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Class of '69 News

Melvin Root

Root, Melvin "Mel, " 57, photographer, died Wednesday, September 10, 2008. Services pending. Stanleys.

Mel was a freelance photographer with over 30 years experience in the Tulsa area.

After graduation from Hale High School, he attended Oklahoma State University majoring in Photojournalism.

After he began a career at the Tulsa World, he attended the University of Tulsa and earned a degree in Business Administration.

Before going freelance full time in 1995, he was a staff photographer for the Tulsa World for 23 years. During that time he had the opportunity to photograph a wide variety of events from sports and society parties to Presidential visits.

Visit this site to view samples of his work.

5/28/08 Tulsa World article about Mel:
Long boat trip offers a chance to reflect

Tulsa World - Jan 22, 2008

School volunteer, mentor dies at 56

James Michael "Mike" Chittom, a Rotarian and a mentor to the students at Celia Clinton Elementary School, died in a fire in his office on Friday (1/18). He was 56.

A memorial service is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday at the First United Methodist Church under the direction of Moore's Southlawn Funeral Home.

Mike was born Sept. 27, 1951, in Fort Jackson, S.C., to June (Kimmel) and Charles Chittom. He graduated in 1969 from Hale High School in Tulsa and received a business degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1976.

Mike married Carrie Marston on June 13, 1992. He was a self-employed stock trader and investor.

A dedicated Rotarian since 1997, Mike volunteered at Celia Clinton Elementary School, the Rotary Club of Tulsa's partner in the Adopt-a-School program. The program involves about 30 Rotarians who regularly mentor individual students in reading and other subjects or who interact with a class. He worked with an entire class at a time, taking the students to the library or cafeteria, where he read to them or worked with them on what they were learning in class.

For the past nine years, he was chairman of the Celia Clinton Adopt-A-School Committee. He oversaw a clothing drive that produced so many donations of coats and clothing that a trailer was needed to contain them all.

Mike wrote in a December 2007 Rotary Club newsletter: "I always remember what the founder of Express Personnel said when asked if he was rich. He said, 'You are only as rich as the last person you helped.' All of us who work at Celia Clinton Elementary are trying to be rich."

Mike visited the school almost daily. He also helped start a canned food drive, which was designed to give healthy foods to children who don't have much to eat or who don't eat well on weekends.

"He was the best man I ever knew," said Terri Heritage, a fellow Rotarian and co-chairwoman of the Adopt-A-School committee.

"When Mike walked in the door (of the school), you could hear kids calling, 'Hi, Mr. Chittom,' as they flocked to him. He was like the Pied Piper."

Mike was the most recent recipient of the Rotary Club's highest honor, the James G. Saied Service Above Self and Then Some Award, for his work at the school. "Mike was a great Rotarian and a giant among community leaders," said Tim Colwell, president of the Rotary Club of Tulsa. "We all are going to miss his infectious laughter, his passion for kids and his ability to make us cry with stories of Celia Clinton students."

Mike also played the banjo in Steve Ham's Jambalaya Jass/Jazz Band.

He is survived by his wife, Carrie Chittom; three stepdaughters, his parents, Charles and June Chittom of Tulsa; a sister, Jan Chittom-Brasher [Class of '74] and three grandchildren.

Friends are making memorial contributions to the Tulsa Rotary Community Fund. A scholarship fund for Celia Clinton students is being established in Mike's name.

Mike Chittom - front & center
photo courtesy of Tulsa Rotary Club

Addendum: 4/08/08 - from the TPS web site

School Library Renamed in Honor of Volunteer

A man that dedicated his life to an area elementary school is now forever immortalized in that school’s library. A committee appointed by Board of Education president Gary Percefull approved creating the Mike Chittom Library at Celia Clinton Elementary. Chittom was chairman of the Rotary Club of Tulsa’s Adopt-A-School committee for Celia Clinton. The club adopted the school in 1993 and spent the next decade-and-a-half donating office furniture, clothes, landscaping and mentoring readers.

Chittom passed away Jan. 17 at the age of 56, the day after attending a pizza party at the school. Administrators brought in grief counselors to help students cope with his death.

