AUGUST 2025 | 99 THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL and the American Inns of Court. Mr. Wilson was also an adjunct professor at the O.W. Coburn School of Law and a guest speaker at seminars held by the ABA, the OBA and the Tulsa County Bar Association, among others. He was involved in the Boy Scouts of America and served on the boards of directors for the Indian Nations Council and the Tulsa Historical Society. He was a member of St. John’s Episcopal Church, where he served as chancellor, vestryman, lay reader and usher chairman for many years. Mr. Wilson was honored with the Silver Beaver Award, the Award of Merit and the Founders Award, and he was elected to the Tulsa Hall of Fame in 2013. Charles Wren Wolfe of Magnolia, Texas, died Feb. 22. He was born April 25, 1935. Mr. Wolfe received his J.D. from the OCU School of Law in 1967. Marvin B. York of Norman died March 22. He was born June 26, 1932, in Fredonia, Kansas. After graduating from Claremore High School, he joined the U.S. Air Force and played trombone in the Air Force Jazz Band. Upon discharge, he earned degrees in English and instrumental music from Northeastern State University. He taught honors high school English to college-bound students in Kansas and at U.S. Grant High School in Oklahoma City while attending night school at the OCU School of Law, where he received his J.D. in 1963. Mr. York was elected to the Oklahoma Legislature in 1968. He served in the Oklahoma House of Representatives and Senate, where he was elected president and pro tempore. While serving in the Legislature, Mr. York was credited with spearheading the creation of Oklahoma City Community College. He also worked with Oklahoma City, the state and the Chickasaw and Cherokee nations to bring the First Americans Museum to fruition and brokered an agreement with legislative leaders to enact a bond issue for the continued development of the project. Mr. York was honored with the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Oklahoma City Community College in 1982 and the First Northeastern State University Distinguished Graduate Award in 1984. He was named an honorary member of the OCCC Alumni Hall of Fame in 2012. William G. Paul Nov. 25, 1930 – June 24, 2025 1976 OBA President William G. “Bill” Paul of Oklahoma City died June 24 at the age of 94. He was born Nov. 25, 1930, in Pauls Valley. He graduated from Pauls Valley High School as valedictorian in 1948, where he was president of the student council, played on the football team and was in the band. Mr. Paul graduated from OU in 1952. During college, he was selected as the outstanding freshman student in 1949 and the out- standing Navy ROTC student in each of his four years in the unit, where he was the student battalion commander. He was involved in the varsity debate team, Phi Gamma Delta, Phi Beta Kappa, the university aviation team and PE-ET, where he served as president, and was awarded the Gold Letzeiser Medal as the outstanding male graduate in the university. Mr. Paul served two years of active duty in the U.S. Marine Corps, including service in Virginia, California and Korea. He was released from active duty in July 1954 and continued as an officer in the reserves, serving annually on two weeks of active duty and rising to the rank of colonel. He resumed law school in 1954 and was a member of the Order of the Coif and Phi Delta Phi. He also served on the Oklahoma Law Review Board of Editors and as a research assistant to the dean during his last year. He received his J.D. from the OU College of Law in 1956 and had a legal career that spanned nearly 70 years. Mr. Paul briefly practiced in Norman before joining Crowe & Dunlevy in Oklahoma City. Except for the time when he was with Phillips Petroleum Co., he continued his affiliation with Crowe & Dunlevy until his death. At the firm, he was an active trial lawyer and served as managing partner of the firm for six years following the death of V.P. Crowe. He served as president of the Oklahoma County Bar Association in 1971 and the OBA in 1976. Mr. Paul was elected as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers in 1978. In 1986, he was named president of the National Conference of Bar Presidents, and from 1999 to 2000, he served as president of the American Bar Association, one of only three Oklahoma attorneys to serve in that role and the first Native American (Chickasaw) to lead the ABA. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 2003.
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