Quinn, Fred and Jopie
Fred and Jopie Quinn: Life and Experiences in Midwest City Area
Interviewed by Carolyn Cuskey
Q: Mr. Quinn why don’t you begin and give me your full name and when and where you were born.
A: Fred P. Quinn, born in March 1932 in Amarillo, Texas.
Q: Oh, a Texan.
A: Jopie Kelly Quinn. I was also born in Amarillo, Texas in 1932 in August. Fred and I went to high school together there.
Q: So how did you wind up in Oklahoma? I read your story and you went to the University of Oklahoma.
A: (Fred) Yes, that is right.
Q: Did you go to school here as well?
A: (Jopie) Yes, I went to the University of Oklahoma.
Q: Why did you choose to go there instead of A&M?
A: (Fred) Well, it was not uncommon in Amarillo in those days for students to come to OU instead, certainly, of the University of Texas, which was a lot further. And Oklahoma those days was a five hour drive, that was before I-40. We had friends here and we sort of visited them and it seemed like a nice place to be. At eighteen you don’t need much reason to make those sorts of decisions.
A: (Jopie) And I had a brother who had come to the University of Oklahoma.
Q: So you already had a connection here. Then after college, when were you guys married?
A: (Jopie) I graduated in 1954 and Fred had one more year in architectural school and we were married that last year he was in school.
A: (Fred) September of 1954.
Q: Okay, in Norman or did you go back to Amarillo?
A: (Fred) Amarillo.
A: (Jopie) We were married in Amarillo and Fred had taken a job as a counselor in the men’s dorms. We didn’t have much but that gave us a place to live and that paid for his tuition, books and food at the cafeteria. I had to earn enough to get my food ticket at the cafeteria, which I barely did.
Q: The proverbial poor college student!
A: (Jopie) It was so much fun. We just loved being there with all the other counselors. We just made our own fun.
Q: Some of what I would like to document is for your progeny in the future. So if anybody is looking for genealogy they will be able to tell you from some other Quinn and identify a little bit about your life, for instance, internet research – some people can find this information readily available all over the world, so we’re kind of planning for future access as well. So you began your professional career here in Oklahoma City?
A: (Fred) Yes, that’s right. I worked for a small firm in downtown Oklahoma City. In the Oklahoma Natural Gas building on 3rd and Harvey, in those days. And there was a three year internship where you took a written exam to become a licensed architect.
Q: Licensed by the state?
A: (Fred) Yes. And that was the period we were in there so we lived on 17th Street downtown and worked downtown. That’s how it began.
Q: And did you hear about Midwest City while you were in Oklahoma City?
A: (Fred) Yes, there was another architectural firm and there was another architect there working for that firm and we became friends. His name was Earl Bishop. We both got licensed about the same time and actually we were ambitious and thought we wanted to start a practice and so in August of 1959 we joined as partners and came out here and opened a very small office and mostly we did house plans for builders. There was a lot of house building going on. We both got very skilled at cranking out about a house plan a day.
Q: Wow.
A: (Jopie) But, Fred, didn’t you all come out here because you heard there was a hospital being built?
A: (Fred) That is what brought us here.
A: (Jopie) You thought if you moved here you might get it.
Q: Have a chance to do the plans?
A: (Fred) We didn’t come to do house plans, we came because we thought . . .
Q: You could do house plans anywhere around Oklahoma City maybe?
A: (Fred) We could, but that’s how we lived for a year or so.
Q: Do you know where some of those houses are now?
A: (Fred) I know where a lot of them are – all over town. A lot of them are in Meadowood. Meadowood was just beginning to be developed. All up and down Bella Vista, too.
Q: The north part of Midwest City was what was being developed?
A: (Fred) I’d say they were all north of Reno.
Q: And those are a little bit larger homes, a little bit higher economic scale?
A: (Fred) Larger than what was being built at that time. They seemed big to us at the time. Now they seem pretty modest.
Q: That’s right because the [new] houses today look like mansions to me!
A: (Jopie) Your first office was little. It had been a dental office right?
A: (Fred) Actually it was a duplex and the dentist was still in one half.
A: (Jopie) Right behind The Oklahoma Journal Building.
