Bethany Tribune

Bethany Tribune Newspaper covering the Bethany, Warr Acres and NW OKC area. The Tribune is published by Oklahoma's Reid Newspapers.

Bethany Pom seeking sponsors to support their program for the upcoming season
07/14/2025

Bethany Pom seeking sponsors to support their program for the upcoming season

Vandals tag Bethany post officeAuthorities were cleaning off the spray paint scrawled on the west side of the Bethany po...
07/09/2025

Vandals tag Bethany post office

Authorities were cleaning off the spray paint scrawled on the west side of the Bethany post office today. Vandals also sprayed white spray paint graffiti on the south wall.

Bethany fireworks celebration rescheduled for Friday, July 11The Bethany fireworks celebration is set for 9:55 p.m. Frid...
07/08/2025

Bethany fireworks celebration rescheduled for Friday, July 11

The Bethany fireworks celebration is set for 9:55 p.m. Friday, July 11 at Eldon Lyon Park.

WWII and Korean War veteran, longtime Warr Acres business owner serves as grand marshall in Bethany paradeThis year’s Be...
07/07/2025

WWII and Korean War veteran, longtime Warr Acres business owner serves as grand marshall in Bethany parade

This year’s Bethany Independence Day parade was led by another distinguished American serviceman as its Grand Marshal.

Bill Garis is a WWII and Korean War veteran. He served in the US Navy on a mine sweeper crew during WWII. He rejoined the military in the US Army during the Korean War and drove a supply truck.

After his military service, he owned and operated Bill's Garage in Warr Acres on the corner of NW 39th Street and Grove Ave.
He now resides at the Norman Veterans Center.

He is pictured with veteran and Bethany city councilman Peter Plank in Plank’s 1940s period-correct Willy’s Jeep in this year’s July 4 parade.

Photo credit: Bethany Children's Health Center

Melva Jean (Karns) Ladd1927-2025Melva Jean (Karns) Ladd, 98, of Bethany and Yukon, Oklahoma, passed away on July 3, 2025...
07/06/2025

Melva Jean (Karns) Ladd
1927-2025

Melva Jean (Karns) Ladd, 98, of Bethany and Yukon, Oklahoma, passed away on July 3, 2025, at Spanish Cove Retirement Village.

Jean Ladd was born on March 9, 1927, in a farmhouse near Kingsdown, Kansas, to Elmer and Verna (Dawson) Karns. Her early life centered around the nearby town of Ford, Kansas; her later life centered around Bethany, Oklahoma. Jean and her older sister, Colleen, attended the Church of the Nazarene and the public school in Ford, Kansas. Growing up, she lived through scarlet fever, World War II rationing, and the Dust Bowl. Jean graduated from Ford High School in 1944 and in 1948 earned a BS degree in Business Education at Bethany-Peniel College (now Southern Nazarene University) in Bethany. She was high school valedictorian and college marshal. During college she met and later married Forrest E. Ladd, Jr. in 1950.

Jean taught business at public schools in Garden City and Perry, Kansas, and at Miltonvale Wesleyan College in Miltonvale, Kansas. After moving to Bethany in 1955, she became the accountant for the Bethany Book Store, operated by the Nazarene Publishing House, becoming its manager from 1971 to 1994. She was an active part of Bethany Main Street planning and received an alumni award from the SNU School of Business in 2006.

Forrest and Jean were married almost 75 years and raised one daughter, Gwen Ellen (Ladd) Hackler. Jean was a supportive wife, a dedicated and loving mother, and proud “grandma” to nine basset hounds. She was an active member of the Bethany First Church of the Nazarene, where she sponsored a girls’ Caravan troop for several years and served on the missionary council. She and her husband were members of the Felia Sunday School class. She traveled to many cemeteries and libraries in the Midwest for her genealogical research and took trips to Great Britain, Europe, and the Middle East, where she rode a camel. Jean enjoyed working on the computer, organizing paperwork, proofreading, and editing. Forrest and Jean moved to Spanish Cove Retirement Village, Yukon, in 2001. Jean was known for always having what people needed, especially in her trusty handbag.

Family was of central importance to Jean; if you were related to her, worked with her, or went to church with her, you were in her circle of very important people. After retirement, Jean pursued genealogy research almost full-time, investigating and writing the histories of her mother’s (Dawson) family and her father’s (Karns) families, then her husband’s (Stillwell and Ladd) families, and the four grandparent family lines of their ancestors. She and her husband produced over fifty print and digital publications. In the process Jean discovered family lines linking back to England, Ireland, Scotland, Germany, and Scandinavian countries. Their work is summarized for the public on RootsWeb, now part of Ancestry.com at https://homepages.rootsweb.com/~forladd/.

