Former Sooner dies

[Jay C. Upchurch]

Barth P. "Jiggs," Walker, who played football at the University of Oklahoma from 1935-37, died Saturday after suffering a stroke. Walker was 91. An Arkansas native who eventually established himself in Oklahoma City and became a highly successful attorney, Walker was a lineman for the Sooners under coach Biff Jones in 1935-36 and Tom Stidham in 1937.

[Soonerus]

Barth P. "Jiggs," Walker, who played football at the University of Oklahoma from 1935-37, died Saturday after suffering a stroke. Walker was 91. An Arkansas native who eventually established himself in Oklahoma City and became a highly successful attorney, Walker was a lineman for the Sooners under coach Biff Jones in 1935-36 and Tom Stidham in 1937.

Not to critic your word usage Jay, but don't you mean "Former Sooner Football Great dies"....I met Barth a few times and was proud when he was listed on the first team on the Sports Illustated 25th anniversary team...he was a good man, my thoughts and prayers are with his family...

[Jay C. Upchurch]

Here is a full obit that ran in the Oklahoman.....


Barth P. Walker
Barth P. 'Jiggs' Walker 1914-2005 What tales does one tell of a giant who dies? That he was but five feet six inches tall? That he was humble and kind and gentle and towered over us all in intellect and integrity and accomplishment? How do you tell a giant that you love him? Barth P. Walker, a giant in the law and in Oklahoma's most important industry - oil and gas - died of a stroke on December 31, 2005. He was 91 years of age. He was predeceased by his wife of 54 years, Lucile. He is survived by his second wife, Diane. He is also survived by his two sons and their families: son Russ and his wife, Kathy, and their four children, Katherine and her husband Jim Buxton; Elizabeth and her husband Steve Conroy and their daughter Emery; Rosemary; and Russell; and son John and his former wife Jill and their three children, John Powell, Grayson, and Mackenzie, and by Diane's three adult children: son Mark Miller and his wife, Paula, and their two children, Kara and Kelton; daughter Samantha Russo and her daughter, Julietta; and son Will Sucher and his wife Serina. All who knew Barth recognized him as a loving and devoted husband and father and as a tenacious, honorable, and capable representative of his legal clients, which included at one time or another virtually every major participant in Oklahoma's - and indeed the world's - oil and gas industry and, equally important, untold minor participants as well. The cause of each was vitally consequential to him. Barth was born into extremely humble circumstances in Cotton Plant, Arkansas, on October 2, 1914. With the help of a few loving mentors, he grew up in Camden, Arkansas, during the Depression. He attended the University of Oklahoma, where he played football (because of the way he ran, he was known as 'Jiggs,' after the character by that name in the comic strip Bringing Up Father; many people do not know that his real name was not Jiggs), studied geological engineering, graduated with a law degree, and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, the academic honor society. After service as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Air Corps and the Air Force in West Africa and the South Pacific in World War II and in occupied Korea after the war, he returned to Tulsa and then Oklahoma City, where he worked in the legal department of Stanolind Oil & Gas Company, now BP America Production Co. In 1951, he was part of an oil industry group which encouraged the enactment of the Unitization Act, the last major piece of legislation which governs oil and gas activity in Oklahoma today. He began his own law practice in 1954, was joined in the practice by his wife Lucile in 1966 and by his son Russ in 1974, and retired from the practice of law after his first stroke in 2004, when he was 89. In 1968, he chaired a committee whose recommendations resulted in the most sweeping modernization in history of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission's oil and gas rules and procedures. He participated in civic and oil industry activities and organizations. For fifteen years, he taught an adult Sunday school class at Nichols Hills United Methodist Church, where he is a member. He was the recipient of the University of Oklahoma's Eugene O. Kuntz Award, an annual award honoring an outstanding oil and gas lawyer in Oklahoma, and of the Oklahoma City Phi Beta Kappa association Person of the Year Award. In 1962, he was named to the Sports Illustrated Magazine Silver Anniversary All-America Football Team, recognizing collegiate players who had led productive lives. He was a founder of the Sarkeys Energy Center at the University of Oklahoma and was a lifetime member of the University of Oklahoma's O-Club for sports lettermen and women. Barth was a principal in and a director of NFC Corporation, a New York Stock Exchange-listed company, of one of whose subsidiaries, NFC Petroleum Corporation, Barth was president. He was a principal in Chris Well Service Company, an international well service and drilling contractor with operations in the U.S., Peru, Indonesia, West Africa, the Middle East, and Libya. Chris Well Service later became WellTech. Barth and Ray Christian, his Chris Well Service partner, were early developers of Angel Fire, New Mexico. He loved to dance. Many Oklahoma City ladies enjoyed his dance-floor company. He profoundly influenced every person whom he knew with his genuine interest in them and their lives. There are many who will miss him. We thought that he would live forever. Now he will. A service will be held in his honor at Nichols Hills United Methodist Church, 1212 Bedford Drive, Nichols Hills, OK, at noon on Wednesday, January 4, 2006. Donations in his name may be made to the University of Oklahoma Foundation, 100 Timberdell Road, Norman, OK 73019. SMITH & KERNKE 14624 N. MAY AVE
Published in The Oklahoman on 1/2/2006.

[Jay C. Upchurch]

When I was writing my book, "Tales From The Sooner Sidelines," Barth generously invited me to his office and spent an entire morning spinning tales about his days at OU.

After the book came out, I invited Barth and his former OU teammate, Gene Corrotto, to join me at a book signing at the Borders in Norman. We had a wonderful time that afternoon, and so did all of the shoppers who stopped by to talk to those guys. They were great, and I was grateful they helped me sell a lot of books that day.

Later, I attended a reception for Barth and his second wife in OKC, and Barth gave a speech by memory (he was 89 at the time) that literally took my breath away. He was so eloquently spoken and such a wonderful man.

I consider myself fortunate for having had the opportunity to know him.

[StoopTroup]

My condolences to Mr. Walker's Family and Friends.

Thanks for the info Jay.

[Beano's Fourth Chin]

Thanks Jay for the info.

[Blue]

Definitely. Thanks Jay. Sad news indeed.

[stoopified]

Sounds like a great guy and afine example of a Sooner.Wish I could of met him.

[ArkanSooner]

Sounds like he was a great representative of my home state at my favorite school. Prayers to the family.