I'm surprised this hasn't already been mentioned here. Jim Norick is one of the most important civic figures in making OKC what it is becoming today.

Former Oklahoma City mayor Jim Norick dies at age 95 | NewsOK.com (http://m.newsok.com/former-oklahoma-city-mayor-jim-norick-dies-at-age-95/article/5398662)


Former Oklahoma City Mayor Jim Norick died Wednesday evening, his family reports. He was 95.

Norick served as Oklahoma City mayor from 1959 to 1963 and again from 1967 to 1971. He was the father of Ron Norick, who also served as Oklahoma City mayor.

He was a nice and goodhearted man. Great civic leader. :Smiley063

I haven't had the news on today yet. 95 is a good run. Thank you Mr. Norick and RIP.

Met him 20 years ago for the first time, doing some volunteer work at the Civic Center related to the bombing. Absolutely a pleasure to be around. Thanks for your service, Mayor. RIP.

Norick was really the grandfather of this current era of OKC revitalization. It's the legacy of Norick and our city's forefathers, who have combined across time to build a great city, that we have to respect going forward with our future planning decisions.

Hmm, interesting thought. I suppose you could make a case that the moves he helped the City make regarding securing water rights for the future and building infrastructure like the Atoka pipeline certainly fit the mold of the the type of self-sufficiency focused projects that his son later introduced with MAPS.

That said, he did preside over some of the most active and troubling years of the urban renewal period. Of course, those decisions were being made well above his pay grade, and I'm not sure how much a mayor could have influenced them one way of the other. Just ask the late George Shirk.

Besides the fact that the Mayor's role has gained more influence in the past couple of decades, those years when he served must've been very trying ones for City officials, here and elsewhere. Everything that I've ever heard about him is that he served with absolute class during the time he spent in office.

I really do think, though, that if you are going to try to find a starting point for the bootsrap, transformative reinvestment that this city has experienced, the best place to start is during his son's tenure. And that is yet another thing that he could be very proud of; he helped raise and influence a visionary leader.