industrial park in the United States, and the eighth largest industrial park in the world, is located in Pryor, Oklahoma.  

In this episode of Voices of Oklahoma, as we share the story of the park, we want you to know the man responsible for its very existence: Gene R. Redden.

A bronze plaque outside the entrance to the MidAmerica Industrial Park administrative office reads: “GENE R. REDDEN, Founder of the MidAmerica Industrial Park”He was honored by a joint resolution from the Oklahoma Senate and House of Representatives stating: “His courage and enthusiasm knew no limits. This facility is dedicated to his honor.”

Gene was 70 years old when he died June 7, 1990.

We thank his son, Roger Redden, for being our storyteller on the podcast and website, Voices of Oklahoma.

A citizen of the Cherokee Nation, Jay Hannah served as the Nation's Secretary-Treasurer and as Chairman of the Nation’s 1999 Constitution convention.

As Board Chairman of Cherokee Nation Business, Jay directed the Nation’s holding company for all enterprise operations. He Co-Chaired the Nation’s Private Industry Council with Principal Chief Wilma Mankiller.

A community banker for over 40 years in Oklahoma, Jay has served as bank president in the communities of Guthrie and Tahlequah. As head of Financial Services for BancFirst, Jay supervises a wide range of profit centers and support units.

He is a frequent lecturer at a variety of schools offered by the Oklahoma Bankers Association.In Jay’s oral history, you will encounter a history lesson of the Cherokees as it relates to the state of Oklahoma, on the podcast and oral history website VoicesOfOklahoma.com.

Donna Shirley grew up in Wynnewood, Oklahoma. Her interest in Mars and space exploration began when she read The Sands of Mars by Arthur C. Clarke.  She took flying lessons at age 15 and soloed at the Pauls Valley Airport the next year, earning a pilot’s license at 16.
She enrolled in the University of Oklahoma as an engineering student, even though her advisor told her that “Girls can’t be engineers.”

Donna worked at the Jet Propulsion Lab from 1966 to 1998 and was the only woman among the 2,000 engineers who had an engineering degree. 

Her 35-year career as an aerospace engineer reached a pinnacle in July 1997 when Sojourner–the solar-powered, self-guided, microwave-oven-sized rover–was seen exploring the Martian landscape in Pathfinder’s spectacular images from the surface of the red planet.  She was the leader of the mostly male team that designed and built Sojourner–the first woman ever to manage a NASA program.  

Listen to Donna’s oral history interview, as she talks about the thrill of seeing the first Mars images, how she became a trailblazer, and whether there is life on Mars on the podcast and oral history website, VoicesOfOklahoma.com.

Howard Barnett began his career in 1975 as a business lawyer in Tulsa, specializing in securities offerings and corporate transactions primarily for the growing number of entrepreneurial oil and gas companies.

In 1985, he joined Tribune Swab-Fox Companies Inc. as its executive vice president and COO of its daily newspaper subsidiary, Tulsa Tribune Company, eventually becoming chairman and CEO of the parent company. 

Barnett entered state government in 1998 as secretary of commerce for Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating and as the director of the Oklahoma Department of Commerce. In 1999, he became Governor Keating’s chief of staff, serving until the end of Keating’s term in January 2003.

He was named OSU-Tulsa President in 2009 and became President Emeritus in 2019.
In Howard’s oral history interview, he talks about the closing of the Tulsa Tribune, his work in state government, and his work in Tulsa’s new form of city government, on the oral history podcast and website of VoicesOfOklahoma.com.

Donald E. Pray reached many goals by graduating from Tulsa’s Central High School in 1950, graduating from the University of Tulsa in 1955 with a degree in petroleum engineering, and graduating from the University of Oklahoma School of Law in 1963.

The law library at the University of Oklahoma was named for him thanks to a gift from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, honoring Don Pray’s service to the foundation as its first Executive Director and then as a long time-time trustee. He was a founding partner at the Pray, Walker, Jackman, Williamson & Marler law firm. 

Don was one of the founding Trustees of the Grace and Franklin Bernsen Foundation and has also served as a Director or Trustee of St. John Medical Center, the University of Tulsa, Philbrook Art Museum, and the Tulsa Ballet Theatre.

These major accomplishments by a man who “grew up in a garage”. It has been written about Don that “his life has been rewarding, not because of what he has received, but because of what he has been able to encourage others to do.”

Now you can listen to Don’s interesting life story on VoicesofOklahoma.com.

