The Hefner (Gunter) Family
Many people know the Hefner name in Oklahoma. Few understand the history, and even fewer know the Gunter name. This is meant to be a brief acknowledgment of the ways in which my family has made its mark from Oklahoma to California; and a history for those who inevitably ask me how it all came to be.
ROBERT A. HEFNER SR. ("THE JUDGE")
1874-1971
Fun Fact: The Mineral Deed in use today is based upon the original Robert A. Hefner Form; The Judge is credited for creating the first mineral severance from the surface estate, as well.
Wikipedia - Robert A. Hefner (“The Judge”) was born four miles north of Lone Oak in Hunt County, Texas in 1874 from humble roots. Educating himself under the stars at night with books sent to him from a cousin at Baylor, Hefner worked his way through college and secured his Juris Doctorate from the University of Texas in 1902.
As he wrapped up law school, the world-famous Spindletop discovery was made and he headed there to begin his law practice. He soon moved to Ardmore, OK in 1906, before Oklahoma statehood, after representing a Native American case and realizing the town was ripe for a young attorney. It was in Ardmore that his legal career really took off and clients began lining up at the door; clients like Humble Oil (now Exxon), Magnolia Petroleum (now Mobil), Gulf Oil Company (one of the “Seven Sisters” prior to its merger with Standard), Carter Oil, Skelly Oil (now Texaco), among others.
A view of Lake Hefner (source: TravelOK)
His civil service, however, began when he was elected mayor of Ardmore in 1920 and was convinced in 1926 to lend his name to the ballot for Supreme Court Justice, a position he served in for six years. Although he served as a Justice, his nickname of “the Judge” was attained years before when he had just moved to Ardmore for his ability to solve complex issues and disputes. Following his time on the Oklahoma Supreme Court, Hefner became Mayor of Oklahoma City in 1939, most noted for the building of Oklahoma City’s water reservoir system - Bluff Creek Reservoir, which was later renamed Lake Hefner. Hefner served his Mayorship during World War II and was pivotal in winning the military bid to place Tinker Air Force Base in Midwest City - a time that brought the famous General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Chester W. Nimitz to Oklahoma City. “Looking to do as much as he could do for our boys in the war”, the Judge helped raise, along with E.K. Gaylord and Bob Hope, $40 million in US war bonds to commission the USS Oklahoma City. Today Lake Hefner, Hefner Middle School, Hefner Road and the Lake Hefner Parkway are all reminders of his visionary service to the City of Oklahoma City.
Aside from his civic involvement, The Judge was a visionary in the oil field as well; he amassed thousands of acres of mineral rights through The Hefner Company based upon ‘creekology’, which later proved to be a very sound investment. By the time he was elected Supreme Court Justice in 1927, he had already amassed over 33,000 acres of mineral rights in the Anadarko basin. Testament to his innovation regarding his legal practice and purchasing of mineral rights, the mineral conveyance form that is still in use today is based upon the original Robert A. Hefner mineral conveyance form. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1949.
ROBERT A. HEFNER JR.
1907-1987
Wikipedia: Robert A. Hefner Jr. was born in Beaumont, Texas in 1907.
He attended the Culver Military Academy in Indiana while in high school and represented the State of Oklahoma as one of its first Eagle Scouts at the Boy Scouts Jamboree in London, England in 1920 - where he was awarded his gold medal in boxing from the King and Queen of England.
A graduate of Stanford University, Hefner also studied at Harvard Law School (1928-1929) and took his law degree from University of Oklahoma College of Law in 1930. In his first year at Harvard Law, Bob was selected to the Harvard Law Review, an honor almost unheard of for a second-year student who had not taken his first years work at Harvard. Unfortunately for Junior, the State of Oklahoma had just passed legislation that went into effect March 21, 1930 requiring graduating attorneys to pass an examination to be admitted to the State Bar. So, Bob was among the first required to take the State Bar examination in Oklahoma.
His interest in law was accompanied by his interest in politics. During his honeymoon to Hawaii, he met and became close friends with President Roosevelt’s son, Elliott. That relationship led him to attend many dinners at the White House and work in Washington DC for a period of time. March 27, 1935 was one evening they would never forget though as his wife, Louise Good, went into labor while at dinner. Family legend has it White House security personnel cleared the path, as it was snowy, to get her to the hospital or she would have given birth to III only steps from the Oval Office.
In 1933, Bob severed the partnership with the Chief Justice to become assistant to Stanley Forman Reed, the General Counsel for the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. In 1939 Junior ended up moving to Evansville, Indiana to practice law. Like his father, he quickly gained the confidence of all the major companies: Sun Oil Company (now Sunoco), Sinclaire Prarie Oil Company (now Sinclair Oil Corporation), Phillips Petroleum (which survived a Carl Icahn-led hostile takeover, now ConocoPhillips), and Deep Rock Oil Corporation (Kerr-McGee -> Anadarko Petroleum ->, now Occidental Petroleum) were among his clientele of the time.
Junior ended up returning to Oklahoma City in 1946, however, at the request of his father to manage The Hefner Company. He founded the Hefner Production Company to start producing the vast mineral inventory that the company held too. Junior was one of the founders of the Petroleum Alliance of Oklahoma, was a major figure at the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) including serving as its Vice President, and helped found the Energy Center (Sarkeys) at the University of Oklahoma. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1973 and received the Oklahoma Outstanding Oilman Award in 1976.
Fun Fact: Robert A. Hefner Jr. was a regimental featherweight boxing champion (now Golden Gloves), set a course golf record, won the gold medal for the State of Oklahoma while playing the violin, and played in both the Stanford University Chapel Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony - all before the age of 21.
Louise Currie Gunter
1913-2013
Wikipedia - Louise Currie Gunter, the wife of Robert A. Hefner Jr., was a glamorous woman who epitomized what I imagine the Roaring Twenties would have been. She was a Hollywood movie actress, a world-talented interior designer, and a Beverly Hills real estate developer.
She raised Robert A. Hefner III mostly in Malibu, California where a radio broadcaster found her and raved about her beauty on the airwaves, which ultimately led to her being discovered by Hollywood. As one of the original Hollywood actresses, she began her film career in 1940 when she appeared in Billy the Kid Outlawed and then as a society debutante in Kay Kyser musical You’ll Find Out. She starred in The Masked Marvel (1940-1949).
She attended Sarah Lawrence College in New York, back when it was still an all-girls school, and became best friends with Sarah Bell (daughter to Alphonso Bell, most famous for Bel-Air). As she told the story, she recalls when Mr. Bell purchased all the land west of Los Angeles, the LA Times (c.1944) wrote a scathing article of him laughing that he had squandered his entire fortune on worthless land.
After she retired from film in 1951, she set about with her passion for interior design. She worked on several notable projects from Beverly Hills to the President of Spain’s summer house, with her work ultimately being featured on the cover of Vogue. In fact, she and her husband of the time, John Good, developed much of Benedict Canyon in Beverly Hills together.
Fun Fact: Charles W. Gunter, Louise’s father, was a prominent city leader when he moved to Oklahoma City in 1907 (the same year the Hefner’s moved to Ardmore, OK). He was President of American National Bank until its merger with First National Bank, and Vice-Chairman of the Board thereafter. He built the First National Center in downtown Oklahoma City, the beautiful art deco building which stood as the tallest building west of the Mississippi for nearly two decades.