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The Bartlesville Community Foundation honored the Dunlap, Vaclaw and Lyon families during the Legacy Hall of Fame Gala on Saturday night at the Bartlesville Community Center.

Both Dunlap and Vaclaw families were inducted into the Legacy Hall of Fame, while the Lyons were the second ever family to receive the Heritage Family Award. The families were set to be honored in 2020, but the coronavirus pandemic postponed the event to 2021.

Below is their words and their stories.

Dunlap Family

Mike Dunlap joined his brothers Tom and Jim on the stage to accept the honor on their family's behalf. Mike quoted an ancient proverb, saying "those who drink the water should never forget those who dug the well." He said Bartlesville is fortunate to be blessed by those who invest their money, time, love and sweat into the community; he said the legacy of those families will live on whether or not their family continues to live in Bartlesville because it is impossible to measure the influence that these families have had on the community.

Dunlap thanked everyone for the tremendous honor for their family. He asked everyone to dig their wells deep so that the community may be made better by our actions and our words. 

The Dunlap family has been in Bartlesville since 1937. Originally from Hardy, Arkansas, Ray and Lucile Dunlap and their young son, Ken, moved to Bartlesville when Ray had an opportunity to work for his uncle who was a home builder in town. Ray went on to found Dunlap Construction Company in 1939.  In 1945, daughter Theresa was born, which completed the first generation of Dunlaps in Bartlesville.

While Ray operated the family business, Lucile was active in many organizations. She also helped with Ken’s Boy Scout troop, taught Sunday school at the Bartlesville Church of Christ, and was the cook at the local Girl Scout’s Camp Wah-Shah-She for 40 years. She was once described as, “A fine Christian lady who loved her family, her community, state and nation, and served all of them well.” Lucile passed away in 1975.

After graduating from College High School in 1949, Ken attended Oklahoma A&M then transferred to Drury College in Springfield, Missouri. There he met and married his Drury College sweetheart Levah Bishop of Springfield.  They returned to Bartlesville where Ken joined Ray in the family business. Father and son spent nearly 30 years working together before Ray passed away in 1982.

Ken and Levah raised three sons, Mike, Tom, and Jim, in Bartlesville. The boys all attended Will Rogers Elementary, Madison Middle School, and Sooner High School. They all earned college degrees and returned home to work with their dad at Dunlap Construction. Levah also worked in the family business for many years until her passing in 2010. Ken passed away March 7, 2020 at the age of 89.

Theresa taught science Central Middle School for 31 years. She lived in the home she grew up in at 10th and Jennings and continued the traditions of her mother by being a volunteer for the home-bound and needy throughout the community. Theresa passed away August 13, 2020 at the age of 75. 

Mike and his wife Paula have three adult children. Ryan is a Marriage and Family therapist in Jackson, Mississippi where he lives with his wife, Bridget, and daughters, Kennedy and Blakely. Travis and his wife Sophia live in Bartlesville where Travis owns a piano and percussion business. He served in the Oklahoma House of Representatives for four years. Kelsey currently works in business services in Breckenridge, Colorado. Paula is retired after working for the construction company and then ConocoPhillips. Mike served four years on the Bartlesville City Council including two as vice mayor. He has served as Washington County Commissioner since 2007.

Tom and his wife Janey have two daughters, Emma and Sara. Janey has spent 24 years in public education, including 17 years as a Pre-K teacher at Will Rogers and Wayside Elementary. Emma is married to Tim Hamilton and they have one daughter Evelyn. Sara is married to Skyler Scullawl, and she works for ConocoPhillips. Tom is retired from Dunlap Construction and is enjoying time with his first grandchild Evelyn.

Jim and his wife Pam have three children Harrison, Preston, and Avery. From 1997 to 2005, Pam was CEO for the Bartlesville Area Chamber of Commerce and is one of the founders of the Bartlesville Community Foundation. Jim represented Bartlesville in the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1988 to 1996 and in the Oklahoma Senate from 1996 to 2004. Jim and Pam live in Edmond where both are government affairs consultants.

Vaclaw Family

Tyler Vaclaw spoke on behalf on his entire family on Saturday night. Vaclaw said the first and second generation of Vaclaws set the standard for the four generations to come. He said there is family, community, and your standards to live by amongst everything else in life.

Vaclaw said it is important for the third, fourth, fifth and sixth generations of Vaclaws to remember the significance of the Bartlesville community, hard work and love for family. He said they appreciate the honor and that they look forward to another 100 years in Bartlesville.

Bartlesville has been home to the Vaclaw family for 100 years. Walenty “Joseph” Vaclaw arrived as a Polish immigrant in 1920. His original name was Waclaw, but he changed the spelling because a “W” sounds like a “V” in the Polish dialect. 

Walenty and his wife, Bernice, had four children: Pauline, Josephine, Ann, and Mike. The Vaclaws lived in a small frame house next to the local smelter where Walenty worked. Bernice worked as a maid for the Burlingame Hotel and would bring home leftovers from the lobby cafe. All of the children worked to support the family. Ann worked as a maid for Frank Phillips, both at his home and Woolaroc Ranch.

Tragically, Pauline died from blood problems, Berniece succumbed to diabetes, and Walenty committed suicide during the Great Depression.

