Published: May 07, 2008 12:10 pm            

Sam B. Aubrey

Sam B. Aubrey, 85, of Stillwater, died Tuesday, May 6, 2008, in Stillwater. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Friday in Highland Park United Methodist Church with the Rev. Derrek Belase officiating. Strode Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

He was born June 15, 1922, in Sapulpa, to Samuel and Lois Aubrey. He attended school in Tulsa and graduated from Tulsa Central High School in 1940. He entered Oklahoma A&M College in the fall of 1940 and was the starting center on the 1941 freshman team. He was the only sophomore to letter on the 1942 squad, which finished with a 20-6 record and won the Missouri Valley Conference title.

After his junior year in which he garnered another varsity letter, he entered the United States Army in the spring of 1943. He was ranked at first lieutenant upon his discharge and was awarded a Purple Heart and Silver Star for service in the Arno-Po campaign in Italy.

He was wounded on Sept. 18, 1944, when a German bullet shattered in his hip and was told he would be in a wheelchair by the time he was 35.

Aubrey returned to Oklahoma A&M College in September of 1945 and was a starting forward on the 1946 team that went 31-2 and won its second-consecutive national championship. All five starters of that squad, including Aubrey, were named First-team All Missouri Valley Conference.

He graduated from OAMC the following summer with a degree in education with minors in mathematics and physical sciences.

The next school year, he coached at Pryor High School for three seasons, compiling a 46-29 record.

Aubrey took over as the head coach at Okmulgee Tech Junior College for four seasons from 1950 to 1953. In 1953, he moved to Oklahoma A&M as the freshman coach and served in the capacity for 10 years, accumulating 62 wins and just 18 losses.

He assumed the assistant coaching position in 1964 and took over as head coach at Oklahoma State upon Coach Henry Iba’s retirement in 1970. He was head coach of the Cowboys from 1970 to 1973.

Aubrey retired from OSU in 1983 after serving several years in various administrative roles within the athletic department.

He was preceded in death by his parents, wife and daughter.

He is survived by one son, Michael Aubrey of Bozeman, Mont.; two grandchildren, Ryne Aubrey of Maine and Alishia Pena of Texas; nieces and nephews, Marsha and Ray Tucker of Arizona, Dennis and Charlene Quirk and their daughter, Debbie, and Robert Marr of Colorado and Beverly and Mark Kroll of Arizona.

Memorial contributions may be made in his name to the OSU Foundation, P.O. Box 1749, Stillwater, OK 74076.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.