Bill Clinton, Leona Mitchell to have roles during memorial service for George Nigh
Nigh and Clinton were governors of Oklahoma and Arkansas, respectively, at the same time in the 1980s and worked on issues affecting both states. They joined forces to improve the Arkansas River Navigation Project and lobbied together in Washington for more federal dollars to upgrade interstate highways, fund economic development programs, and assist the poorest citizens of their states.
Along the way, their families became friends. Nigh served in the state's highest office four times before becoming president of the University of Central Oklahoma. When Nigh was president of the UCO, Clinton visited the Edmond campus to visit with students.
Nigh died July 30 at age 98.
After learning of Nigh's death, Clinton expressed a desire to attend the memorial service to say a special farewell to his friend of nearly 50 years.
Nigh's memorial service will be held at Crossings Community Church on Thursday, Aug. 14, at 11 a.m. The church building is at 14600 N. Portland Ave. in Oklahoma City.
This will be only the third time in state history that a U.S. president or former president has attended the funeral of an Oklahoma leader, said attorney and Oklahoma historian Bob Burke, who wrote Nigh's biography. In January 1963, then-President John F. Kennedy attended the funeral of U.S. Sen. Robert S. Kerr at First Baptist Church in Oklahoma City.
In 1971, former President Lyndon B. Johnson attended the funeral of former Oklahoma Gov. and U.S. Sen. J. Howard Edmondson.
'It has been 62 years since a president or former president has been present to honor the passing of a former state official," former Oklahoma Gov. David Walters said. "President Clinton's presence is yet another indication of the significance of Governor Nigh's legacy of leadership.'
Clinton's visit to Oklahoma City will be his second in 2025. He also spoke on April 19 at the memorial service on the 30th anniversary of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.
Clinton will deliver one of three eulogies for Nigh. Mitchell, who grew up in Enid, will sing at the service at Nigh's request.
A graduate of Oklahoma City University and the Julliard School of Music, Mitchell was a top at the Metropolitan Opera in New York for 18 years and has performed at most of the world's leading opera houses. She's been inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame and the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame.
'George and Leona were friends for decades,' Burke said. 'He appreciated that she was proud of her Oklahoma roots. Last January, they were on the same program for an event in Oklahoma City. After Leona brought the house down with her rendition of the state song, George asked her to sing at his funeral some day.'
As a young state legislator in 1953, Nigh authored the legislation that made the song 'Oklahoma,' from the Broadway musical 'Oklahoma!,' the state song.
(This story was updated because an earlier version contained an inaccuracy. This will be the third time a U.S. president will have attended the funeral of an Oklahoma leader.)
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Bill Clinton will eulogize George Nigh at OKC memorial service
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