Dick and Iris Thurston were married Oct. 17, 1959, at the Evangelical United Brethren Church in Kidder, S.D. They met in Dover, Del., in December 1958. Dick was an Air Force navigator and Iris was teaching fourth grade at Dover AFB Elementary School.
Dick grew up in Wewoka before his family moved to Norman where he graduated from Norman High in 1951. He attended the University of Michigan where he earned bachelor's and master's degrees in music and then entered the Air Force through ROTC. He later earned a doctorate in music from the University of Texas. After several years as a C-124 navigator in the Air Force, Dick moved into the music field and became an Air Force band officer for the remainder of his military career.
He led bands in the District of Columbia, Texas, Hawaii, Virginia and the Air Force Academy in Colorado. In 1976, Dick had the distinction of being selected to command the United States Armed Forces Bicentennial Band which spent that year touring the United States and performing dozens of concerts across the U.S., plus performances in Canada and the Virgin Islands. The highlight of the Bicentennial Tour was a concert in Norman at the Lloyd Noble Center where his mother, the late Mary Ila Thurston, hosted a reception for him.
After retiring from the Air Force, Dick was the Yale University band director in New Haven, Conn., and later the dean of Fine Arts at Oklahoma City University. In his final job before fully retiring, Dick worked as a music arranger and editor for Southern Music Company in San Antonio. In 1996, the Thurstons moved to Oklahoma again and made Norman their home. Dick served 15 years as the secretary-treasurer of the American Bandmasters Association. In 2003 he appeared on the TV game show, "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?"
Iris grew up on a small farm in South Dakota and graduated from high school in Bemidji, Minn. She received a bachelor of science degree in elementary education from North Dakota State University. She taught biology and English in Bowman and later Mandan, N.D., before moving to Delaware. Iris enjoys cooking, entertaining and collecting irises of many kinds.
The Thurstons' honeymoon was a drive to the New England states via Quebec on the way back to Dover. They have traveled extensively and enjoyed cruises on the Danube River and the Mediterranean Sea. They've visited the Scandinavian capitals, as well as Paris, London and numerous cities in Germany.
Dick and Iris are members of the First Christian Church of Norman and enjoy its many activities.
The couple has two sons, one daughter and three grandchildren. Torin Thurston and his wife Patricia live in New Haven. Tammy George and her husband Randy live in Norman. Their daughter, Mindy, is a junior at OU. Tad Thurston and his wife Karen also live in Norman with their children Gehrig and Ellie.
Torin, Tammy and Tad honored their parents with a dinner party in Tammy's home Oct. 18. Relatives from Oregon, Florida, and Kansas attended.
Milestones
Thurstons mark golden anniversary
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