July 29, 2020 Issue, Page 1 of 16

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Serving Western Oklahoma Baker left lasting Elk City cuts effect on Elk City director job at visitors bureau By Manda Smith, Con- as a mentor to countless young people and adults, and was a By Don Munsch, Editor tributing writer breeder and owner of numerous champion cattle. Julie Lenius has put her heart into Elk City, and she It could be argued that no L.V. was also an active member of the Elk City United doesn’t want to leave town, even as she was terminated single resident was prouder Methodist Church, where he served on many boards and from her job as director of the Elk City Convention and of or did more for Elk City sang in the choir for many years. Visitors Bureau. than L.V. Baker Jr. During his life, L.V. met many people whose lives he Lenius’ job was cut last week in a cost-trimming move, He took his first breath touched, in ways both significant and small. It wasn’t hard to said Elk City interim City Manager Tom Ivester. Julie here on July 20, 1928, and find people who wanted to share their memories of this man Brewer will continue to work at the convention and visi- 4 took his last breath, sur- who did so much for Elk City. tors bureau and will be the lone employee there. Lenius’ rounded by loved ones, last Carla Garrison is an Elk City resident and works with the former duties will be given to several employees, Ivester week, on July 20. His 92 Elk City Museum, where she first met L.V. many years ago; said, and her departure was not performance-related. years were filled to the brim later, she sang in the choir with him at church. “Tt was a cost-saving measure, a budgetary decision L.V. Baker with love, family, philan- “T knew him because of the museum board,” she said. “He due to the decreased budget picture and the oil bust, basi- thropy, and friends. was always very dedicated to the things that he was involved cally,” Ivester said. After completing medical school and his residency, L.V. in. He was fun to be with; some physicians can be cold, but Tvester said Lenius’ salary came from the hotel and mo- returned to Elk City to start his career as a general practice he was very calming and very warm and comfortable to visit tel tax fund, which is part of the overall city budget, and physician and surgeon, his obituary stated. Over the years, with, as a doctor and as a person.” it has a designation of what it can be used for. But that he delivered over 3,000 babies. He married the love of his She laughed, remembering an incident at the Safari B fund had a projected deficit, Ivester said, and he does not life, Pat, in 1960. They built a life together with son Rand Ranch when an animal got a little unruly. expect to fill that director position at the visitors bureau and daughter Karen. Their family would grow to include nu- “The choir would go out to the ranch, and Dr, Baker would in the near future. merous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. L.V. loved show us the animals, and he would lead them around, and I No other personnel moves are expected in the city un- them dearly and found any excuse to spend time with them. can’t remember if it was a zebra, but it decided it wanted him less the budget picture changes, Ivester said. When he wasn’t bringing new life into the world or spend- gone and tried to run off with him,” she said. “He survived, Tn June, after Ivester took over as interim city manager, ing time with his family, L.V. helped grow and enrich the and we always had a wonderful time out there, looking at three employees were let go for what Ivester said were town of Elk City. the wild animals and sitting and enjoying the water and the budgetary reasons: Jim Mason, director of economic and He and his wife Pat helped create the museum complex in wonderful food.” community development; Tad Boone, safety officer; and Elk City, by soliciting grants and donations and collecting Justin Ediger, an Elk City resident, also spent time with Kye Harper, director of human resources. artifacts and exhibits, his obituary stated. They were charter L.V. in the choir at Elk City United Methodist Church and Lenius said she appreciated getting an opportunity to members of the Western Oklahoma Historical Society and has fond memories of his love for others and love for music. serve Elk City and said she loved every part of the job were inducted into its Hall of Fame in 1979. In 2016 they “T knew him for the last 12 years,” Ediger said. “LV was and “was so proud to do it,” and she hopes that the con- were also inducted into the Oklahoma Historians Hall of probably one of the nicest and most benevolent people I’ve vention and visitors bureau continues to make a differ- Fame. ever known. He was blessed in his life financially, and he ence for the city. She worked at the convention and visi- He served for 10 years on the Elk City Board of Educa- used that in a lot of ways to bless others. He was just a good tors bureau for five years. tion, spending some of that time as president, and was also