Surviving family members include husband Forrest E. Ladd, Jr. of Yukon, daughter and son-in-law Gwen Ellen (Ladd) Hackler and Donald Raymond Hackler, Jr. of Oklahoma City, two sisters-in law Linda (Ladd) Nicholson Krause and Joan (Ladd) Clark, cousins Garry and Carolyn (Karns) Pate and their family, first cousin Eileen Dawson Rollins, and numerous other Dawson cousins. Preceding her in death were her parents, Elmer Mearkle Karns and Verna Mabel (Dawson) Karns; her sister, Winifred Colleen (Karns) Cornwell and brother-in-law Don E. Cornwell; and many first cousins on both sides of her family, where she had 15 aunts and uncles.

The funeral service will take place on Tuesday, July 8 at 2:00 p.m. at Bethany First Church of the Nazarene, Chapel in the Round, with Dr. Don Dunnington officiating. Interment will follow at Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Flowers may be sent to Mercer-Adams Funeral Service, or memorial donations may be made to Southern Nazarene University in Jean’s memory. Online condolences may be shared at Mercer-Adams Funeral Service.

07/02/2025

Stay connected this July with a special deal from the Bethany Tribune—get a full year of print and online for half price! Plus, for every subscription or renewal this month, we’ll donate $5 to the Cole Community Center.

That means you’re not only supporting local journalism—you’re also helping provide care and support to those in need, right here at home.

Click the following link to subscribe: https://checkout.square.site/buy/2I3CCQ5DNFQNKFL3AOE3VOKM

Sunday Bethany murder-suicide victim identified as 6-year-old femaleTwenty-nine-year-old Bethany resident Billy Feaster ...
06/30/2025

Sunday Bethany murder-suicide victim identified as 6-year-old female

Twenty-nine-year-old Bethany resident Billy Feaster allegedly shot and killed his 6-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, Sunday morning in Bethany before taking his own life, according to Bethany police.

According to a statement released today by the Bethany Police Department, at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, June 29, the BPD received a call from a resident at 6908 NW 42nd Street reporting that they believe their son shot and killed himself and his daughter.

Officers responded and confirmed Billy Feaster and his daughter Elizabeth Feaster were shot dead in the backyard.

Officers secured the scene, notified investigators and talked with witnesses. Bethany Investigators, along with the Medical Examiner's Office conducted their initial investigation. The investigation is still ongoing.

Are you subscribed to the Bethany Tribune? Get subscribed for half-price through the month of July! A portion of each su...
06/30/2025

Are you subscribed to the Bethany Tribune? Get subscribed for half-price through the month of July!

A portion of each subscription will be donated to the Cole Community Center. Subscribing is easy. Scan the QR code on the below ad, or follow the instructions to get subscribed for new subscriptions or renewals!

SHOP LOCAL: C&J Sporting Goods having BIG July 4th sale! See details below*placement
06/24/2025

SHOP LOCAL: C&J Sporting Goods having BIG July 4th sale! See details below

*placement

Tanya Lynn Berry1961-2025Tanya Lynn Berry, 63, passed away June 15, 2025 in Oklahoma City, OK. She was born July 3, 1961...
06/21/2025

Tanya Lynn Berry
1961-2025

Tanya Lynn Berry, 63, passed away June 15, 2025 in Oklahoma City, OK. She was born July 3, 1961 in Oklahoma City, OK to Bobby and Katie Decker. She graduated from Putnam City West High School in 1980.
Tanya was very talented and creative. She loved to draw, make crafts out of wood, sew clothes for her family and was a great cook. She enjoyed fishing and boating at Grand Lake with family and friends. Tanya loved her animals.
She faithfully served the Lord and was always reading her Bible and was a volunteer for many years at her church.
She was preceded in death by her parents and infant sister, Jo Beth.
Tanya is survived by her husband, Danny Berry; daughter, Monica Hoyt and husband Anthony; son, Michael Berry; and three grandchildren, Daniel, Joseph and Makayla. She was a loving mother and grandmother and will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved her.
Funeral services will be held at 11:00am on Monday, June 23 at Mercer-Adams Chapel. Interment will be at a later date in Bethany Cemetery.

McClure’s Flowers and Gifts closing after 66 yearsEverything must go before the building is sold. Make an offer!
06/17/2025

McClure’s Flowers and Gifts closing after 66 years

Everything must go before the building is sold. Make an offer!

Join William’s Church of the Nazarene June 29 for Independence Day celebration!
06/16/2025

Join William’s Church of the Nazarene June 29 for Independence Day celebration!

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