Currently at the Memorial & Museum

John Richels Elected Chair of Memorial Trustees

January 05, 2010

January is a month of new beginnings for people and businesses all over the world. This year marks a new journey for all Officers and Trustees that have been elected to serve for the 2010 term at the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum and it marks the retirement of some of the board’s original board members.

John Richels, a Memorial Trustee since 2006, has been elected the 2010 Chairman of the Oklahoma City National Memorial Foundation.

Richels is currently the President of Devon Energy where he has been employed since 1996. Richels was previously a partner in a Canadian-based national law firm and also served as general counsel of the XV Olympic Winter Games Organizing Committee in Calgary. He is currently a member of the board of trustees of Oklahoma City University, St. Anthony Hospital, the Independent Petroleum Association of America, the Oklahoma City Boathouse Foundation, the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce and the Oklahoma City Philharmonic.

The additional officers that have been elected for the 2010 term are: Gary Pierson, Chief Operating Officer of the Oklahoma Publishing Company as Vice Chair; Justice Steven Taylor, from the Oklahoma Supreme Court as Treasurer; Susan Winchester, sister of Dr. Margaret “Peggy” Clark and retired State Representative as Secretary; and Bill Scheihing, Senior Banker from JP Morgan Chase as immediate Past Chair. Mike Turpen and Rhonda Hooper will also serve on the Executive Committee as at-large members.

The two newly elected Trustees for the 2010 term are Rhonda Hooper and Richard Nix.

Rhonda Hooper is President and CEO of Jordan Associates. Hooper currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce, is Chairman of the OKC convention & Visitors Commission, and a member of the Oklahoma City Economic Development Trust. She also serves on the Board of Directors for the YMCA of Greater OKC, Leadership Oklahoma, the OKC Boathouse Board, the Oklahoma Centennial Horse show and the North Texas/Oklahoma American Association of Advertising Agencies.

Richard Nix is Managing Director of McAfee & Taft APC. Nix currently serves on the OKC YMCA Board of Directors, Calm Waters Board of Directors, and the Board of Trustees OU Medical Center.

Eleven trustees, many who have been on the Memorial board since its inception, retired due to term limit; these retirees are: Bill Bell, Rowland Denman, Burns Hargis, Renee Preftakes, Deb Ferrell-Lynn, Frank Hill, Jerome Holmes, Bob Johnson, Polly Nichols, Shirley Shanker, and Richard Williams.

The Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum appreciates everyone that has helped both past and present to make the Memorial the success that it is.

"We are really looking forward to 2010 as we commemorate the 15th anniversary and show the world the resilience of this state and its people. We are also so grateful to those founding trustees who focused on our mission and helped us get to where we are today," said Kari Watkins, Executive Director. "Their work placed an important foundation for the new Trustees to build on as we move forward and work to keep our mission as relevant today as when they started this community process."

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