THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL 86 | AUGUST 2026 from The George Washington University Law School. Mr. Hyde joined the law firm of McAfee & Taft in 1974. He was an employee benefits attorneys, earning election as a charter fellow in the prestigious American College of Employee Benefits Counsel and perennial inclusion in various industry publications. He quickly developed a national reputation for his knowledge and expertise among clients as well as his numerous contacts within the Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Department of Labor and other governmental agencies. Mr. Dudley ran multiple marathons and helped found the Red Bud Classic and the OU Arts Classic. Robert Howard Jones of Shawnee died Nov. 20, 2025. He was born Dec. 29, 1931, in Shawnee. Mr. Jones attended Shawnee schools, graduating with the class of 1949 and serving as senior class president. He was a member of the high school tennis team, the National Thespian Society and the National Honor Society. He graduated from OSU in 1953, where he was a member of the Air Force ROTC, Blue Key National Honor Society and Kappa Sigma fraternity. He received his J.D. from the OU College of Law in 1956, where he was President of the Delta Theta Phi Law fraternity and directed the law school chorus. He served for two years in the Judge Advocate General’s Corp for the U.S. Air Force as a JAG officer. Mr. Jones was stationed at Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Virginia and Foster Air Force Base in Victoria, Texas. After his service in the Air Force, he returned to Shawnee to open his private law practice and practiced for 60 years. He was also an adjunct professor, teaching business law at Oklahoma Baptist University for 18 years. He served as municipal judge for the City of Shawnee for 49 years. Gregory Alan Julian of Los Angeles, California, died May 17. He was born Oct. 23, 1960, in Hugo. He graduated from Valliant High School and from OU with a bachelor’s degree in finance. Mr. Julian received his J.D. from the OU College of Law in 1985. His journey has taken him to Washington, D.C. (where he served in The White House), New York City (where he was cast on a network television show as an actor), back to Oklahoma (where he litigated in both civil and criminal courts), London (where he set up and staffed a European headquarters for a U.S.-based marketing firm) and ultimately to Los Angeles, where he eventually joined MetroGoldwyn-Mayer Studios and rose to senior vice president of the legal division, overseeing library rights for MGM’s 4,200 film library. His expertise spanned entertainment law, licensing, intellectual property, corporate governance and new media. When Amazon acquired MGM in 2022, he helped guide the storied studio’s transition into its next chapter. Christopher T. Kenney of Oklahoma City died June 10. He was born June 1, 1968, in Oklahoma City. He attended Christ the King Catholic School and Bishop McGuinness High School before continuing his education at OU. He received his J.D. from the OU College of Law in 1993. He served as senior vice president and general counsel at American Fidelity and was with the company for more than 20 years. His early legal career was distinguished by dedicated service with the Oklahoma Insurance Department. As an insurance executive at the insurance department, he then went to the Reserve National Insurance Company, where he worked with his father-in-law, Roger Cole, as a key member of the legal team before joining American Fidelity. In the Oklahoma City business and civic community, Mr. Kenney served on multiple boards and was a proud member of Leadership Oklahoma, Leadership Oklahoma City, Salvation Army, Petroleum Club, Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club and Phi Delta Theta fraternity. Thomas Donald Kivell of Tulsa died April 21. He was born Feb. 29, 1948, in Lincoln Park, Michigan. Mr. Kivell graduated from Michigan State University in 1970. He received his J.D. from the TU College of Law in 1975. He began his legal career in Tulsa at the firm of Blackstock, Joyce, Pollard and Montgomery, and later co-founded the firm Kivell and Mundell. Kivell and Mundell became Kivell, Rayment and Francis PC in 1991, and continues to be one of Oklahoma’s real estate law firms. Mr. Kivell founded FirsTitle Abstract Services Inc. in 1985 and purchased Smith Brothers Abstract and Title Company in 1989. Over the course of his career, he practiced in the areas of commercial real estate, banking, corporate transactions and mortgage matters. E. Joe Lankford of Norman died April 24. He was born July 19, 1947, in Butler, Missouri. He graduated from Northwest Classen High School in 1965. Mr. Lankford was a proud member of the ATO fraternity and took part in ROTC while earning his bachelor’s degree from OU. He received his J.D. from the
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