OUR SYMPATHY to the family of Dr. Earl Mabry, longtime Enid civic and community leader, who died Sept. 11, 2025, at age 105.
Dr. Mabry had been with the Rotary Club longer than any other current member, joining in 1962 and serving as Enid Rotary Club president in 1968-69. But, his community leadership didn’t stop there, he also was a leader in the Greater Enid Chamber of Commerce and president of the Chamber Ambassadors. He was a longtime member and former president of the Enid Noon Ambucs and the now-defunct Enid Exchange Club. He helped start the YMCA of Enid in the former post office building, now downtown site of the Public Library of Enid and Garfield County. He was active in worship and leadership of First Presbyterian Church, and he served on the Enid United Way board and with the Enid Salvation Army.
Professionally, Dr. Earl was an accomplished dentist and for many years was in a dental practice with his son, Dr. Jim Mabry, also a longtime Enid Rotarian.
Born and raised in Altus, Okla., Dr. Earl had an extensive military career with the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force. In 1938, he enrolled in the New Mexico Military Institute and upon graduation was assigned to the Army’s 45th Infantry Division. One of his most memorable Army assignments was guarding President Roosevelt’s train during a pre-war trip to Oklahoma. In 1943, after completing dental school, Dr. Earl was commissioned as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy. During World War II, he and his fellow dentists treated sailors and marines serving in the Pacific Theater.
After World War II, Dr. Earl was briefly placed on inactive duty, only to be recalled during the Korean War. This time, he served in the Air Force and was stationed at several bases across the United States between 1951 and 1953. Post-service, he returned to Oklahoma and established a successful dental practice in Enid, initially in the Broadway Tower.
Perhaps Dr. Earl’s greatest legacy has been raising a family of seven boys and two girls. Three, including Jim, went on to be dentists. The eldest, Wynn, was a urologist and retired as major general in the Air Force medical corps. Daughter Madelyn Keck is a nurse practitioner in Enid.
Stories about Dr. Earl abound. He was an accomplished writer and was editor for the Oklahoma Dental Journal. He is a published author of short stories, and for many years he was editor of the Enid Rotary weekly newsletter. A saxophone and clarinet player, Dr. Earl and several other medical professionals who also played instruments began the “Doctors’ Band” and started booking gigs. Another of his favorite involvements was coaching youth baseball, football and basketball teams.
Dr. Earl kept a positive attitude even into his post-centenarian years, chatting with friends at an Enid Rotary Club luncheon as recently as 2023. His was truly “a live well lived.”
Services are pending with Brown-Cummings
Here are pictures of Dr. Mabry's 100th birthday celebration in January 2020