Mike, the only son, graduated high school and joined the local fire department. He worked there for 20 years and became the senior captain. During his time there he met his future wife, Katherine, a waitress at the Brass Rail Cafe. They married in 1938 and had a son, Michael, in 1942. Katherine had two children from a previous marriage, Jack and JoAnne McCarty. After graduating from Col-Hi in 1949, Jack entered the Navy and established his home in the Norman area. He passed in 2004. JoAnne graduated from Col-Hi in 1951 and married Taz Burt in 1953. They had three children, and JoAnne lived in Bartlesville until her passing in 1996. JoAnne worked for Phillips Petroleum for over 30 years.

After retiring from the fire department, Mike went to work for Phillips Petroleum Company. He retired in 1980. Katherine worked for Koppel’s Clothing Store until 1949 and then sewed from her home. Mike passed away in 1986, and Katherine passed in 1997.

Their son, Michael, graduated from Col-Hi in 1960 and attended the University of Oklahoma on a football scholarship. He met his future wife, Roberta, while participating in the All-State football game. They married in 1964 and established a home in Bartlesville in 1971 after Michael had completed dental school and had served in the Army. Michael operated his dental practice for 34 years before retiring in 2005. He and Robbie have been active in community projects throughout their lives.

The Vaclaws raised eight children, all of whom graduated Bartlesville High School. Ryan Vaclaw is the oldest child and a veteran family physician. He and his wife, Julie, have four children.

Stacy, an esthetician technician, is married to local dentist John Lard. They also have four children.

Tyler and wife, Amanda, have four children. Tyler works for L&T Infotech and has served on the Bartlesville Board of Education for nine years. Amanda, RN, is a practical nursing instructor at Tri County Tech. 

Russell is an Oklahoma associate district judge for Washington County. He and Emilie, a dental hygienist, have three children.

Bartlesville’s New Year’s baby in 1975, Lorne is director of retail for Murphy Oil in Edmond, OK. He and his wife, Heather, have two children.

Amy, a dental hygienist, and husband Brian Christenson live in Dallas where he is CFO for two tech companies. They have four children.

 The youngest son, Marcin, is a podiatrist who lives in The Woodlands, TX. He and his wife, Brittany, have six children. The youngest, Katie, is a special needs individual who lives in Tulsa.

Lyon Family

There were no living family members of the Lyon family to accept the Heritage Family Award, so John Kane with the Lyon Foundation accepted the honors on their behalf. Kane said Ted and Melody would be pleased to see where Bartlesville is today and where their resources have been deployed for the good of the community.

Emile Hubert Lyon was born on March 26, 1906 in Elmo, TX, forty miles east of Dallas. After graduating high school, he attended Texas A&M College where he played on the football team. When he was a freshman, his teammates called him “Ted” after Chicago White Sox pitcher Ted Lyons. The nickname stuck throughout his life.

Ted left college in 1924 and worked as a tank car inspector for Pierce Petroleum Company of Dallas. He met and dated Melody Simmons of Sweetwater, TX. The couple married on December 29, 1928.

Ted began his 37-year career with Phillips Petroleum Company a month later. He started as a district salesman in Amarillo, TX. His abilities as a businessman served him well as he worked his way up the sales management field. He became vice president of sales in 1959, and was elected to the company’s board of directors in 1962. Ted took early retirement on February 1, 1965.

Besides his involvement with Phillips Petroleum Company, he became very involved in the cattle industry and owned a 700-acre ranch stocked with “white faced” cattle, as he called them.

Elsewhere, Ted saw a promising future in a small refining company named Bell Oil and Gas. The business grew and prospered and Ted became the major owner of the company. Later, he worked out an agreement with Jack Vickers of Wichita, KS. Vickers owned a retail petroleum marketing company with service stations throughout the Midwest. The two men eventually sold their company to Swift Meat Packing Company and received stock in Swift. Over the years, the stock increased in value and was a major part of his estate at the time of his death.

In addition to three ranches, Ted had a resort at Grand Lake. After his death, the resort was sold and is now known as “The Coves” housing addition. 

For many years, Lyon had shown evidence of his generous nature and his philosophy of giving. In 1967, he personally conducted the fundraising drive to build a coronary care center in what was then Jane Phillips Episcopal-Memorial Medical Center. He himself contributed today’s equivalent of $69,000 to the project. A few years later he donated the equivalent of 345,000 to help construct the hospital’s intensive care unit. But helping young people, civic projects, and educational facilities was also part of the Lyon’s philosophy of giving.

By the early 1970s, Ted realized he had amassed a considerable fortune, and that he needed to do something to avoid the federal government getting a substantial portion of his estate. Ted and Melody didn’t have children, but they were close to four nieces and one nephew. They created a unitrust, which would become effective after their deaths and provide income for the nieces and nephew. When they were all deceased, the unitrust would terminate and the assets would be transferred to the E.H. Lyon and Melody Lyon Foundation.

 Ted passed away on April 15, 1978 at the age of 72. Melody passed away less than two weeks later on April 27 at the age of 68.

Since that time and under the guidance of a five-member board, the Lyon Foundation has donated millions of dollars to countless groups and organizations for the betterment of the Bartlesville community they called home.

Previous Inductees

Past Legacy families were recognized during the gala on Saturday night. Those Legacy families include names include Kane, Johnstone, May, Gorman, Doenges, Adams, Sears, Hughes, Price, Foster, Silas, Cox, Vasudevan, Garrison, Roll, Colaw, Halkiades, Bowerman, Haskell, Ambler, Curd, Saddoris, Potter, and Zervas. In 2019, the Artunoff family was honored with the inaugural Heritage award.