The Oklahoma Bar Association announced on Mar. 30 that it will honor members who are reaching significant milestone anniversaries in their legal careers during 2025.
Recognizing long-term commitment to the legal profession, the association listed attorneys who have achieved 70, 60, and 50 years of membership. The honorees represent various counties across Oklahoma as well as several out-of-state locations.
Among those celebrating 70 years are Robert Bowman Manke from Muskogee County, John A. Allford from Pittsburg County, Robert Howard Jones from Pottawatomie County, and Thomas Wilson Brown from Tulsa County. Out-of-state honorees include Charles M. Blackard of North Carolina and Gerald Kenneth Hornung II of Vermont.
The list also includes numerous lawyers marking their 60th anniversary with the bar association. These individuals come from counties such as Beckham, Caddo, Comanche, Garfield, Kay, McClain, Muskogee, Oklahoma (including Edmond and Bethany), Payne, Pittsburg, Pottawatomie, Sequoyah, Tulsa (with many representatives), Washington and Woods Counties. Several members living outside Oklahoma are also recognized for this achievement.
For those reaching the half-century mark—50 years—attorneys were named from nearly every region in Oklahoma including Bryan County’s Rocky Lyn Powers; Caddo County’s Richard Allan Williams and Thomas Robert Zynda; Carter County’s Robert M. Highsmith and Polly Murphy; Cleveland County with multiple honorees such as Bruce Gordon Allen and Susan E. Bryant; plus dozens more spanning urban centers like Tulsa and Oklahoma City to rural areas across the state. Many out-of-state members were acknowledged as well.
The announcement reflects a tradition of honoring dedication within the legal community by recognizing decades of service.