Q: Yes, those building are gone now, aren’t they?
A: (Fred) Yes, they are gone.
Q: I’ve got some pictures of those old duplexes.
A: (Fred) We were in the south half.
Q: Now Jopie what did you think about moving out to Midwest City?
A: (Jopie) Oh, that was just wonderful. I thought it was fun. We had two babies back then and we bought a house out here on Shadybrook. Just a couple of blocks over.
A: (Fred) Glen Breeding [built the house].
Q: Yes, Glen Breeding, a big builder.
A: (Jopie) I remember we moved our membership to the Methodist Church out here. Wickline Methodist Church. I just remember how wonderful how many of the older ladies were to mentor me. I remember Lucille Kerr who is now Bruce Miller’s wife. But she and her husband Bill Kerr were so kind to us and welcomed us to the community. The Breedings did and Mrs. Atkinson. We just lived around the corner from Eugenia Atkinson Davis. We were raising children about the same age. Eugenia took me over to her mother’s home and it was such a pleasure to get to know Mrs. Atkinson and a lot of planting that I gathered up for this house came from Mrs. Atkinson’s home. From her garden.
Q: Oh, really. So some “children” of her plants are here? Oh how fortunate that is!
A: (Jopie) She shared recipes with me and helped us cook. I just have wonderful memories of Mrs. Atkinson and the time we spent with Joe and Eugenia. That was a lot of fun.
Q: So you were really taken in by the community and it sounds like it was a really friendly place.
A: (Jopie) It was. Mrs. John Conrad, Eva, - Manly Moore’s wife, Farrell.
A: (Fred) Manly Moore was a builder, also.
Q: I remember that. He was one of the original builders.
A: And Lloyce and Jake Jacobson were very kind and encouraging to us. They had the little Hilltop Dairy. [Hilltop Dairyland]
Q: Where Mark’s Prescription shop is now? Toni Stockton was of my close friends, John Stockton’s youngest daughter, and we used to walk from Toni’s house, which is over on Mockingbird and go get ice cream cones [at Hilltop Dairyland].
A: (Jopie) I remember Stockton’s Department Store.
A: (Fred) And grocery store.
Q: Yes, he was the grocer and his sister owned the clothing store, I believe.
A: (Fred) Some time during there when our daughters were in junior high, they each had a pony horse and they each kept them basically where City Hall is now.
Q: Oh, yes, there was a field there.
A: (Fred) They would ride those horses to the Hilltop Dairyland.
Q: Now you owned the horses?
A: (Fred) Ah-huh.
A: (Jopie) And we stabled them out there.
Q: That was like pasture for rent?
A: (Fred) Yes, that’s right. There was a man named John Brown who I guess he owned the land. He rented the land and fed the horses. There was a little bit of a stable thing there. It was convenient and very inexpensive.
Q: And I bet there were lots of places to ride.
A: (Jopie) All over town.
A: (Fred) They loved it.
Q: I remember going to school at Soldier Creek in the 50’s and the bus would come down Douglas and weave around there, near Douglas and Reno and it was all horse pastures.
A: Yes, that’s right.
Q: There was a couple of horses in every section. Now it’s all a shopping center and a park.
A: (Jopie) As I remember Orin Kimball was the councilman when we came out here. He was very much involved in the city politics and he befriended you all (speaking to Fred).
A: (Fred) He did. He was also in the electrical contracting business.
A: (Jopie) He helped Bishop and Quinn get the hospital job, which was just an amazing thing for these two young men.
Q: Now how exactly did that work? Was it put out on bid?
A: (Fred) Well, even now we don’t bid on work, we’re just interviewed for work and then hopefully those doing the interviews will choose the right person for the job. Once the choice is made, then you negotiate the fee. The theory is that if you’re unable to negotiate the fee you go to the next person on the list. Hardly ever are you unable to negotiate the fee.
A: (Jopie) Who was in charge of choosing the architects?
A: (Fred) Well, it was the city council. The mayor and city council.
A: (Jopie) Who was mayor? Mayor Reed?
A: (Fred) Yes, he was. Marion Reed was mayor, To be honest, I can’t remember some of the other councilmen. I do remember that they were meeting in those days in what was the original fire station down by the water tower. And they would raise the overhead doors and set up table and chairs and convene the council meeting.
