Jc Drennan

“JC” was born August 13, 1932 to John C. and Telma Drennan of Medford.  JC attended Medford Public Schools, participating in football, basketball, and baseball.  He was a member of three Oklahoma state championship football teams (one as a ballboy and two as a player) capping off the 1940’s with a hard-fought 12-6 state championship victory over Sequoyah in freezing, windy conditions.  During that decade, Medford High School was the winningest program in the state.

JC graduated from Medford in 1950 and then attended the University of Oklahoma, graduating in 1954.  While an undergraduate at OU, he studied law and accounting, and was a proud member of the Pi Kappa Alpha social fraternity.  After finishing his undergraduate studies, JC joined the US Army in Fort Benning, Georgia as an officer and artillery instructor.  He then returned to OU to attend law school. In 1959, JC joined his father at Drennan & Drennan, the family law practice that had been founded during Oklahoma statehood in 1907.  JC practiced law for exactly 60 years, retiring in 2019.  The year of his retirement, Judge Jack Hammontree presided over a ceremony in which the Oklahoma Bar Association acknowledged his 60 years of practicing law in the state, a rarity in the profession.  JC’s areas of specialty were oil and gas and probate law.

JC had a passion for four things: law, helping children excel at sports and academics, nice restaurants, and Oklahoma Sooner football.  JC, essentially never missing a workday in his professional career, was typically up and out the door before 6 a.m. to start his day.  A typical work week over the years would consist of early morning coffee with friends around town (the old Bon Ton, Kennedy Drug and Friendly’s were his favorites), documenting his contract comments on a legal pad or a dictation machine, and personally hand-delivering papers to his clients, often driving down country roads all across Oklahoma.

JC was also a well-known local youth baseball coach in his younger days, having taught numerous generations the sport he loved, and teaching it an old-school military style.  While his children participated in sports, JC never missed a game, and rarely missed a practice, often working after practice with any kids who wanted additional assistance on their shot or their swing.

Outside of his pride for his family, he had a strong innate passion for the all-day pomp-and-circumstance of an Oklahoma Sooner home game (and the dinner in Oklahoma City after the game), as well as the annual weekend pilgrimage to Dallas for the Red River Shootout.  He attended his first OU game in 1938, and has been...and will continue to be...a season ticket holder and donor since the 50’s, rarely missing a home game until his last attended game in 2015.  He was able to witness many highs and lows, including the 1957 loss to Notre Dame (ending a 47-game winning streak), the 1971 Game of the Century, and the 1 vs 2 win vs Nebraska in 2000.  His one regret he takes to his grave was never seeing OU win a national championship in person, having witnessed live two crushing Sooner Orange Bowl defeats, including an unexpected loss to heavy underdog Arkansas at the end of the 1977 season.

JC is preceded in death by his wife, Nettie; his father, John; his step-mother, June; his mother, Telma, and his brother, James.

He is survived by his sister, Dorothy; his sister, Mary; his son, Steve; his son, John IV; his daughter-in-law, Alyson; his grandchildren, John V and Estelle, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Steve and John would like to personally thank the world-class care that JC received in his last years from his home health care providers and the talented staff at the Wakita Community Health Center.  We know he was a handful!

The family will hold a private graveside ceremony at a later date.

Cremation arrangements are by Lanman Funeral Home, Inc. of Medford.  www.lanmanmemorials.com  Facebook: Lanman Funeral Home Inc.