Calvin Clifford Agee

I was born on a hot day on the 5th of September, 1931 in Pontotoc County, west of Ada, Oklahoma to my parents, Emmett and Lillian (Moss) Agee. I passed from this earth on April 28th, 2023. I started my education in a one-room school in Worstell and little did I know, I would be working in education for some 70 plus years. We moved to Stratford, Oklahoma when I was in sixth grade. I later graduated high school from there in 1950 and attended Oklahoma City University on a basketball scholarship for one semester before moving back home to help my family. I worked for a year and a half then began school at East Central University in Ada in 1952. It was there that I met the love of my life, Inez Rhynes. We were married on October 1st, 1954 and would have celebrated our 69th anniversary this year. Together, we traveled to many places including every state in the United States, Mexico, Canada, England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales.

I graduated college in 1956 and began coaching and teaching math in Wayne, Oklahoma. It was there that our son, Clifford, was born. We then moved to Pawnee where I taught for four years. The next addition to our family was our daughter, Pamela Ann. In 1963 we moved to Konawa where I worked as high school principal, then superintendent. In 1965 we moved to Sulphur where I served as assistant principal, then assistant superintendent, followed by a wonderful 23 years as superintendent.

In 1970, I presented the Board of Education with a 15-year plan to improve the school’s physical plant by building a middle school which opened in 1973, followed by a new central elementary school in 1983. Through the support of the community, we also added a middle school gym. We expanded the high school with the addition of a fine arts wing and remodeled the gymnasium by adding a lobby. Expansion continued as we constructed new centers for vocational agriculture and industrial arts, and facilities for transportation and maintenance. We completed the fifteen-year plan by constructing a football field, track, and baseball field in 1985. It was the honor of my life to have the football field, Calvin Agee Field, named after me. Upon my retirement from Sulphur Public Schools in 1987, I traveled the state working for Municipal Accounting Systems, which transformed how Oklahoma schools did their record keeping.

My community involvement included serving as president of the Sulphur Chamber of Commerce, president of the East Central District Oklahoma Education Association, president of Sulphur Kiwanis, lieutenant governor of Texas/Oklahoma Kiwanis International, president of the Board of Directors of the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association, and inductee to the Oklahoma Educators Hall of Fame.

I was preceded in death by my parents; Lillian and Emmett; sisters, Ola Mae Cook, Edna Baker, Ruby Morris, Willie Lou Middaugh, Evelyn Rhoades; and brothers, Ernest, Oral Clifton, and Glen.

I am survived by my wife, Inez; my son, Clifford and daughter-in-law Terri; my daughter, Pamela Ann (Agee) Chitwood and son-in-law Fred; five grandchildren, Lauren (Agee) Johnson and husband, Boone, Luke Agee and wife Laura, Ross Chitwood and fiancé Zachary Kemper, Bryce Chitwood, and Tanner Chitwood; six great-grandchildren, Kenleigh Johnson, Addison Johnson, Maggie Johnson, Camden Chitwood, Blayke Chitwood, and my namesake, Calvin Agee.

I close by quoting 2nd Timothy 4:7,

"I have fought the good fight,

I have finished the course,

I have kept the faith." Amen

A celebration of life for Calvin will be held 2:00PM, Monday, May 1, 2023, at the First Free Will Baptist Church, in Sulphur, with Pastors Bill Leveridge and Dick Terry officiating. Serving as honorary pallbearers will be all former school administrators, teachers, coaches, staff and students.

As we celebrate his life, in lieu of flowers, the family invites you to join them in building upon Calvin’s legacy by donating to the Calvin Agee Scholarship Fund. Memorial donations can be made to Sulphur Public Schools, Attn: Calvin Agee Scholarship Fund, 1021 West 9th, Sulphur, OK 73086. We feel there is no better way to honor him than by doing something for the kids.