The sports network ESPN owes its existence to Tulsa’s own George Conner. After graduating from the University of Tulsa with a marketing degree in 1964, George went to work for Skelly Oil in downtown Tulsa.

When Getty Oil gained control of Skelly in 1974, George became a finance manager and was asked to study a proposed Connecticut-based Cable Television network committed to all-day, every-day sports programming. George approved the project and Getty Oil made an initial investment of $10 million which grew to $160 Million. ESPN went live on September 7, 1979. 

Co-founder Bill Rasmussen stated: “I still firmly believe that, without Conner as the bridge to Getty money, there would have been no ESPN.”

Listen to George talk about the beginning of this new concept of a 24-hour sports network and his role in establishing ESPN on the podcast and oral history website VoicesOfOklahoma.

Born at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Eddy Gibbs was raised in Checotah by his mother. Only 10 when his father passed away, Gibbs felt a strong need to provide for the family.  After graduation from high school, he began installing fences in Tulsa, followed by apprenticeships in Kansas City, Missouri and Bakersfield, California to perfect the trade. He returned home to start his own company and, eight years later, began manufacturing fence products.  

Ameristar became the largest ornamental fence manufacturer in the world. Upon sale of the company, with terms that the company remain in Oklahoma, Gibbs distributed a portion of the proceeds from the sale to employees as a token of appreciation.

Close to his Owasso home, Gibbs’ weekend retreat is northeast Oklahoma’s Shangri-La Resort. After it fell into disrepair, he purchased the property and restored the resort’s reputation, dramatically increasing tourism to the area and employment opportunities for local residents.
          
Listen to Eddy talk about his inventions, how 9/11 affected his business, and his huge donation to Rejoice school on the podcast and oral history website VoicesOfOklahoma.com.

Richard “Dick” Willhour graduated from Will Rogers High School and enrolled in the University of Tulsa. When World War II began, he joined the Army and was attached to the 100th Infantry division as a machine gunner.

Upon his return from military service, Dick’s father told him to write about the experience, and so, at 99 years old, that script was helpful in telling his story. The chaos of the battlefield, the loss of comrades, and being wounded in service to his country, are all told in a humble way.  

And even in his 99th year, Dick was of service to his church, handing out snack packs to those in need.

He owned Pennant Petroleum Company which was a DX Sunoco jobber.

Dick was 99 when he died November 1st, 2024, but you can hear his voice as he talks about the Oklahoma land run, his preparation for war, and the loss of four company commanders on the battlefield on the podcast and oral history website VoicesOfOklahoma.com.

Born in a half-dugout, in what was Fonda, Oklahoma, Roger Hardesty went on to become a real estate developer and builder, making his mark on Tulsa in 1959.

During his late teens he began his building career by learning on the job, starting with concrete finishing, then single-family followed by multi-family housing units, industrial buildings, commercial retail centers, office buildings and hotels.

He owned Mid-Continent Concrete and founded and operated over 25 different business ventures including Alliance Transportation, the Quarry Landfill, and Bizjet International.

Roger was sixteen when he obtained his pilot license, which led to founding the United States Aviation, the country’s premier independent Fixed Based operator facility, worldwide aircraft character services, and Black Hawk helicopter air crane business.

Roger and his wife, Donna, established The Hardesty Family Foundation with a focus on Tulsa nonprofits.

Listen to Roger talk about how he learned to build houses while hanging sheetrock, his love for flying, and his desire to give back to Tulsa on the podcast and oral history website VoicesOfOklahoma.com.

The John T. Nickel story is that of a work ethic which led to success far beyond anything he could have ever imagined. While in his early twenties, along with a friend, he traveled to California for an adventure. He returned to Oklahoma with an idea that set him on a path beyond his wildest dream. As a result, he developed Greenleaf Nursery in Cherokee County, Oklahoma (on Lake Tenkiller), into a multi-state business. Then, at his brother Gil’s including Far Niente, in Napa Valley.As a young lad he enjoyed hiking, fishing, and nature along the Illinois River and dreamed of owning that land one day. Eventually this passion led him to the ownership of the Caney Creek Ranch, the J-5 Ranch, and the donation of 14,000 acres to the Nature Conservancy for a wildlife and nature preserve. To complete the dream, he reintroduced elk to the John T. Nickel Family Nature and Wildlife Preserve.He was recognized with a Wildlife Stewardship Award by NatureWorks in 2004 and was a recipient of The Nature Conservancy’s first Oak Leaf Award in 2006.This story actually begins in a small mom-and-pop nursery business in Muskogee, Oklahoma, where John T. Nickel was born.