Randy Cowling
Managing Editor
CLAREMORE —
Five decades ago parents of children with disabilities were left on their own. There were few options. In the 1960s there were no government mandates, no pathway for education in a traditional school environment. Parents either managed caring for their disabled child at home or had to make the difficult decision to institutionalize their child.
When Barbara and Jim Farley moved to Claremore in the early 1960s they knew the challenges they faced raising a disabled daughter. They chose to reach out and find other parents who were struggling as they were.
The Farleys and three other pioneer couples will be honored on Friday evening for their contributions to the community and helping found the Rogers County Training Center. Also being honored will be 1st Bank, Goldies Patio Grill and Jack Kissee Ford for sponsorship of the golf tournment from the beginning.
The event will be at 6 p.m. on Friday at the Elks Lodge. An auction will also be held. The organization is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the auction event and its golf classic tournament, which raises money to help with the center. Tickets are $10.
The Farleys along with Esther and Earl Reagan, Dody and Warren Johnston and John and Phyliss Philpot will receive honors from RCTC.
Early Beginnings
The Farleys began a Mother’s Group, which met at the Rogers County Health Department. This where they met Esther and Earl Reagan, who had a disabled son.
The group became the incubator for what today is the Rogers County Training Center, where disabled adults come to work and learn independent living and job skills.
The Farleys and Reagans joined with Dody and Warren Johnston, and John and Phyliss Philpot to form a support group where parents could share their deepest hurts and simple victories as parents of disabled children.
The four couples formed the Rogers County Council for Retarded Children in 1969, said Beth Ann Jensen, who has worked with the training center for many years.
Earl Reagan was elected president. Esther Reagan served as secretary while Barbara Farley was treasurer and Dody Johnston was the group’s membership chairman.
In the late 1960s there were 6 million children in the United States affected by retardation. The group estimated there were 600 “mentaly retarded” citizens in Rogers County.
They began a membership drive and raised money to purchase books for the Claremont Elementary School library, Jensen said.
The parents dreamed of having a community center where their children could go for activities and learning events.
In 1972 the couples opened Claremore’s first Thrift Shop, with all the proceeds from the sale of items going to their group.
Special Education Class
“Trainable” class for children was offered by Claremore Public Schools in the fall of 1972, according to a published account in the Claremore Daily Progress.
Jensen said Principal Roy Whitworth began the first special education class in Claremore. Whitworth also had a disabled child. The class was housed at Memorial Heights Baptist Church with Mary Mobra teaching. Limited academics and social skills were stressed.
Rogers County Association for Retarded Children aided the class by purchasing playground equipment, class supplies and a teacher’s assistant.
The next year the association received a $20,286 grant from the state to establish an activity center. The center was scheduled to open in July 1973. Activities were offered for adult and preschool ages, those with Cerebral Palsy and epilepsy to teach daily living and social skills.
The Oklahoma Association for Retarded Children “Motivator” furthered the famlies’ dream of an activity center.
Jensen said the estate of a woman in the community had left $1,000 to the group, which also moved the project forward.
Activity Center
The OARC also received a $73,000 grant to establish a central information and referral agency — the first of its kind in Oklahoma.
As of Feb. 9, 1975 of the 30 school districts in the state, only Claremore and Bartlesville school districts offered continuing education from kindergarten through high school. The Rogers County high school program, including Claremore, Sequoyah, Catoosa, Oologah and Chelsea, was established in the fall of 1974.
“Claremore Activity Center provides fellowship and intellectual stimulation, as well as, basic needs training, self awareness, understanding and quality of life improvement for ‘retarded’ adults. Activities included cooking, sports, exercise, games, arts, crafts and self-reliance activities. The center was the only facility of its kind in the Tulsa area. It was open to any person with a handicap that was not being served by another program,” according to a March 16, 1975 in the Claremore Daily Progress.
“It was the only place its kind in Northeast Oklahoma,” Jensen said. “It was open for Rogers County residents, but we took anyone who came.”
By 1987 the Rogers County Training Center had 87 clients.
Educators who were instrumental in teaching disabled children played a key role in the overall program of assisting parents with disabled children.
First Special Education Teachers:
• Betty Dolina - Westside - grades 1-3 and Nancy Kendall
• Sonya Lundy - Claremont - grades 4-6 21 students ages 10-13 years of age
• Karen Cooper - Speech and Hearing
• Lottie Reese - Junior High - 15 students 13-15 years of age
• Julie Perkins - High School eight students
• Mary Mobra - Trainable Mentally Handicapped 6-19 years of age
• Billie Heiligman - Learning Disabled class