“Mike was an incredible volunteer,” said Celia Clinton Principal Cindy Taylor. “He worked here for ten years, here every day.”

In 2003 Chittom spoke about his relationship with the school:

“This summer, with school out, a little girl started calling me every week to go to church with her. That church, which is a poor one, ministers to all the poor people in the neighborhood where our adopted school is located. I finally went and, much to my surprise, there were at least 10 children from our adopted school there. They all ran to me and hugged me,” he said. “…I have six sacks of love notes and letters of appreciation from children who I was lucky enough to help. There is no greater reward on this Earth that I know of.”

	Marily MONCRIEF-SONLEITER - ended her 7 month struggle with leukemia on Monday, June 4, 2007 in Tulsa. She was born on June 2, 1951, to Harold and Peggy Moncrief in Alexandria, LA. She was a graduate of Hale High School, class of 1969. Marily married, Rick Sonleiter, November 19, 1977. They would have celebrated 30 years of marriage this year.
In 1983, after being an Executive Buyer for Clarke's Good Clothes, she started her 25 year entrepreneurship as Owner of Marily's in Utica Square. Marily's customers always came first and she made many dear friends during those years. Marily was an active member of Asbury United Methodist Church for over 25 years. She and Rick were also members of the Wordfinders Community, where they served 18 years as Secretary and Treasurer. She will be remembered as a caring, humble, loyal and kind-hearted person. Marily, you will forever be in our hearts. Marily is preceded in death by her parents, Harold and Peggy Moncrief. Survivors include her husband, a stepson, a step-daughter, two grandchildren, a sister, a brother, 10 nieces and nephews and 5 great-nieces and nephews. Visitation will be from 6 to 8 pm., Wednesday, June 6, at Moore's Southlawn Chapel, 9350 E. 51st St. There will be a private family graveside ceremony at Memorial Park Cemetery, followed by a Memorial service at Asbury United Methodist Church, at 11 am, Thursday, June 7. The family expresses appreciation for the kindness, support, and love of the staff on 7W Transplant Unit at Saint Francis Hospital. Contributions to the Leukemia/ Lymphoma Society in memory of Marily. VIEW AND SIGN THE ONLINE GUEST BOOK: www.legacy.com/tulsaworld

	Rites slated for co-owner of Marily's clothing store Tulsa World 6/6/2007 Marily Moncrief-Sonleiter, who co-owned Marily's clothing store in Utica Square for 25 years, died Monday. She was 56. A visitation will be held from 6 to 8 pm Wednesday at Moore's Southlawn Funeral Home. A private graveside service will be held at Memorial Park Cemetery, and a public memorial service will begin at 11 a.m. Thursday at Asbury United Methodist Church.
Marily was born June 2, 1951, in Alexandria, LA, to Peggy and Harold Moncrief. The family moved to Tulsa when she was a baby. While a student at Hale High School, from which she graduated in 1969, she started working in the retail clothing industry. She worked for Clarke's Good Clothes for several years before becoming an executive buyer. She met her husband, merchandise manager Rick Sonleiter, there, and they married Nov. 19, 1977. They opened Marily's, a women's clothing store, in 1982. Rick Sonleiter said they "tried to buy lines that were one-of-a-kind for Tulsa." He said his wife was a "sweetheart to all the customers" and formed many friendships in 25 years at Marily's. "She sent out between 50 and 75 cards a month, whether sympathy, thank you, birthday or anniversary," he said. "She kept a legal pad on her desk and could flip it to any month and know who to send cards to." Marily Sonleiter also is survived by a stepson, a stepdaughter, a sister, a brother and two grandchildren. Friends are contributing to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

My brother, Dan Battles, passed away in May 2005. After graduation he lived most of his life in New York City where he pursued an acting career while working as a paralegal for a large law firm. He returned to Tulsa in 2001 and opened a dog training business, Bow-Wow Behaviors. A memorial park bench has been installed in his honor at Manion Park in between Theater Tulsa and the proposed dog park.

submitted by Beth Battles, Class of '66

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