The Oklahoma Bar Journal January 2025

M eet Y our B ar A ssociation Green Country Lawyer Leads Association in 2025 D. Kenyon ‘Ken’ Williams Jr. To Focus on Expanding Access to Justice and Bringing Attorneys Back to Rural Oklahoma

By Emily Buchanan Hart

I N THE HEART OF GREEN Country in northeast Oklahoma lies Skiatook Lake – with its pris tine, sky-blue water surrounded by rolling hills, rocky cliffs and dense greenery. This lake is part of OBA President Williams’ stomp ing grounds – a 10-minute drive from his home near Sperry and one of his favorite places to be. This year’s president, D. Kenyon Williams Jr., who goes by Ken, grew up in Skiatook and feels for tunate to have spent much of his life living in Osage County. “I’ve always loved the country,” Ken says. “It’s my natural default – where I like to be.” Ken and his wife, Teresa, who have three grown children and eight grandchildren in both Oklahoma and Arizona, live on an acreage near the small town of Sperry and have been there for nearly 42 years. “The kids got to see lots of wildlife growing up in the coun try,” Ken said. “We have 50 acres they got to explore, and they learned to love the countryside. We built a big pond outside our back door; the kids have been

able to fish anytime they want to, kayak, and now, our grandkids get to do that here, too.” LIFE IN RURAL OKLAHOMA As a child, Ken was also able to spend a lot of time outdoors and in nature. He had his first “job” at just 5 years old, cleaning pots at his grandparents’ greenhouse. He continued to work there through out high school, taking on more tasks as he got older, such as deliv ering plants across Tulsa. When he was 16, he began working for his father’s steel com pany, both in the warehouse and making deliveries. His work with his dad and granddad taught him many valuable skills – including carpentry and electrical work – which would serve him later in life when he built his own home. Ken, who is the oldest of four boys and spent a lot of time caring for his younger brothers, reflects on how life in a small town helped him become a sort of Renaissance man. In high school, Ken served as year book editor, played trombone in the band, sang in the school choir and was in speech and drama. He was a

football player and helped start the school’s wrestling and tennis teams. He also spent time doing photog raphy and had the opportunity to learn how to develop film in his grandfather’s darkroom. “I think all the different life experiences we have kind of develop different aspects of our Young Ken, who loved spending time outdoors

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THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL