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Bill Lehmann, former publisher of the Guthrie Daily Leader who gleefully used tons of newsprint and barrels of ink to promote the historic preservation of Oklahoma's first state capital, died Sunday, Jan. 10 at OU Medical Center in Oklahoma City. He was 87.
Lehmann was joined in his quest to save Guthrie from the Urban Renewal wrecking ball in the mid-1960s by local and state civic leaders, politicians, bankers, historians, writers, and artists.
All were disciples of the late Don Odom, a Guthrie High School history instructor who championed the cause of rescuing the magnificent Victorian community. Odom feared destruction of the small central Oklahoma town in the name of "progress."
Guthrie served as the capital of Oklahoma Territory and was Oklahoma's capital city from 1907 until voters selected Oklahoma City to serve as the principle seat of government in a 1910 election. The capital was moved and Guthrie fell into a deep sleep for more than 50 years.
Lehmann and his wife, Rosemary, were transferred to Guthrie in 1966 by media conglomerate Donrey Media Group to publish the Leader. Odom approached Lehmann about Guthrie's unique history at a time when the Royal Hotel and the adjoining Brooks Opera House were set for demolition.
Gaining access to the structures, Lehmann and Odom went on a scavenger hunt and discovered a brass door knob with the state seal adorned on it. It was the suite of Oklahoma's first governor, Charles Haskell. It was too late to save those buildings, but the experience sparked Lehmann's unyielding quest to bring a museum to Guthrie and to prevent demolition of other historic locations in harm's way.
The historic Carnegie Building, a magnificent rock structure on Oklahoma Avenue, served as Guthrie's library. Haskell took the oath as Oklahoma's first governor at the Carnegie on statehood day, Nov. 16, 1907. Guthrie city leaders wished to build a more modern library. Lehmann editorialized for a new library, but argued the Carnegie be preserved as a museum. City leaders agreed. What transpired over a few years is today the Oklahoma Territorial Museum.
Lehmann was the galvanizing force to raise funds to purchase the State Capital Publishing building once home to the most powerful newspaper in Oklahoma. Until recently, it was operated by the Oklahoma Historical Society as a museum celebrating Oklahoma�s rich newspaper history.
William Eugene Lehmann was born in Chouteau, Oklahoma, on Nov. 12, 1928, to William Charles and Martha "Mattie" Lehmann. He was 5 when his father succumbed to cancer, which forced the family to move from the farm to Muskogee. There, his mother worked for a dry cleaner and his grandmother, Amanda Warren, took in ironing to make ends meet.
In May 1947, Lehmann graduated Muskogee Central High School. He eloped with his high school sweetheart, Rosemary Thielen, on Jan. 31, 1948. He went to work selling advertising for The Muskogee Phoenix shortly thereafter. Selling advertising was his forte and he worked for several newspapers in Texas and Oklahoma. In 1959, he was named director of advertising at the Pawhuska (OK) Journal-Capital. In 1965, the paper was purchased by Donrey Media Group. Lehmann was promoted to publisher and worked a year before transferring to Guthrie.
The Leader was a paper in decline when Lehmann took over. Within a short time, he�d replaced its outmoded printing equipment with modern offset presses. In addition to printing the Leader, the newspaper plant also published retail inserts that appeared in newspapers throughout Oklahoma and Texas. Lehmann also took steps to improve the editorial quality of the Leader. Under his guidance, the paper won numerous awards for its content. He authored a popular Sunday column, "By the Way," which combined humor with keen insight into small town Oklahoma life. It reflected his personality. He was a man who was as comfortable at the corner beer joint as he was at the country club. His many, many friends ranged from common laborers to bank presidents. He loved them all.
Lehmann served as publisher of the Leader until 1977, resigning to establish his own oil exploration company, Cimarron Valley Exploration Inc. He and Rosemary remained in Guthrie although his company�s oil development and drilling activities were statewide. In 1978, Cimarron Valley completed the fourth largest producing oil well in the state that year with the No. 1 Alma, which was drilled in the Pleasant Valley area east of Guthrie.
He served several years as drilling supervisor for Oil Field Services of Tulsa before retiring in 1990 to pursue interests in family genealogy and to care for Rosemary, who suffered ill health following two heart attacks.
He had a great appreciation for both paintings and sculpture and was an accomplished landscape artist with oil on canvas, whose work was well respected by Western artists Fred Olds and Ken Watson. In addition, he was a talented cartoonist and caricaturist. Caricatures of Osage County "characters" he drew a half century ago still hang in Sally�s Sandwich Shop in Pawhuska.
Lehmann was a solid musician, playing in bands from the early 1960s into the new century. He loved all music from Bach to The Beatles and was a huge fan of Lady Gaga�s music later in his life. He preferred country and western swing and was considered by many to be one of the finest swing bass players around. He was an expert on the music of Buck Owens and loved what came to be known as the "Bakersfield Sound."
He was also a golfer, outdoorsman, and gardener, a man who always enjoyed the beauty of a sunrise and the blossoming of wildflowers.
Lehmann wrote two books the last year of his life. The first, An Okie from Muskogee Recalls the Dirty 30s, takes readers on a journey of his childhood and early adult life where the family was impoverished monetarily "but I can never remember being hungry," he wrote.
The second book, After the Parade, introduces readers to many "characters" he encountered along life's journey. He counted them among his friends who were just as important to him personally as many governors, senators and representatives he also knew on a personal level.
A third book, Blood on the Bluebonnets, chronicled his own family's tumultuous and often violent wild west antics. He was a member of the Sons of the Republic of Texas. His great, great, great, great grandfather ran a livery stable and saloon at Washington on the Brazos, where the first true seeds of Texas independence and formal governance took root. The book was in proof status at the time of his death.
Lehmann and his wife moved from their Guthrie home in 2013 to live with their children in Ada. Rosemary preceded him in death on May 19, 2014.
He is survived by a daughter, Mary Catharine Lehmann; a son, Gene Lehmann and a granddaughter, Michael Catharine Lehmann, Austin, Texas.
A celebration of Lehmann's unique life will be Thursday at 11 a.m. at the Zion Lutheran Church Fellowship Hall in Guthrie. It was Lehmann's greatest desire that friends gather, dine and swap stories and perhaps tell a few tall tales.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests a donation to the charity of your choice.
Arrangements by Hayes Funeral Home.
Friends and family may sign the online guestbook at www.hayesfh.com.
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