Some of the questions left swirling in the aftermath would take more time to answer.
Like, who was the shooter? And why did he do it?
But one question — how would Tulsa respond? — was put quickly and definitively to rest.
Following the June 1 mass shooting that claimed four lives on the Saint Francis Hospital campus — Dr. Preston Phillips, 59; Dr. Stephanie Husen, 48; Amanda Glenn, 40; and William Love, 73 — many of the Tulsans who'd stepped forward in response would be singled out by community leaders.
Mayor G.T. Bynum set the tone, speaking for a grateful community in remarks he made at a news conference at the hospital.
Mourners hold candles during a vigil for the victims of a shooting at the Natalie Medical Building on the campus of the Saint Francis Health System.
Starting with praise for emergency responders, he said: "Everywhere I looked, to my left, to my right, there were officers running toward that building, jumping over bushes, getting around anything in their way, between them and that threat, so that they could save people. That is the law enforcement community that we have here in Tulsa."
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The mayor then shifted focus to Saint Francis' own staff members and employees, for whom the horror came on top of two trying years of COVID-19 response.
Speaking to them directly, he said: "I want to thank all of you for coming to work today. Every day for years, including through the worst public health crisis we have ever faced as a city, you have put yourselves at risk to save the lives of people in this city. I hope you know how much it is appreciated. How grateful this community is for you and your work and the risks that you take and never even appreciating that you had to deal with this kind of risk and this kind of premeditated violence. And yet you are still here, ready to save more lives today."
The shooting claimed four lives on the Saint Francis Hospital campus — Dr. Preston Phillips, 59; Dr. Stephanie Husen, 48; Amanda Glenn, 40; and William Love, 73.
Later, in October, Bynum recognized Saint Francis employees further, presenting them collectively with the key to the city.
Dr. Cliff Robertson, Saint Francis president and CEO, said the mayor's words and gesture were much appreciated.
"It goes a long way to just reaffirming for our caregivers that they've made the right choice as a career — that what they do is somewhat special, somewhat unique and is valued by the community."
Coinciding with the end of Robertson's first year in Tulsa and with Saint Francis, the tragedy was "unbelievably devastating," he said.
At the same time, it provided a window into the heart of his new community.
"The response from Tulsa was almost overwhelming," Robertson said. "And it was such an important part of the organizational healing that we've had to go through. Strength has come out of it for us as an organization, and I really attribute that to the community."
"Everywhere I looked, to my left, to my right, there were officers running toward that building, jumping over bushes, getting around anything in their way, between them and that threat, so that they could save people," Mayor GT Bynum said.
No one deserves more of the organization's gratitude, Robertson said, than the city's first responders.
In fact, he and a group of Saint Francis leaders told them so personally later, when they set up a meeting with members of the Tulsa Police Department's special operations unit.
Sometimes, an in-person "thank you" is the only kind that will do, Robertson said.
"As physicians, we all recognize that we're signing up to serve," he said. "But what they do — they literally sign up to potentially put themselves in harm's way to serve others, which I think is probably the highest calling."
Meet Tulsa World Magazine's Tulsans of the Year for 2022
Tulsans of the Year: Saint Francis mass shooting first responders, victims, co-workers
Some of the questions left swirling in the aftermath would take more time to answer.
Like, who was the shooter? And why did he do it?
But one question — how would Tulsa respond? — was put quickly and definitively to rest.
Following the June 1 mass shooting that claimed four lives on the Saint Francis Hospital campus — Dr. Preston Phillips, 59; Dr. Stephanie Husen, 48; Amanda Glenn, 40; and William Love, 73 — many of the Tulsans who'd stepped forward in response would be singled out by community leaders.
Mayor G.T. Bynum set the tone, speaking for a grateful community in remarks he made at a news conference at the hospital.
Starting with praise for emergency responders, he said: "Everywhere I looked, to my left, to my right, there were officers running toward that building, jumping over bushes, getting around anything in their way, between them and that threat, so that they could save people. That is the law enforcement community that we have here in Tulsa."
The mayor then shifted focus to Saint Francis' own staff members and employees, for whom the horror came on top of two trying years of COVID-19 response.
Speaking to them directly, he said: "I want to thank all of you for coming to work today. Every day for years, including through the worst public health crisis we have ever faced as a city, you have put yourselves at risk to save the lives of people in this city. I hope you know how much it is appreciated. How grateful this community is for you and your work and the risks that you take and never even appreciating that you had to deal with this kind of risk and this kind of premeditated violence. And yet you are still here, ready to save more lives today."
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Tulsans of the Year: Gary Brooks
He’s the man with the key to the city — but no, he hasn’t unlocked it yet.
That’s just how Gary Brooks’ coworkers have joked with him since Tulsa’s mayor honored him with the golden award.
“Everywhere I go, people still shouting at me,” the native Jamaican said, sighing with a smile that revealed a missing tooth. “‘That’s a hero right there!’ and I’m like ‘Oh, my god.’”
The tooth fell out the day after the 52-year-old intervened in a Tulsa Transit passenger’s rage-filled attack on a bus driver in August. Officials say he likely saved the driver’s life, and Brooks wasn’t even riding the bus.
Nor did he report the loss of his pearly white, which cost him several hundred dollars to replace.
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Tulsans of the Year: Bryan Crowe
Who knew what live events might be like in a post-pandemic world? Uncertainty gave way to prosperity. BOK Center and Cox Business Convention Center came rocking and rolling out of the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the leadership of General Manager Bryan Crowe, multiple venue records were broken and the community was the beneficiary of support beyond just economic impact. Crowe is a newcomer to Tulsa after spending 17 years in El Paso. When told he was being honored as a Tulsan of the Year, he expressed appreciation for his “team.” “I’m honored and humbled,” he said. “Tulsa has been so welcoming and generous, but this recognition should go to our entire ASM Tulsa team, from front line through leadership. Our successes are a tribute to the efforts of so many who believed and continue to believe in the power of live experiences and that Tulsa is the premier destination for music, comedy, sports, professional conferences and more. I’m grateful to be in Tulsa with this team.”
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Tulsans of the Year: Evan Dougoud
Evan Dougoud’s parents got divorced while he was a teenager growing up in Virginia.
“And life got really, really hard,” he says.
Some of his favorite school teachers took it upon themselves to check on him, ask how he was doing and, sometimes, simply listen.
“They kept me alive,” Dougoud says. “They really did. And so I wanted to kind of do that for somebody else.
"I wanted to help people — I just wasn’t sure how.”
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Tulsans of the Year: Hau Suan Khai
For many newcomers to the United States of America, the country's initials might easily stand for "U Start Again."
Hau Suan Khai smiles as he relates this witticism, but it is a sentiment he knows all too well.
"Everything here is different," he said. "It is more than just the language barrier that many people have to deal with. The Western culture is so very different from the Zomi culture, that for some people it is hard to navigate life in an American city."
Khai is a member of Tulsa's Zomi community, made up of some 10,000 members of a people native to Myanmar, the southeast Asian nation formerly known as Burma, as well as India and Bangladesh. While Zomi communities are located throughout the United States, Tulsa has what is believed to be the largest such community in the country.
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Tulsans of the Year: Brit Hensel
Brit Hensel makes films — and history.
In 2022, Hensel became the first female citizen of the Cherokee Nation to direct an official Sundance Film Festival selection. Because she brought positive attention to Tulsa and the Cherokee Nation, she has been selected among Tulsans of the Year. Keep reading to find out why animal lovers will endorse the honor.
A Tulsa resident since 2019, Hensel crafted a film, “ᎤᏕᏲᏅ (What They’ve Been Taught),” that was selected for Sundance’s short films program. The film is about community and our responsibility to it as Cherokee people, said Hensel.
Asked about the importance of sharing Cherokee stories, Hensel said, “I am Cherokee, so the things I create are innately Cherokee. I believe I have a responsibility to work hard to uplift my community and the people around me. I believe I have a responsibility to keep learning and growing in the ways of my culture and language. One of the ways I do that is through creating and telling stories. As long as my work accomplishes that, I believe I’m moving in the right direction.”
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Tulsans of the Year: Isaiah Jarvis
It’s been several months since Isaiah Jarvis of the Tulsa Nationals Little League team went viral for his remarkable moment of sportsmanship. Although a lot of unrelated things have changed in his life since, his appreciation of that experience hasn’t diminished.
After getting hit in the head with a pitch during the Little League World Series Southwest Regional final on Aug. 9, Jarvis eventually made his way to first base and noticed that the pitcher, Kaiden Shelton of Pearland, Texas, was visibly upset and crying because he thought he’d hurt Jarvis.
The two had become friends at the hotel during the weeklong tournament, and when Jarvis saw how upset his friend was, he walked over to the pitcher’s mound and hugged Shelton, letting him know that he was OK.
Although Tulsa eventually lost that game, and the chance to play in the prestigious Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, that one moment was the one everyone remembered.
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Tulsans of the Year: Rick Guild
You might not know commercial real estate agent Rick Guild, but it's a safe bet he knows you.
And your alma mater, golf handicap and name of your pet dog.
Guild's business is getting into yours in the most pleasant way possible.
"Relationships are an art form for him," said Harry Birdwell, chief operating officer of Newmark Robinson Park, Guild's employer. "It's unbelievable."
So is Guild's résumé.
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Tulsans of the Year: Carrie Moss
Carrie Moss has dedicated her life to helping people with disabilities.
It's the reason she went to Ukraine in the first place. It's what's kept her there for the past eight years.
But after the Russians invaded in February, the Tulsan's skills as a physical therapist were no longer what her patients needed most from her.
With millions of Ukrainians forced to flee the country, Moss and her colleagues temporarily switched gears, converting their clinic in Lutsk into a checkpoint, providing refugees with food, shelter and supplies.
Serving refugees wasn't something they were prepared for, said Moss, who works with patients with spinal injuries.
But "we learned fast," Moss said.
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Tulsans of the Year: Rebecka Peterson
On a visit to Union High School one September morning, Rebecka Peterson could barely get past the front foyer without getting inundated by hugs from former students.
The 2022-23 State Teacher of the Year, Peterson is taking a paid sabbatical from teaching pre-calculus and Advanced Placement calculus at Union this school year to travel around the state as an advocate for teachers and public education.
“It’s so inspiring to be in other grades or other parts of the state and see that good and important work that educators are doing every day and get to highlight that by being one of their voices,” Peterson said. "It is an honor of a lifetime."
Although she is enjoying the opportunity to meet colleagues throughout Oklahoma, that the student hugs are now fewer and farther between is a downside to the time away from her south Tulsa classroom, she said.
“That’s the part I miss, the student interactions and building those relationships,” she said. “I love spending my day with high schoolers. They’re so fun and funny and inspiring. They give me so much hope for the future.”
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Tulsans of the Year: Rodgers family
Cain’s Ballroom is a unique-to-Tulsa treasure.
For the past 20 years, members of the Rodgers family have been caretakers of the historic music venue.
Job well done: The Rodgers family was selected by Tulsa World Magazine among Tulsans of the year.
“I think I was the only one of the family who had been inside Cain’s Ballroom prior to us buying it, but I wasn’t familiar with the history and significance of the venue,” Chad Rodgers said.
“Our family owning the Cain’s Ballroom and with Hunter and I running it over the last 20 years, we’ve always felt a huge responsibility to continue the Cain’s Ballroom legacy by continuing to bring world-class performers to the city of Tulsa. We want everyone to be proud to have the Cain’s Ballroom here in Tulsa, Oklahoma.”
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Tulsans of the Year: Andy Scurto
The local sports scene got a big boost when Andy Scurto, an insurance and IT entrepreneur and sports investor originally from California, bought the Tulsa Oilers hockey team in September 2021, vowing to revitalize the fan experience.
Since then, he has continued to have a major local impact.
Scurto helped improve the Oilers’ marketing efforts, contributing to Tulsa ranking fourth in the ECHL in attendance. An average of 5,834 fans watched the team play its home games at the BOK Center last season, the team’s most since 2017-18.
Scurto also brought in a showcase for elite-level women’s hockey in April, when the Premier Hockey Federation's Minnesota Whitecaps and the Buffalo Beauts, both owned by Scurto, faced off at the BOK Center.
Scurto then purchased the Oilers Ice Center, the only full-size ice rink in Tulsa, bringing all the ice under one ownership and implementing impressive renovations to the facility.
After that, Scurto bought the former Macy’s building at the Promenade Mall. It is being converted into a rink facility with two ice sheets, which will be a boon for the local youth hockey, figure skating and curling scene once it is ready next year.
Finally, in July, Scurto announced he had bought an expansion franchise in the Indoor Football League, to begin play at the BOK Center in March 2023. There was a name-the-team contest, resulting in the name Oilers for the football team, and since then, the Tulsa Oilers football team has hired a coach (Marvin Jones) and started signing players, with a big local tryout session in late October.
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Tulsans of the Year Nick Sidorakis
Tulsans whose livelihoods center on the occupation of hotel rooms and the sale of food and drinks probably remember May 16-22 as having been their favorite week of 2022.
For the Tulsans who love important, well-played golf, May 16-22 undoubtedly was the best week of the year.
All of those people — the ones whose finances needed another PGA Championship and the ones who couldn’t wait to spend big on tickets and merchandise — should regard Nick Sidorakis in the same way that this Tulsa World Magazine does: as a Tulsan of the Year type of figure.
Sidorakis’ relationships with PGA of America decision-makers were a significant factor in Southern Hills Country Club scoring an eighth professional major championship.
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Tim Stanley
Staff Writer
I'm a general assignment reporter and the writer behind the award-winning "World War II Veterans Remember" series and book. Phone: 918-581-8385