Q: Is that right? In the bays of the fire hall.
A: (Jopie) I didn’t remember that.
Q: Oh, my goodness! That’s where your job interview was?
A: (Fred) Yes it was. In those days, those were the days of – there was Hill Burton [Hill-Burton Act, 1946] money. Half – which was a [federal] government program that paid half of any hospital that the community could build. And so Midwest City, by a bond issue, I’m sure, came up with one half and Hill-Burton paid the other half and there was a hospital consultant named Bill Cline who worked with us and he really brought some expertise. He really knew hospitals. We thought we knew everything, but now I knew we knew nothing.
Q: Had you designed any medical facilities before?
A: (Fred) No, not really. But in those days it was a time of innocence for all of us. We didn’t know much. We just knew we could work hard enough and figure it out.
Q: Midwest City was still in its young stage, there, was kind of a frontier town, in that it was still developing its own infrastructure.
A: (Fred) We worked hard and we worked with Bill Cline. The hospital was 72 beds and 48,000 square feet and about $1,214,000. It was a price that in those days was staggering to guys like us.
Q: You couldn’t build a hospital room for that today!
A: (Fred) That’s right. We were blessed – we had good contractors and the base of the hospital was solid and would grow from there into seven major additions.
Q: But the original structure is still in there?
A: (Fred) Yes, the core of it is still in there.
Q: Do you remember who the contractor was? I know that’s public record, but. . .
A: (Fred) The first contractor was Nasherton Company. Then over the years, I’m pretty sure Lippert Brothers did one of the additions, and others. It was - always the additions were big enough and complex enough that the local builders of Midwest City weren’t able to do it.
Q: Because the hospital was being done by the city itself, did that put extra pressure on you or did you feel more responsibility because it was going to be owned by the public?
A: (Fred) Well, we felt very responsible. Yes, I think we would have felt responsible no matter whether it was a private or public client, but if we’d had the wisdom, we would have realized that being a public client – that probably has some more significance. I hope we took that into account. As it turned out it was a sound building and pretty well planned and everything worked fine.
Q: Yes! And it served Midwest City so well all these years and now it’s turned into our – I hate to use a crass term, but it’s a cash cow now!
A: (Fred) Boy, It really is. It really is.
A: (Jopie) When did you move Bishop & Quinn into the Journal building? Did you design the Journal building?
A: (Fred) Well, yes we designed the Journal building. Bill Atkinson, of course, wanted to start the newspaper.
Q: Ah-huh. Now was this your next major project after the hospital?
A: (Fred) Ah, it probably was. We were doing – of course, we had to feed our families and pay our expenses so we were busy doing little buildings. In fact, we got a little hospital in Colgate [Oklahoma] that was based on doing this hospital. That’s how it kind of works, of course.
Q: Ah-huh. Get a reputation in the architectural community -
A: Right.
Q: That was in 1959 when you were working on the hospital.
A: (Fred) We came in 1959. We actually - the work from the hospital didn’t really start until 1961. So, we had to be kind of patient and wait it out until things came together.
Q: And then the Journal, Mr. Atkinson ran for Governor in 1962 and when he lost, I think that’s when his plans really got in high gear.
A: (Fred) That is right. For the Journal.
Q: How did that come about? He approached you?
A: (Fred) He did. We knew Bill Atkinson. In fact, he being a developer and we being architects, he’d talk to us about things. And we did small things for him and I remember when he decided he wanted to start a newspaper and build a building, Earl Bishop and I got into the car with Bill Atkinson and Jim Gregory and drove to Chicago. The reason we went was because that’s where Goss presses were manufactured and he wanted us to see the press, to determine how to build this building around this press.
Q: Were his presses on the ground floor?
A: (Fred) They were on the ground floor.
Q: But you had to build an adequate slab.
A: (Fred) Yes, they were huge and heavy and loud and all of that. That was the first thing I remember about the planning - the trip to Chicago.
Q: Wow. You were pretty much on board before you took that trip obviously.
A: (Fred) Yes, oh yes. That’s right.
Q: How long were you up there then?
