Charles William Calhoun passed away in his home in Durant at the age of 84. He was born on August 30, 1939 in Hartshorne, Oklahoma, to Charles Curtis Calhoun and Billie Sue (Byrne). Charles married the love of his life, Donna Kay Calhoun, on January 1, 1960 in Madill, Oklahoma. They were married for 51 wonderful years before Donna passed away in 2011.
Charles was a larger-thanlife kind of man. He was a loving and devoted husband, father, and grandfather; a successful real estate broker and developer; the owner of the Budget Inn and the Brownwood Apartments in town; a chemical engineer; a Deacon at the First Baptist Church for 50 years; and dedicated to civic involvement throughout his life.
Charles graduated from Durant High School in 1957 and from Oklahoma State University in 1961. He moved his young family to Spring Hill, Louisiana to begin his career working at a paper mill, and then moved to Covington, Tennessee, to manage a paper mill there. In 1967, he then moved his wife and three young children back home to Durant to be close to family. Once he arrived back in Durant, Charles became involved in the real estate business, beginning with home and property sales and progressing into real estate development. Throughout his life, Charles remained involved in developing the town, including developments like the Twin Oaks subdivision, a neighborhood at Lake Durant, the TG&Y shopping center (Durant’s first shopping center), the Big Red Steakhouse and Big Red Gas House, the Budget Inn, the Brownwood Apartments, the shops and restaurants on the west side of Highway 75, and most recently, the Donald W.
Reynolds Community Center and Library.
In addition to his real estate and real estate development businesses, Charles was dedicated to civic involvement.
Charles was involved in the Rotary Club and in 1972, the Rotary Club International selected him out of a statewide pool of candidates to represent the State of Oklahoma in England for eleven weeks.
From 1969 to 1972, Charles served on the Durant City Council and was Vice Mayor during some of that time. In 1986, he ran a hotly contested race for State Representative championing the controversial Right to Work legislation, and very nearly won. Charles was an involved member of the Durant Chamber of Commerce for over 40 years. In 2007, he was appointed to the Bryan County Excise Board, where he served for 17 years (2007 – 2024). He served on the Cemetery Advisory Board for 6 years (2015 – 2021). Charles was instrumental in the drafting of the Durant Tourism Economic Development Tax and in the creation of the Durant Tourism Economic Development Authority where he served as Trustee for 7 years (2017 – 2024).
Charles’s business success and contributions to the town’s development were significant and something he continued to enjoy and hold important through his final days, but they were not the only defining factor of his life. More than anything, he was devoted to his faith in God – who he described as the Essence of Love – and this faith and love influenced him to love those around him deeply and to try to use his life to improve the lives of others.
Charles met Donna when he was home on a break from university – she was the new girl in town, and he was instantly captivated by the way her ponytail whipped around as she drove around town.
On their first date, Charles and Donna went out to the Roosevelt bridge and daringly jumped into Lake Texoma.
They knew they wanted to marry each other quickly, but Donna was too young – so the pair secretly eloped at midnight on New Years Eve.
As a father, Charles was firm but very loving and always ready to tease. He had a love for learning that he sought to pass on, directing his children “to the end of the hall” to look up answers to their questions in the family’s set of encyclopedias. His deep love extended to his children’s friends, too, and he treated these friends as if they were his own kids. For example, each Sunday, he would pick the kids up after church and drive them around (hidden in the floorboard for extra disorientation) to an off-thebeaten- path location, from which the children would be required to provide directions home. The twist, though, was that he inverted each of their instructions – a direction to turn left would result in a right-hand turn, a direction to go forward would lead to a reversal. Charles was always ready to make everyone laugh, and always willing to include. He also loved to travel, and each year he took the family on extended road trips. Together, they visited 47 of the lower 48 states (Ohio missed out), including a tour through the 13 colonies during the bicentennial year.
Charles was known as “Dadadan” to his 9 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren.
When the kids came to visit, Dadadan delighted everyone by jumping “cannonballs” into the pool (once the shade was out), creating giant waves and soaking anyone who preferred to watch the swimmers rather than join them.
He had truly wise advice to share over nearly anything you could need (whether or not you wanted to hear it), and he was always full of interesting information about any number of topics, ranging from science to history and politics or the law and more. He could sit for hours debating the finer points with anyone who’d join in. Dadadan loved to take the kids out to Ft. Washita late at night with tales of “Aunt Jane” who haunted the premises, and then would be sure to hide and scare everyone before taking them home to bed. He had a competitive streak that surfaced in any game but especially Canasta, where he liked to create “house rules”.
And of course, his motel employees were like a second family to him.
Charles was preceded in death by his beloved wife Donna Kay Calhoun, parents, Charles Curtis and Billie Sue Calhoun, and his son, Donald Curtis “Curt” Calhoun.
Charles is survived by his daughter, Debbie Mills and Austin Lowrie of Highland Village, Texas; son, Charles W. “Charlie” Calhoun, Jr. of Tulsa, Oklahoma; granddaughters Melissa Mills Cottle and husband Matthew of Edmond, Oklahoma, LeeAnn Mills Reed and husband Mark Alan of Flagstaff, Arizona, Stephanie Mills Barham and husband Jacob of Denton, Texas, Tiffany Neuberger of Owasso, Oklahoma, and Brittany Calhoun of Moore, Oklahoma; grandsons Joshua Calhoun of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Caleb Calhoun of Tulsa, Oklahoma; Victoria Lowrie of Galveston, Texas, and Elizabeth Chapman and husband Michael of Frisco, Texas; great-granddaughters Lily Reed of Flagstaff, Arizona, Kinsley Neuberger of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Sophia Cottle of Edmond, Oklahoma, Norah Cottle of Edmond, Oklahoma, Adalynn Neuberger of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Elaina Barham of Denton, Texas; great-grandsons Jacob Sisk of Denton, Texas, Asher Reed of Flagstaff, Arizona, and Jackson “Jack” Cottle, of Edmond, Oklahoma; Jack Chapman of Frisco, Texas.
A celebration of his life was held at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, January 22, 2024 at First Baptist Church in Durant, Oklahoma with Brother Garry McNeill officiating and Dr. Jerry Polson giving the eulogy. Charles was laid to rest in Highland Cemetery following his funeral service.
Those serving as pallbearers were Matthew Cottle, Mark Alan Reed, Jacob Barham, Joshua Calhoun, Caleb Calhoun, and Jacob Sisk.
Services were under the direction of Holmes-Coffey-Murray Funeral Home, 121 North 5th Street, Durant, Oklahoma 74701. www. holmescoffeymurray.com.
