Carl Claunts Collier, Jr.

Carl passed away peacefully on Sunday, September 6, 2020 in Norman, OK, at the age of 90 years.  Carl was raised in McAlester, OK, with brief stints in California and Washington, but spent the majority of his life in Norman, cheering on the Sooners every football season.  He married his college sweetheart upon graduation from OU in 1952.  He and Patricia McLean Collier were happily married for 50 years before Pat’s death in 2002.

He is survived by his two daughters, Karen L. Collier and her husband John Calabro of Oklahoma City, and Kathryn A. Collier and her husband Kelly Pope of Cordell, OK; and his sister, Mary Alice Collier of Broken Arrow, OK.  He will be missed by many other cousins, in-laws, and friends.

Carl received his DDS degree from the University of Missouri at Kansas City and established his dental practice in Norman.  During his days in dentistry, he was elected to the International College of Dentists and the Pierre Fouchard Academy, served on the national accrediting board for dentists, and as the President of the Oklahoma Dental Association.  He kept in touch with his dental school classmates, many of whom were Kansas Jayhawks, and held legendary barbeques in his backyard on OU-Kansas game days.

Carl was a veteran of the Korean War, serving with the 45th Infantry Division.  He was a lifelong supporter and volunteer with the Boy Scouts Last Frontier Council.  He enjoyed volunteering in the paleontology lab at the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History in Norman after retirement.

He enjoyed skiing and mountain camping, and as a younger man, spent time with his family most winters and summers in Northern New Mexico around Taos, one of his favorite places in the world.  He was always good with his hands, tinkering, crafting and making all sorts of things throughout his life.  A self-taught musician, he enjoyed singing and playing the banjo and ukulele, and virtually any other instrument he could get his hands on.

Late in life, Carl married E. Lenore Piekarsky, who died in 2019.  He was a longtime member of McFarlin Memorial United Methodist church, teaching children’s Sunday school with Pat when their children were young, and enjoying golden years excursions and Fellowship Class in more recent years.  Carl was a proud citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.

The family wishes to thank the staff of Brookdale Assisted Living for their care and compassion shown to Carl.