A: (Fred) Well, we probably stayed three days. I remember spending a few nights seeing Chicago with what I thought was old guys then. They were a lot younger than I am now. Glenn Breeding, particularly, was kind of a fun loving guy. Bill Atkinson was fairly, at least around us, he was fairly serious. Friendly enough, but serious. Glenn Breeding, you know, he would want us to go out and have drinks and dinner to see Chicago, so we did.
Q: It’s hard to resist that when you’re in a world famous city like that.
A: (Fred) Yes, sure. I hadn’t seen many places.
Q: So how did you arrive at the design for the Journal building? Did Mr. Atkinson have any input in that? Or was it just the creative process?
A: (Fred) Oh sure. We were all a little bit uncertain of the shape it should take, but it basically was a rectangular building, two stories high that had a lot of flexibility.
Q: Did he require that?
A: (Fred) He probably did.
A: (Jopie) And his offices were in that building upstairs.
A: (Fred) Yes, he was upstairs on the second floor.
Q. (Jopie) Were you upstairs too?
A: (Fred) Yes, we were upstairs too. We moved our offices there.
A: (Jopie) And now, his grandson is renovating that building.
Q: Yes, isn’t that wonderful? And he is going to keep The Oklahoma Journal letters on the side. It’s going to remain the Journal Building. I am glad that they are preserving it. So how did you come to have office space in the Journal? You weren’t associated with the paper directly?
A: (Fred) No, not at all. In fact, we were one of the few in the building who weren’t associated. It just had extra space that I’m sure Bill Atkinson had the wisdom to build in for future growth. While he was waiting for that he leased it to people like us. And we were so proud of that space. It was brand new and we were flush with a little bit of money because we had the hospital job and we were able to buy new furniture and a drafting table, some new T-squares. We were just so happy with it.
Q: In architectural heaven!
A: (Fred) We were!
Q: Well, it was a beautiful building when it was built, and very modern and a sleek looking design which I think people of Midwest City were very proud of, because Midwest City was relatively new itself. Just continued on with the newness of the town.
A: (Jopie) Did City Hall come next?
A: (Fred) City Hall really did come next. The thing I remember about city hall is, we knew the city government down in the old fire station. That’s really where they had their offices – the treasure, the city manager and the small staff they had. They decided that they needed a new city hall, which they did. There was a fair amount of time to determine where it should go. There was a little, you know, politics naturally got involved, because if you owned a piece of land somewhere, you would like to have city hall across from you because it would also enhance the value. So there was a lot of that going on, but. . . .
Q: And there was quite a bit of empty land around Midwest City to choose from.
A: (Fred) There was a lot of empty land. Finally this place was recommended by an independent consultant and at that time it seemed to be pretty much the geographic center. At that time you had to have some vision to see that Reno would become what it did, and Air Depot and Midwest Blvd. But it seemed like the right place and the land was available. But I think I might have given the wrong area when I gave the hospital’s area. Because that was city hall. I remember it had 4800 square feet of area for their offices where they were.
Q: At the old city hall?
A: (Fred) And when we designed the new city hall and built it, and Lippert Brothers built that. There was 48,000 square feet.
Q: Wow! So their size went up ten times.
A: (Fred) Yes, it did. And I’m sure we all thought that we designed for the ages because they will never outgrow this. Of course, now they need space badly, but it’s been 30 or 40 years, so . . .
Q: When did you build the city hall?
A: (Fred) It would have been in 1971 or ‘72.
Q: Did you also design the fire hall next to it and the library?
A: Yes, well, we didn’t do the library, but we did do the fire station. And the post office and the community center.
Q: Oh, the post office, yes! Wow. That was a big job, wasn’t it?
A: (Fred) Well, it was. And it was really quite a blessing to come to a town or be in a town that needed all those things.
Q: Oh, I bet, right here in your own town where you lived.
A: (Fred) It was pretty unusual.
A: (Jopie) Some place in there you designed Glenn Breeding’s personal home.
A: (Fred) Yes.
A: (Jopie) Which was pretty unusual for that era.
A: (Fred) Right.
A: (Jopie) and you enjoyed doing that.
Q: His little office was up here on Reno.
A: (Fred) It is still there.
Q: Right, it is still there.
A: (Jopie) His home wais on Glenoaks.
A: (Fred) Glenoaks. Glenn Breeding – he developed a whole lot of areas. All the streets that have Glen are Glen Breeding’s.
Q: Ah-huh. Glenwood, wasn’t that his?
A: (Fred) Glenwood was his, but he didn’t name anything Breeding Street. He named it Glen this or Glen that.
Q: Glenoak, Glenbrook.
A: (Fred) He was a very good developer.
A: (Jopie) He was a good friend to you.
A: (Fred) Yeah, he was. He was.
A: (Jopie) He was very encouraging to Fred.
Q: So what kind of house did you design for him?
A: (Fred) Well, it was what seemed to me like a huge house. It was probably 4,000 square feet, which in those days was big. Pool in the back, kind of a low rambling house.
A: (Jopie) I remember that it had two bedrooms. That’s all.
Q: Two bedrooms?
A: (Fred) Yes, they were big bedrooms. Big rooms. Big house. Ah, like Bill Atkinson built his house to really run for governor, I’m pretty sure, so that he could have people over for meetings and plannings. And Glenn Breeding did his house, as we all do for different reasons, was to show off what he could do as a builder/developer. And it probably worked for him.
Q: Sure. Like a showcase house. Did he run for governor?
A: (Fred) No, he didn’t, but Bill Atkinson, of course, did.
Q: Oh, yes. And he built the Atkinson house with that in mind, that it would someday be the former governor’s home and all those kind of things.
A: (Fred) And the next thing, I guess major thing, that we have done that I loved having been a part of is Rose State College.
Q: Oh, yes, and that is kind of the crowning jewel of Midwest City, isn’t it?
A: (Fred) It sure has been a big thing in our lives for over thirty years.
A: (Jopie) And a great thing for the community.
Q: Oh, wonderful. Yes, it really brings us a lot of cohesion.
A: (Fred) At the time, there hadn’t been a new college campus built in the state in fifty years. So no one really had any reference of how to start or what to do.
Q: Oh, my goodness!
A: (Fred) And, so it was an interesting challenge. There were – the higher regents had a lot of guidelines for us based on this and based on that.
A: (Jopie) And who was the intro college president that you worked with?
A: (Fred) Johnson. I can’t think of his first name.
A: (Jopie) I’m thinking of the elderly man.
A: (Fred) I can’t think of his first name. Doctor Johnson.
Q: Joe?
A: (Fred) No it wasn’t Joe Johnson, he came – he wasn’t there for too long, well a couple of years. E. T. Dunlap brought him. He was the chancellor then and he knew Doctor Johnson. But anyway, that’s who it was.
Q: When you designed Rose State College did they give you any suggestions to what they wanted it to look like? Was there any material restrictions or anything like that?
A: (Fred) No, the only thing we had – there were three things we had. We had the site, which as you know the story, Oscar Rose and Bill Atkinson and others. . . .
Q: I don’t know that story, actually. I haven’t been able to document it.
A: (Fred) Well, I’m not sure I can – Well, I should be able to tell you more about it than I am going to be able to. Oscar Rose was determined that we needed a college out here and he got with him Bill Atkinson and Henry Croak (the banker) and there may have been one other, there may have been four. But those four men and they found this site and some way they got control of it. I mean, I don’t know. . .
Q: It came from the Traub family, I believe.
A: (Fred) It did. I don’t know who put up the initial money, I suspect Henry Croak and Bill Atkinson put up some seed money, but they bought it. And then, once it was acquired they had to – it was really a city college. It was not a state college.
Q: Right. It was in the junior college system and was supported by tax dollars from the community – from the city.
A: (Fred) That’s right. It later became a state college. It was a community college. And they interviewed architects and again we were chosen. Probably largely because they knew us.
Q: Well, and you had such a great reputation and track record already.
A: (Fred) I hope that it had something to do with it. Most people don’t really know too much about architecture. Laymen don’t. And they don’t know – they just assume that if you’re an architect, well you know how to do it. And we don’t abuse that idea, we encourage that idea, and then we just try to learn how to do it. But there were a lot of smart people, college people, who knew curriculums. Oh, I was going to say, they had the land, they had the budget and they had a program. A program to us is the coursework that they wanted to offer, you know, core curriculum. Then there were other types of courses that they wanted to offer. And then, of course, you always need a phys. ed. building and you always need a library and student center, and all those things came into the mix. We did a master plan of all of this.
