MARION LEE HOLCOMBE
November 2, 1935 – February 23, 2022
Marion Lee Holcombe, who always answered to his middle name, was born on November 2, 1935, in Pawhuska, Oklahoma to Thad, Sr. and Sally Holcombe. A longtime resident of Pawhuska, on the afternoon of February 23, 2022, he passed away peacefully at the age of 86.
Lee was named after his paternal grandfather, Marion Lee Holcombe, an attorney, originally of North Carolina, who came to Pawhuska with his family in 1917 after serving as a county judge among the lands of the Cheyenne and Arapaho in southwestern Oklahoma. Lee’s parents left Oklahoma A&M in the middle of the Great Depression to begin purchasing grasslands and ranching in northeast Osage County, near Bowring, in 1932. Until the Army Corp of Engineers condemned their lands, they lived just below what is now the Hulah Dam. Thad and Sally instilled in Lee his love for ranching and Osage County, from which he never wavered.
Lee attended Bowring grade school through the 8th grade and then graduated from Pawhuska High School in 1953. He then attended Oklahoma A&M University (now Oklahoma State University) through the Army ROTC program. Lee married his hometown sweetheart, Janet, in 1956 and then graduated with an Animal Husbandry degree in 1957. Through those early years of marriage, he and Janet had three sons: Steve (1957), Joe (1958), and Scot (1960).
Following graduation from Oklahoma A&M, Lee served his country, attaining the rank of First Lieutenant as an Armor Officer, a Company Commander and the Battalion Staff Officer at Fort Stewart, Georgia. Lee received the Commendation Award for meritorious service at the Armor Training Center, and was honorably discharged.
Upon return from the military in 1959, Lee started his own ranching operation while managing and expanding a ranch operation for W.W. Keeler, the then President and CEO of Phillips Petroleum Company. Lee later consolidated his ranching operation with his father, Thad, Sr., until his death in 1984. Subsequently, Lee’s youngest son, Scot, came back to the ranch, which they operated together until it was sold in 1995. After the sale, and at the age of 59, Lee vocationally devoted himself to the sale of ranch real estate and in 1998 founded Cross Timbers Land, LLC, a brokerage firm for ranch, farm, recreation, and development property. In 2004 Lee was joined in the Cross Timbers Land operation by Jeff Henry, whom he mentored as a son for over 18 years. Lee loved selling ranches, but he never wavered from his greater love of ranching and the Osage County ranching community. His knowledge of grasses and forbs in the tallgrass prairie ecosystem was unmatched.
Lee was committed to Osage County, the cattle industry, and service to the community throughout his lifetime. He served two terms as President of the Osage County Cattlemen’s Association from 1968-1969, served as co-chair of the Ben Johnson Memorial Steer Roping from 1963-1968, and served on the Oklahoma State Board of Agriculture for two terms from 1978 to 1988. He also assisted in the development and strengthening of the Range Department of his alma mater, Oklahoma State University, for many years. Lee also chaired a committee to study the establishment of a National Park in Osage County to highlight the Tallgrass Prairie and became a proud booster of the subsequent Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve north of Pawhuska. In 2019 Lee was inducted into the Osage County Cattlemen’s Association Hall of Fame.
In addition to his support of the agricultural community, Lee served on the Board of Directors of the George M. Sutton Avian Research Center in Bartlesville for over 30 years. In recognition of this longstanding service to avian research and conservation, the family has been notified of Lee’s posthumous designation as a Director Emeritus. He was also a member of the Board of Incorporators for the Pawhuska Hospital and served many years on the Jane Phillips Hospital Foundation Board in Bartlesville.
As his father, Thad, Sr. had done before at Oklahoma A&M, Lee was initiated into the Sigma Chi Fraternity in 1954, and was actively involved in his fraternal organization, including the Osage County Sigma Chi Alumni Chapter, throughout his life. It was a point of pride to Lee that not just his father but also his brother - Thad, Jr. (Oklahoma State University) - and his sons - Steve (Westminster College, MO), Joe (University of Oklahoma), and Scot (Oklahoma State University) – were all initiated into the fellowship of Sigma Chi. Lee was a dedicated and active alumnus of the Sigma Chi Fraternity and cultivated many life-long bonds of friendship. In recognition of his contributions to Sigma Chi, he was given the Award of Merit from the OSU Gamma Delta Chapter of Sigma Chi in 1991. He was also a Life Loyal Sig.
A life-long member of the First Presbyterian Church of Pawhuska (now the Presbyterian Disciples Church), Lee served for many years as Elder and most recently was co-leading the youth group.
Lee developed many friends across Osage County, the State of Oklahoma, and throughout the country (and even abroad). He was widely known as a man of faith who lived his life with integrity and demonstrated a strong work ethic throughout his time with us.
Above all, Lee loved his family and was a caring, devoted father and grandfather. He also was a loving and devoted husband to his wife Janet during their 57-year marriage, and faithfully cared for her during her extended illness. After losing his second wife, Annabelle, he found love again with Elizabeth “Betty” Kane of Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and he cherished the last few years traveling and creating memories together. Betty was a constant companion to Lee up to the moment of his passing, and her love for Lee, and his love for her, has left a lasting and indelible mark on the extended Holcombe family.
Lee is preceded in death by his father, Thad Holcombe, Sr., and his mother, Sally Young Holcombe. Twice widowed, he is preceded in death by his first wife, Janet V. (Theis) Holcombe, in 2013, and his second wife Annabelle L. (Rush) Holcombe, in 2016.
He is survived by his partner, Elizabeth (Burke) Kane, his brother Thad Holcombe, Jr. (Linda), and his three sons: Steve Holcombe (Susie), Joe Holcombe (Kathy), and Scot Holcombe (Kim). Lee leaves behind four grandchildren: Erin Baker (Jeff), Jeffrey Holcombe (Kimber), Blake Holcombe, and Emily Holcombe.
A public memorial service will be held at the Presbyterian Disciples Church in Pawhuska on March 19th at 2:00 p.m. Included with the service will be a White Rose Ceremony performed by his fraternity brothers to honor Lee’s life. It is the only part of the Sigma Chi rituals performed before non-members.
In lieu of flowers please consider giving a memorial to one of the organizations that Lee faithfully supported: the Presbyterian Disciples Church, Pawhuska; the George Miksch Sutton Avian Research Center, Bartlesville; the Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, Oklahoma; or the Children’s Musical Theater of Bartlesville. The family will also be making contributions to The Journey Home, Bartlesville; the Sigma Chi Foundation; and the Gamma Delta Chapter of Sigma Chi, Stillwater.
