Norman — To some, Dewey and Kathryn Selmon are modern day ’89ers, making their run for a Norman homefront after graduating from the University of Oklahoma more than 30 years ago.
The couple, along with their three adopted children from West Liberia in Africa, will serve as grand marshals for Norman’s 2010 ’89er Day Parade during ’89er Day Weekend April 23 and 24, which commemorates the day Oklahoma opened for settlement.
“They were students at OU who married and decided to stay in Norman,” said Al Geannene, chairman of the subcommittee that chose the grand marshal. “They have been such outstanding citizens, and we felt that they should be honored.”
But the award, and the attention it’s brought since, left the couple — known for their volunteer work — stumbling to respond to a recognition that centers on themselves instead of others.
“It’s just not something that crossed our minds” said Kathryn, adding that the couple was surprised when they received the call from Dick Reynolds of Reynolds Ford, who sits on a subcommittee of the ’89er Day committee that chose the grand marshal.
But what sealed the deal was the chance for their adopted children to accompany them in the parade.
“They’ve seen very few parades, let alone been in one,” Kathryn Selmon said.
Dewey Selmon, a 1971 All-State Sooner football player and Tampa Bay Buccaneer, tributes the recognition to the couple’s stake in the community since move-in day, as he traced his Norman roots to working for Reynolds in college as a car salesman when the dealership was on Peters Avenue.
“Everything we’ve done, good and not so good — because we’re not perfect — has involved the people of Norman,” said Dewey of the couple’s hold on the Norman community.
Dewey passed the credit to his wife, Kathryn, who was one of the initial founders of Food and Shelter and For Friends in the 1980s, which fights local hunger and homelessness.
Kathryn said she thinks performing acts of service is her highest calling, noting unforeseen effects of goodwill, which unlike material possessions, can transcend a lifetime.
“It seems like it’s the only lasting thing,” she said. “If you can help somebody or change their life, you don’t know for how many generations that will continue.”
Nanette Light 366-3541 nlight@normantranscript.com