Q: Oh, you did. Like the whole mall area?
A: (Fred) Yes, and in phase one was just the buildings along the north side. There wasn’t a mall or any court – it was just five lonely building out there in the prairie. But the idea was since it was to be a commuter college, no residences, that it be what we came to call a square donut and the parking was all around it, with the theory that everyone would drive and get as near as possible like a shopping center. Everybody wanted to be at the front door. So that’s really the logic that shaped the place.
Q: And it is so convenient, I mean it’s so easy to – even today as large as it has grown, with one or two exceptions, you can just park in one spot and easily walk all over campus.
A: (Fred) It is pretty good that way. Most other colleges had no idea that a car would ever take such an important role in college campus planning. OU didn’t. OSU didn’t. Nobody did.
Q: It would need all that extra space to park those guys.
A: (Fred) One of the features I was – just about anywhere, once you are in the courtyard, you could walk around the perimeter under cover, which was my design, of course.
Q: And that is a great feature too, because you can walk undercover outside on the ground floor or you can walk inside up on the second floor. It is really great for walking around in the winter or rain.
A: (Fred) Well, that has been a really wonderful thing for me and Jopie both. We’ve just immersed ourselves in the culture of the college. We have been invited to a lot of nice things and known all the presidents very, very well. Worked with all of them.
Q: Are you still involved in doing any planning?
A: (Fred) We are just finishing up a new building on campus. It is the Professional Technology Training, the PTECH building.
Q: Were you involved in the designing of that?
A: (Fred) Yes, we designed that building.
Q: Everyone is just gaga over it because it is so beautiful!
A: (Fred) I am glad to hear that. We love the role we played and we are still finishing it up with Terry Britton and Stan Greil and a few others from the college. In a couple of weeks it will be finished and start moving the furniture in and get ready for fall.
Q: What about the Communications Center? Were you involved in that?
A: (Fred) Yes, we did that.
Q: No wonder it all looks like it fits together, because your personality is in all those buildings!
A: (Fred) Well, I hope they do look like they belong together. We have just been very appreciative for being involved in all of it.
Q: You have left a wonderful stamp on Midwest City. Now are you going to be involved in the new Health Sciences building?
A: (Fred) No, that is the first building there that we will not be involved in.
Q: So what are some of the other things besides these major buildings? Are there any more stories that you want to tell about Rose State?
A: (Fred) No, I think that is enough.
Q: Now, have you been doing house plans in the meantime.
A: (Fred) We were able to do other buildings, houses are not very profitable.
Q: I can imagine.
A: (Fred) Not that we were in it for a profit, but we do need to make a living.
Q: So what are some of the other buildings and projects outside of Midwest City?
A: (Fred) We did all of Crest Foods for one thing.
Q: Oh, is that right?
A: (Fred) One here on Douglas and helped him expand the one on Reno. And did the one in Edmond and at 23rd and Meridian.
Q: Those have really taken off haven’t they?
A: (Fred) They have. They are such good businessmen and they do such a good job. We have loved being involved in that. Churches, shopping centers, schools, the usual things architects are involved in.
Q: Were you involved in the site at Carl Albert?
A: (Fred) We did not do Carl Albert School. The original was done by HTB [Hudgins, Thompson, and Ball]. When we first came out here they were doing all the schoolwork. We had to break in. It took us a lot of years to be chosen to do a few little jobs.
Q: There was a time when HTB was pretty much the top dog in town.
A: (Fred) No doubt about it, they were the best in the state. No one could touch them. Then Venom came along. HTB is gone.
Q: They are gone?
A: (Fred) Well they were bought by another company and moved to Tulsa.
Q: Oh. Now did you design this home here?
A: (Fred) We did. We moved in here in 1967 and have been here ever since. Raised our four children here.
Q: It is such a lovely design. What would you call it – rustic?
A: (Fred) I call it rustic. I don’t really have a better name for it. Someone asked me recently what it is – it is just the house we wanted.
