Dannie Bea Hightower

Dannie Bea James Hightower died December 19, 2025. She was born January 12, 1925, in El Dorado Arkansas, and moved at an early age to Oklahoma City when her grandfather, George W. James, bought the Hotel Black downtown and sent his son Dan, to manage it, and a decade later the Skirvin Hotel. Dan and Ruby and their children, Dannie Bea and George, lived in the hotel’s penthouse for two years, where roller skating in the ballroom and room service from the kitchen were favorite birthday activities. The James family made two subsequent moves, to Heritage Hills, then Edgemere Park. Dannie Bea attended Wilson Elementary School, Harding Junior High School, and Classen High School. She enrolled at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, graduating Phi Beta Kappa in 1947 with a B.A. in English Literature. She was one of seven debutantes presented in the 1947 Beaux Arts Ball.

Dannie Bea married Frank Johnson Hightower January 15, 1949 in St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral and lived in the family house at 439 N.W. 15th Street until Frank’s death in 2000. She spent a lifetime of civic contribution, serving as president of the Oklahoma City Junior League in 1962 and 1963. Gov. Henry Bellmon appointed her to found the Oklahoma Arts & Humanities Council in 1965, and she served as chair for the first three years. In 1969 she became the first woman inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. Throughout the years she served as director or trustee of the Oklahoma Art Center, Oklahoma Museum of Art (Buttram House), Casady School, Oklahoma Heritage Center, Oklahoma City Symphony Orchestra, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, University of Oklahoma Museum of Art, World Neighbors, Rainbow Fleet, Oklahoma City Beautiful, Oklahoma City Tree Bank, Community Council, Sunbeam Family Services, and Little Traverse Conservancy Finance Committee.

By the 1980s Dannie Bea turned her attention to causes and organizations that had become her favorites. John Kirkpatrick asked her in 1992 to save the future of the Harn Homestead Museum. Along the way, the board she assembled saved several one-room schoolhouses across Oklahoma in their efforts to relocate one to the Harn property. Dannie Bea was a founding director of Children’s Medical Research Foundation in 1983 and began a long tenure on the Myriad Gardens Authority board in 1984. She was an Oklahoma City University Mardi Gras honoree in 1992, received the American Institute of Architects Award for Volunteer Leadership at the Overholser Mansion in 1995, the Downtown Now Pioneer Award for Volunteer Community Service in 1995, the Junior League Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996, and was inducted into the Oklahoma City Public Schools Wall of Fame in 2001. In her later years, Dannie Bea was the self-designated master gardener at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral.

Dannie Bea didn’t list hobbies on her resume; she listed “addictions,” being gardening, golf, reading, tennis and travel which particularly enjoyed during her summers in Bay View and Harbor Springs, Michigan. She never missed a summer there until the age of 94. She and Frank were members of the Little Harbor Club, the Wequetonsing Golf Club, and the Little Traverse Yacht Club, as well as the Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club. Their overseas travels with the Slicks, Moormans, Seligsons, and Kites were legendary.

Dannie Bea is predeceased by her husband Frank Johnson Hightower, parents Dan and Ruby James, brother George James and sister-in-law Lyda James. She is survived by her two sons, five grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren; eldest son Johnson Hightower (Millie), their son Billy Hightower M.D. (Tira) and children Eva, Claire and Tessa; daughter Lindsay Hightower Graham (Jeff) and children Jeffrey III and Henry; and son Cody Hightower; youngest son Michael Hightower Ph.D. (Judy), his daughters Barrett Hightower (Rani) and Ashley East (Carter), and children Isaac and Cirilla; and treasured nephews Bill (Jamie), Grant (Marcee), Jeff, and Jennifer.

A Requiem Mass will be celebrated at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral 2:30 p.m. on January 8, 2025. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be directed to St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral or Casady School.