Government » Enid Walk of Fame » 1991-2000
The grandson of one of the original settlers of Enid, Bill was born July 29, 1930 in Kingfisher to J.C. and Nita Alderson Humphrey. The J.C. Humphrey Abstract Co. was founded in 1931. Bill went into the business full time in September 1953.
Humphrey graduated from Enid High School 1948 where he and Owen K. Garriott were co-class presidents. He then attended Oklahoma A&M in Stillwater until his graduation in 1952. The same year, Bill was president of the Sigma Nu Fraternity.
He spent his summers during junior high working in his father’s office and the court house.
Bill was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War and was discharged as a major.
He married Marilyn Lu Cross on November 4, 1956.
Humphrey served as a city commissioner from 1958 to 1961. In civic and social organizations, he served as president of the Sons and Daughters of the Cherokee Strip Pioneers, Garfield County Chapter of the American Business Club, Jaycees and Enid Community Theatre. He was director of the Oklahoma Land Title Association. He was a 32nd degree Mason, and a member of the Shrine.
One of his greatest and most shared legacies is Humphrey Heritage Village at the Museum of the Cherokee Strip.
In July 1994 Bill was named Citizen of the Year by the Greater Enid Chamber of Commerce. This was the same year Humphrey Heritage Village received the Civic Improvement Award.
