Boren praised for his political and academic skill during memorial service Saturday

Yahoo

30-03-2025

Depending on who you asked, the late David Boren was either a skilled, centrist Democrat with big ideas who navigated the United States Senate easily, a governor who had no problem pushing back against the old guard, a back-row state Representative who spent his first couple of years in office learning the political ropes, a smart, dedicated university professor.
Or the man who charted a new trajectory for the University of Oklahoma.
That was the consensus Saturday afternoon, during a memorial service for Boren at St. Luke's Methodist Church in Oklahoma City. Boren died at home, February 20. A short time later he was buried in a private ceremony in Seminole.
Saturday's memorial service was a chance for the public – and the state's politically elite – to come together and remember Boren's career. Two former governors, a retired United States Senator, a Oklahoma Supreme Court justice and dozens of Boren's former staff members, from his time in the Senate and from his tenure at OU, were among the hundreds who attended.
The service also featured music, prayers and a look at Boren's life presented by two different pastors, Robert E. Long and Rev. David Spain.
Former Governor David Walters, a Democrat, said he didn't expect to see another leader like Boren for quite a while.
"He had such direct involvement, and, given the permissive nature of partisan politics, it will be a long time before we have someone who is able to survive that many levels of public service successfully as he did," Walters said.
Walters said Boren did many things well. "Every time you talked to David Boren, his entire thought process was filled with big ideas," he said. "So, I think his manner of thinking constantly about big ideas was a great strength he brought to the institutions that he served."
Like Walters, Sean Burrage, the state Chancellor for Higher Education, said Boren had a rare political gift and was skilled at inspiring people to take up public service.
"My most meaningful lesson was that the most meaningful work was that of public service," Burrage said. Burrage said Boren taught him that lesson when he served as an intern when Boren was in the United States Senate. During a trip when Burrage was driving for Boren, he said Boren told him that the work that mattered was work for others.
"I realized, later, that it is what matters," he said.
While Boren's public service work was well known, it was his dedication to education and his fight to make sure everyone got a chance at education that set Boren apart, said former University of Oklahoma Professor Keith Gaddie.
"David Boren was a warrior for thought and education," Gaddie said.
Though Boren was well known for his political skill and his efforts at the University of Oklahoma, one colleague said Boren was, simply, a good friend. Former House Speaker Glen Johnson − who later served as Chancellor for Higher Education − said his family and Boren's family had a long history. In fact, Boren's father faced off against Johnson's father in a congressional race in 1946.
"We've been close friends for a long time," Johnson said.
Johnson said the friendship so solid that when Johnson got married in summer of 1993 the only person he wanted as his best man was David Boren.
"Our families go back a long way," Johnson said. "And he (Boren) is clearly a mentor of mine. By the time I ran for the House the first time, in 1982, he'd been in the Senate for about four years."
Boren, Johnson said, "was always helpful."
He said the friendship continue to grow, and Johnson learned that Boren knew and liked his fiancée, Melinda.
"About the time we got engaged, I asked him (Boren) if he would be the best man and he said, 'absolutely,'" Johnson said. "He said he would get back for an many of the pre-engagement events as he could -- and they did," he said. Johnson and Melinda would marry in July of 1993.
The fact that Boren − a sitting U.S. Senator − was willing to serve as his best man, Johnson said, was simply an honor. "He's always been just a really, really good friend," he said. "I don't think anyone was surprised that he would be my best man."
Born in 1941, Boren was the son of Lyle H and Christine McKown Boren. In 1963 he graduated in the top 1% of his class at Yale University with a degree in American history. Two years later, he earned a master's degree in politics, philosophy and economics from Oxford University in England.
Boren served as a professor at Oklahoma Baptist University, later in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, as governor, as United States Senator and, finally, as president of the University of Oklahoma.
In 1968, Boren graduated from the University of Oklahoma's College of Law. That same year, Boren married Janna Lou Little. The couple had two children but divorced in 1975. In 1977, midway though his term as governor, Boren married Molly Shi, a special district judge.
Boren, Johnson said, was a rare contribution to state politics.
"If you look at every one of this positions, he excelled," Johnson said. "Even as a young state representative, he would go against the grain, against the crowd, if he thought it was the right thing to do. It was all very natural. He could take information, synthesize it and turn around and present it to a legislative committee and be the expert on the subject. With him, it was natural."
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: David Boren praised by many at memorial service Saturday