John Steele Zink was inducted into the Tulsa Hall of Fame in 1992

A fertile imagination and a zeal for the unorthodox were two personal qualities of John Steele Zink that have had a lasting impact on Tulsa. While others busied themselves with conforming to someone else’s standards in order to achieve success, the iconoclastic Mr. Zink followed his own instincts resulting in successes that were as big as his ideas. 

Mr. Zink came to Oklahoma Territory from Iowa in 1907.  His family settled in the Norman area.  Following his graduation from the University of Oklahoma, he began a short career with ONG where he quickly learned that life as just one cog in a large corporation was totally against his nature.  He formed his own company in 1928 to manufacture burners that he had invented.  Subsequent technical innovations followed as the company moved its operations to the site of a dairy farm on rural South Peoria in 1935.  The Tulsa-based John Zink Company became the international leader in the combustion field and the company branched out to include environmental control systems.

Mr. Zink’s enormous ambitions were not limited to his business interests.  While his generosity reached all segments of his city and state, his work for the Boy Scouts was monumental.  His vision was to create a natural resource on the 10,000 acre ranch he began assembling in Osage County in the 1940’s.  Mr. Zink created the John Zink Foundation from this ranch, believing the wilderness would help young men develop into the managers of the future.  He could often be seen upon his “vehicle of choice,” a bulldozer, sensitively shaping roadways and campsites in the rocky Osage terrain.  An environmentalist before the word was coined, Mr. Zink preserved an ecosystem which has been adversely affected by the oil industry which had provided him with much of his success.

The exploits of Mr. Zink have become legendary and involve snakes, guns, racecars, and bolo ties.  In each case, the legends reflect the confident determination of a man secure in his beliefs and his desire to make a positive impact on the lives of others.  In 1972 he created and funded the John Steele Zink Foundation, separate from the ranch foundation, to support Arts, education and humanities.

Henry Zarrow was inducted into the Tulsa Hall of Fame in 1992

His belief that he should “give back to the community” has allowed Henry Zarrow to have an impact on the lives of thousands of Tulsans.  In the course of his “giving back,” Mr. Zarrow has earned a national reputation for philanthropy based on his devotion to his family, his faith, and pure kindness.

Henry Zarrow became a Tulsan in 1927 when the Zarrow family moved from Milwaukee and began operation of a grocery store at 1427 East Sixth Street.  The Zarrows founded Sooner Pipe and Iron in 1937 at 15 East Cameron (the site of the Creek Hanging Tree).  Under the leadership of Mr. Zarrow’s father, Sam, Sooner Pipe would become one of the nation’s leading oil supply companies.  Following his father’s death, Henry Zarrow became the company’s President, and together with his brother, Jack, worked to make Sooner Pipe and its affiliates a business with global activities. 

Mr. Zarrow has shared the results of his business success with a roster of institutions and organizations that reflects his concern for the well-being of others.  His efforts on behalf of charities includes the fields of medicine (St. Francis Hospital, Children’s Medical Center, Hillcrest Medical Center) social services (the Salvation Army, the Day Center for the Homeless, Eldercare), education (the United Negro College Fund, the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence) and the Arts (the Philbrook Museum, the Gilcrease Museum).  This incomplete list is just a small sample of those benefiting from Mr. Zarrow’s belief in “giving back.”

As with the list of those he helped, the list of Mr. Zarrow’s awards and honors is lengthy.  It includes humanitarian awards, brotherhood awards, and outstanding achievement awards.  While it is ironic that a man who has so little interest in personal recognition should have compiled such a list, this recognition is the logical result of a career dedicated to sharing with mankind.

Roberta Campbell Lawson was inducted into the Tulsa Hall of Fame in 1992

Roberta Campbell Lawson sought to achieve a “spiritual balance” between her Native American heritage and the modern world.  This was one motivation for her tireless activities for the benefit of education and the Arts.

Mrs. Lawson was born in Alluwe, I.T. in 1878, the daughter of a prosperous cattleman.  Since there were no public schools in the territory, Mrs. Lawson’s early education was in the hands of private tutors.  Her formal education was completed at Hardin College, where she studied music and literature.  However, the most dramatic force in her education was not from textbooks, but from her maternal grandfather, Rev. Charles Journeycake, the last chief of the Delaware Indians.  From him she learned the legends and chants of the Delaware people, as well as an appreciation for the world of nature.

