|
| |
Harold George Vaughn, Jr. former Craig County Sheriff and State Representative, passed away Tuesday morning, June 2, 2026, at his home. He was born April 4, 1939, in Vinita, known only as “Baby Boy Vaughn” on his birth certificate until January 17, 1995, when it was amended. George was the son of Harold and Mary (Griffith) Vaughn, the oldest of six children. George grew up and went to school in White Oak and Englewood, Colorado, most years but never completed a year at the same school. He graduated from Sheridan Union High School in 1957. George then went on to Baptist Bible College in Springfield, Missouri on a basketball scholarship. On April 22, 1963, George became an ordained minister. He preached at Carter Baptist Church for several years, filled in as interim at Calvary Baptist Church some and retired from preaching at Dupree Community Baptist Church after 20 plus year. On June 6, 1958, George married Leah Taylor, to that union six children were born, Rebekah, Jason, Nathan, Rachel, Donna, and Julie.
George started his law enforcement career working nights for the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, while hauling hay during the day.
In November of 1969 George was elected the youngest Sheriff in the State of Oklahoma. After being elected two terms, he then quit to run for the State Legislature. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1974. George was instrumental in many key areas. He was part of co-authoring House Bill 1017 the educational reform act, which gave teachers their first big raise and restructured many areas of education. While in office George fought hard and always won to keep Eastern State Hospital open in Vinita. He was able to get many old one lane bridges replaced with modern two lane bridges, throughout his district. George was able to get Northeast Oklahoma Correctional Facility in Vinita, again bringing several jobs to Vinita. George also brought controversy to the State House, getting into a physical altercation over who was to be the Chaplain for the week. George ended up falling over a spittoon and receiving a small cut over his eye. That spittoon now resides in the Smithsonian Institute. In 1995, after 21 years of service, George retired as Majority Whip from the legislature, also being second in seniority, unbeaten in a legislative election.
George married Deanie Dunavant on June 12, 1993, in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, to this union was born one child, Zachariah.
George could not get public service out of his system and in 1996 was elected Craig County Sheriff again. After one term he retired in the year 2000.
George was able to settle down and enjoy his farm, where he had cattle and chickens. He loved pampering and taking care of and just sitting around watching his chickens. George was also an avid OU Sooner fan, as well as a loyal follower of the St. Louis Cardinals.
George’s greatest passion was his dedication to his Lord and Savior, and he did the Lord’s work wherever he was. He was known to not leave a restaurant many times without knowing for sure if his waitress was saved. When he was Sheriff, he would go up to the jail and preach to the prisoners, winning many to the Lord. He knew the Bible forwards and backwards, quoting scriptures to anyone who needed to hear.
George was preceded in death by his parents, Harold, and Mary; brothers, Donald, David, and Jackie Vaughn; and a sister, Patsy Ulmer.
The family includes, his wife Deanie of the home; his children, Becky Kessab (Hamid) of San Diego, California, Jason Vaughn, Nathan Vaughn (Paula) all of Big Cabin, Rachel Theron (Johann) of Clinton, Donna Campbell (Albert) of Big Cabin, Julie (Jerry Brixey) of Zena, and Zach Vaughn of Vinita; his sister, Sharon Kisby (Jim) of Nicholasville, Kentucky; sisters in law Nancy Vaughn of Franklin, Indiana, and Vicky Vaughn of Coalgate, Ok; thirteen grandchildren and sixteen great-grandchildren, numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and many friends.
The family will receive friends from 5-7 p.m. on Friday, June 5, 2026, at the Burckhalter-Highsmith Chapel in Vinita.
The celebration of life will be held on Saturday, June 6, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. at the White Oak Baptist Church, Pastors Leland Bartlett and Justin Turner will officiate. Interment will follow at the White Oak Cemetery. Online condolences may be made at www.highsmithfh.com or on the funeral home Facebook page. Arrangements are in the care of the Burckhalter-Highsmith Funeral and Cremation Services of Vinita. “Vinita’s only locally family owned and operated funeral home.
This site may be freely linked, but not duplicated in any way without consent.
All rights reserved! Commercial use of material within this site is prohibited!
© 2000-2026 Oklahoma CemeteriesThe information on this site is provided free for the purpose of researching your genealogy. This material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, for your own research, as long as this message remains on all copied material. The information contained in this site may not be copied to any other site without written "snail-mail" permission. If you wish to have a copy of a donor's material, you must have their permission. All information found on these pages is under copyright of Oklahoma Cemeteries. This is to protect any and all information donated. The original submitter or source of the information will retain their copyright. Unless otherwise stated, any donated material is given to Oklahoma Cemeteries to make it available online. This material will always be available at no cost, it will always remain free to the researcher.