guy. One of the lasting memories I have was in his late 80s, “T understand that Elk City is not immune to the effects active in the Chamber of Commerce. and he approached me about wanting to take vocal lessons. I of all of this [economic downturn] and so hard decisions L.V. and Pat also somehow found the time to raise Texas told him, ‘I'll give them to you, but it’s not something people See Visitors page 2. longhorns and several species of exotic animals including, usually get into at 80-something years old.” but not limited to, zebra, impala, giraffe and antelope, ac- “He was insistent, he wanted to get better at singing, and cording to the obituary. They started in 1971 with the pur- chase of five head of cattle and acquired their ranch the next I think that was just an example of how he lived his life,” Ediger said. “He was always wanting to get better and keep Beckham County cattle. Over 50 years, they raised over 3,700 head. L. V. con- because he was getting older, that didn’t mean he had to stop officials temporarily year; they established the Safari B brand of Texas Longhorn learning new things. He always kept active and thought just Ediger pointed out that Elk City would not have been the close public access tributed to the national Texas Longhorn Breeders Associa- living life.” tion of America over those years as well. to courthouse In the Breeders Association, he served as national presi- same without the Baker family. dent, and was a highly sought-after show judge. He served See Baker page 2. The Beckham County Commissioners voted Thursday to OSU to require testing for on-campus temporarily restrict public access to all courthouse or annex buildings because of some COVID-19 infections with em- ployees at the courthouse. residents prior to move- n Commissioners’ vote came in an emergency meeting in response to recent events “with COVID-19 and positive test STILLWATER — Oklahoma State University announced check into their residence hall, the release stated. results in the county courthouse,” a news release stated. The release stated commissioners will review this deci- Thursday that it will require students living on campus to “OSU University Health Services will process all tests as sion on a weekly basis at regularly scheduled commission- complete a COVID-19 test before checking in to campus quickly as possible,” the release stated. “While awaiting test ers meetings. housing. results, students are advised to limit interactions with others All offices will still be operational through electronic The university, in its effort to provide safe housing and and, if possible, isolate in their assigned housing.” means such as telephone, websites and email, officials said, move-in procedures, also is implementing a staggered move-in schedule for campus residents, OSU stated in a Approximately 300 bed spaces will be available for quar- and until further notice there will be no in-person visits to antine. These will be assigned as needed as space is avail- the courthouse or annex buildings. news release. “Due to a handful of positive cases of county employees, “All residents are assigned a specific date and time for able. Students also may be asked to quarantine in place. we felt this was the best route to help protect the public and their move-in.,” the release stated. “There will be no more The university said it has taken a multilayered response our employees,” said Carl Don Campbell, chairman of the than 850 people moving in on any given day spread through- to keeping students safe in the resident halls, including in- Beckham County Board of County Commissioners, in the out 31 residence halls. Residents are asked to bring no more stallation of social distancing markers, plexiglass shields on release. than two people to assist during move-in.” desks, centrally located hand sanitizer stations in the halls, Officials said the decision was based off of Oklahoma Southwestern Oklahoma State University will not be State Department of Health and Centers for Disease Control designated entrance and exit doors, designated up and down mandating any universal testing before move-in, said Brian and Prevention recommendations and guidelines. Commis- stairwells and new air filters installed in every air handling Adler, SWOSU vice president of public relations and mar- sioners also passed a resolution based on CDC Guidelines keting. unit. Additional signage is being installed throughout Hous- on a Return to Work protocol. ing and Residential Life to remind everyone to wear a mask, OSU will require all students and staff to wear a mask any Anyone needing assistance from any county office can time they are in a public area or outside of their assigned wash their hands and use water fountains with caution. call or email according to the information below: living unit. Campus residents will receive a mask when they News Editor Don Munsch contributed to this story. See Courthouse page 2. «UAL AN Weather tomorrow @ 91/67 Vol. 118, No. 63 75 cents, 16 pgs. Mail delivery 580.225.3000 View online elkcityoknews.com