She married Eugene Lawson and established a home in Nowata in 1901.  His lucrative law practice and banking interests were superseded by the oil industry when the boom hit Nowata.  His financial successes gave Mrs. Lawson freedom to pursue her personal interests and were responsible for the family’s move to Tulsa in 1917.

The women’s club movement was an important forum during the first half of the 20^th century for women to address social and political issues.  Mrs. Lawson was quite active in this arena, both locally and on a statewide level.  For more than twenty years she served in a variety of offices and in 1935 was elected President of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs, and made her responsible for the efforts of over three million women around the country.  This position gave her access to national leaders including Franklin Roosevelt and Will Rogers, both of whom admired Mrs. Lawson’s abilities and modesty.

Mrs. Lawson became a passionate collector of Native American materials.  The collection of art, artifacts, and supporting archival materials that she donated to Philbrook have become an important educational resource.  Through this legacy and the foundations she laid at educational institutions throughout Oklahoma, Mrs. Lawson has allowed generations to learn of the balance between her Native American Heritage and their own world.

Dan P. Holmes was inducted into the Tulsa Hall of Fame in 1992

Thousands of drivers travel old Highway 33 east of Tulsa every day.  The vast majority of those travelers automatically think of one name, Dan. P. Holmes as their tires roll on the four lanes of concrete.  It was Mr. Holmes advocacy for the improvement of that important link with northwest Arkansas that led to the current highway’s existence.  The modern highway is a fitting symbol of Mr. Holmes’ dedication to Tulsa.

The Holmes family moved to Tulsa from Fayetteville, Arkansas, in 1913.  The trip must have been a long one, for it left a permanent impression on the 12 year old Dan.  Mr. Holmes began his business career shortly after coming to Tulsa by selling newspapers after school.  Mr. Holmes established Dan P. Holmes and Associates in the 1930’s.  While the business climate of the city was not bright during that period, Mr. Holmes managed to make the insurance firm a success.  “You had to fight to make a dollar – and then fight to keep it,” summed up Mr. Holmes feelings about the time.

Mr. Holmes became active in a variety of Tulsa civic causes.  He was chairman of the 1955 Community Chest fund drive, served on the boards of the University of Tulsa and the Performing Arts Center Trust, and was a major supporter of the 4-H and the Future Farmers of America.  However, it was his battle to improve Highway 33 that became the cause most closely associated Mr. Holmes.  The Tulsa airwaves and print media were filled for decades with his pleas to widen the road.  As a businessman, he knew that Tulsa’s role as a commercial center of the region depended on adequate transportation connections and he believed the tie with northwest Arkansas was essential.

Highway 33 from Chouteau to its connection with Interstate 44 east of Tulsa is named the “Dan P. Holmes Expressway.”  The wide, safe and efficient highway is the memorial Mr. Holmes would have most appreciated.

Ben Henneke was inducted into the Tulsa Hall of Fame in 1992

The high caliber of Tulsa’s intellectual discourse has been among the most important facets of the city’s development.  Ben Henneke’s voice has been at the center of that discourse for almost five decades.

Dr. Henneke came to Tulsa from St. Louis at the age of four.  He was educated in the Tulsa Public Schools and was graduated from Tulsa Central High School.  His educational background includes degrees earned from the University of Iowa and the University of Illinois.

By combining classroom teaching with an active career in radio broadcasting, Dr. Henneke has been in a unique position of influence.  A career at the University of Tulsa began with an assistant professorship in 1936 and his teaching career continued until 1952 when he assumed the position of Academic Vice-President.  Dr. Henneke served as the President of the University of Tulsa from 1958 – 1967.  During this entire period his broadcasting career kept him involved with KWGS (he founded the station in 1947), KVOO (he was a censor during WWII), and NBC.  “Hey, Rube,” a radio program which featured Tulsa’s brightest talents during the 1940’s, is still a local broadcasting landmark.  Dr. Henneke returned to the classroom as the Trustee Professor of Humanities following his retirement from the university’s presidency.  While his teaching career ended in 1982, his radio commentaries continue to be heard on KWGS.

Dr. Henneke is the author of several texts on radio announcing and speech.  His scholarly work on the nineteenth century actress Laura Keene resulted in the publication of a biography in 1990.  Through numerous book reviews, articles, and essays published in The Tulsa World and The Tulsa Tribune, Dr. Henneke’s perspectives on cultural concerns have enlightened and entertained.  His wit can be counted as one of Tulsa’s greatest assets.