Published: August 17, 2008 12:00 am            

Man of many hats

Terrell's life, career have gone in many directions

Oil land man. Played basketball against the Harlem Globetrotters. Realtor. Prison warden.

One can hardly imagine a resum? with more diversity than that of Norman resident Walt Terrell. Realtor is the current occupation, but each of his past occupations have added a richness to his life.

"I have enjoyed every opportunity I have had," he says, just as he enjoys getting up each day and heading to his office to work in real estate, his occupation since the late 1980s when the oil business let him down.

Terrell grew up in Graham, a little burg nestled in the Arbuckle Mountains, and remembers the easy life of the 1930s and 40s.

"Dad was an oil field pumper," he said. "I remember that we had nothing, really. But Dad had a job and we had a place to live. We had food. Nobody felt poor because it was the same for everyone. Families were close ... we all had the love and cohesiveness of families."

A basketball standout, he went to East Central College to play basketball and prepare for a coaching career. At 6-foot-3 he was a forward on East Central's "run and shoot" team that went to the NCAA Tournament in both 1951 and 1952. While a student, he got the chance to play for the Baltimore Rockets, a team of white basketball players pitted against the Harlem Globetrotters in exhibition games. Terrell played in games around the region and remembers playing against Marques Haynes, the outstanding player out of Langston University who was known as "the world's greatest dribbler."

It had been his goal to teach and coach basketball, but with a degree in hand, he found that he could earn just $2,500 a year for teaching, coaching and driving a school bus. He had college loans to pay off, and Haliburton offered him more money to play on the company basketball team. He signed on, but the team was disbanded before he got a chance to play. Terrell worked for Haliburton for many years, including several years in Casper, Wyo., and Farmington, N.M.

His interest in teaching remained strong, so he earned a master's degree in vocational education from Emporia (Kansas) State College and soon was tapped by Kansas Governor Bob Docking to plan and administer the new Kansas Correctional Vocational Training Center to be built at Topeka.

"I was given free reign to research corrections and training programs," he said. "I started with forming an advisory committee that included some legislators who I knew were interested in corrections."

Because he didn't consider the political affiliations of the people he chose, it raised the governor's eyebrows, but Terrell got the "go-ahead" to begin the research and planning process. It wasn't until he had identified the training programs that would be offered in the facility that he worked with an architect to design a building that facilitated those programs.

"That wasn't how things had been done in the past ... the legislature would fund bricks and mortar and then design the program," he said.

The Kansas legislators liked his approach and passed a law incorporating the detailed planning process before any new construction could begin.

It was Terrell's plan to get the correctional facility for 250 non-violent felony offenders into operation and then move on to something else, but he ended up staying on for 10 years. He prefers to say that he was the administrator "but the older ones would call me a warden." The facility was unique in design because it wasn't enclosed in a wall or fence.

"It will never work. They will walk away," he was told, but it proved effective with only one prisoner who truly "got away" during his tenure. He put together a program that was a cooperative effort with partnering organizations including "vocational education for the instruction, Vocational Rehabilitation Services provided counseling and job placement, and the Menninger Institute provided health care services," he explained.

"Most of them (inmates) were young, 18 to 21 or so, and they had dropped out of school," he said, so he felt that their success when they got out of prison would hinge each detainee getting the General Educational Equivalent (GED) certificate. The GED program was administered by the local school district.

"I didn't want to take just anyone they assigned to the job. I insisted on being able to select the teacher," he said, knowing it would take just the right kind of person to handle, to motivate and to teach the young students who hadn't been successful in school before.

He conducted interviews and found a woman who he felt sure would run a strong program. She was 75 years old.

"I guess she was a mother figure to them, but she had them under control," he said. "These were guys who had been in trouble all of their lives, but they really responded to her."

The GED and the job skills they earned while incarcerated proved successful. Voc Rehab did follow-up after their release, and found that most of them were using their vocational skills and being productive.

In the late 1970s, "the oil industry was picking up" and he decided to return to Oklahoma. He and a college friend started their own company, doing land work.

"We did very well, as long as it lasted," he said.

The company folded in 1986, and soon another school friend, Loyd Parker, ushered him into the real estate business.

After working at several different agencies, he and some friends formed Metro Brokers of Oklahoma. His wife JoAnn works with him in their business that includes handling residential properties, but he has found a niche in farm land. Larger acreages, like a 600-acre ranch that he has listed, require national promotion, and the Internet has added a dimension to real estate marketing, he said.

Despite contrary words from the national media, he says that in Norman "the market is good, still moving. Sales are stable and prices are increasing a little." He is active in the local Board of Realtors, having served a term as president, and does legislative work on behalf of the Oklahoma Association of Realtors.

Terrell is a lifelong Methodist, and is active at McFarlin Memorial United Methodist Church, including the Wednesday Morning Men's Prayer Breakfast. He is on the board of the Salvation Army and has served a term as president. For many years he has chaired the Norman Crimestoppers program. Former president of the Norman Kiwanis Club, he is proud of the work accomplished in the community by that organization.

Terrell has no plans to retire. "I enjoy what I am doing, and plan to do it as long as my health holds out."

He and his wife enjoy traveling, especially following the OU football team around the country.

"I have attended OU football games since 1949, early in Bud Wilkinson's OU career," he said.

The OU women's basketball team provides another avenue of entertainment for the couple. "We are very blessed to live in Norman, and to have what we have today."

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.