Q: Are there any stories, any points you want to make? What was the highlight?
A: (Fred) I think - I loved the city work, but the work with the college - which has gone on for over 30 years and the close relationship with some of the presidents - it has been such a nice part of life.
Q: What is your impression of Midwest City’s growth today? You have seen it change over the years.
A: (Fred) I - for many year, it was growth-less, pretty nonexistent. You probably know – we’d get census from one ten year period to the next and it was very little growth. So it was stagnant. In recent times, I think a lot of it started with 29thStreet and the lease of the hospital. It allowed these things to happen and I just think it has opened up so much potential. The good economy is helping with building and we are seeing doctors’ offices built and shopping centers built. New hotels and by the way we did the Reed Center.
Q: Oh, you did?
A: (Fred) So all of that just grows the tax base and puts more money into the city. Also, the quality of life increases with all those things. It really is good for everybody.
Q: Midwest City is becoming more of a vibrant place in the last ten years.
A: (Jopie) That renovation of 29th Street. That is kind of amazing.
Q: I don’t know if we have any building lots for homes left. There are not too many left.
A: (Fred) Not in the city proper, but if you talk to the people who follow those statistics like the economic development guy, Barnett, there are many hundreds of lots being built on in Midwest City. We will feel the impact of the trade schools and retail stores.
Q: We will become more of a metropolitan area.
A: (Fred) Yes, maybe more than some people wanted.
Q: Jopie, I didn’t get to really talk to you very much. Is there anything you would like to add? While your husband was busy building all these landmarks, what were you doing?
A: (Jopie) It was a blessing. We had four children and two of them were born here in Midwest City. Yes, I did the things that stay at home moms do. Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts and Blue Birds and PTA and vacation bible school. Very fortunate to have those choices. I was involved in my children’s lives pretty much.
Q: Were you involved in any civic clubs or any ladies groups?
A: (Jopie) We had Rotary Anne’s and Mrs. Atkinson was pretty involved in that. That was the woman’s group of Rotarians.
Q: When they were gender biased.
A: (Jopie) That was nice because we met all different ages of ladies. That was a blessing to me - to meet all those lovely ladies. That was fun. I really never have been much of a club person. I have been involved in bible studies and these kinds of things. I had a funny little business in the last twenty years, I guess. I call it Inventories Etc. which I just go into people’s home and get organized. This has been fun for me. I seem to have a basic propensity for that, so I have done that for several people in Midwest City and in Oklahoma City. I am kind of part of Quinn & Associates. Fred always has me come to the office meetings, and I have helped him organize and pull together some things. So that’s kind of been my life.
Q: So is she an official part of your business?
A: (Fred) Well, she is an officer in the company and has certainly been an important part of it. Both in client relationships and staff relationships. Sometimes keeping me on the right track.
Q: What prompted you to bring her in as an officer in the corporation?
A: (Fred) She was smarter than me so I kind of wanted to have the benefit of that.
Q: Most women were not included in their husbands business in the 1950’s and 60’s.
A: (Jopie) I have enjoyed feeling like I am always welcome up there and I do enjoy his staff and try to pull that little office group together as a family. I think that is one thing Fred wants me to do.
Q: The workplace is so much better if you feel like you are among friends. Workplaces can become very adversarial. You have to work against that or it will fall apart.
A: (Fred) Jopie does a great job. Everyone loves Jopie, not everyone loves Fred.
Q: I bet that is not entirely true.
A: (Jopie) Thank you for asking! I have not had a career.
Q: You’ve not had a profession but you have been a busy woman.
A: (Jopie) Yes, I really don’t sit down. I probably work as hard as Fred does. I love gardening. I do the gardens at the church and my garden.
Q: Were you in the garden club?
A: (Jopie) No, because I didn’t think they gardened much.
Q: I think they do a lot of things besides gardening for fun.
A: (Jopie) All my dear friends are in garden clubs, but that didn’t appeal to me. I would rather get out and do the digging.
Q: What happened to your daughter’s ponies when they built the City Hall?
A: They loved them when they had them. In fact, our oldest daughter is now 51, lives in north Dallas and has a horse. It’s just from those nice experiences.
