Funeral services set for former Cherokee council member

By Donna Hales

Services for Don Ray “Chief” Crittenden, 77, who served 26 years as a Cherokee Nation tribal councilor, will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday.

“It’s a sad day for the Cherokee Nation that we lost one of our most beloved former officials,” said Councilor Bill John Baker of Tahlequah.

Services will be at the new Sequoyah High School Gymnasium for Crittenden, who died Friday. He formerly served as president of the Sequoyah School Board for many years.

While on the tribal council, Crittenden served under every chief.

Baker recalls Crittenden going to Washington, D.C., where he “pleaded and begged” to keep Sequoyah open “and got it done. Now, it is one of the finest institutions of higher learning in northeastern Oklahoma.”

Baker credits Crittenden with starting the Cherokee Nation Roads Program.

“It blossomed into a $100 million program. He did so much for northeastern Oklahoma than any one man could claim,” Baker said. “He did so much for the (Cherokee) Nation that very few people even knew about.”

Crittenden graduated from Westville High School before serving in the U.S. Navy and later serving in the U.S. Army.

He earned a master’s degree in education from Northeastern State University and taught school at Hulbert and Tahlequah. He was a coach for many years. He also was co-owner of Cherokee Pest Control for many years.

The son of Luke and Cleo Beatrice (Kirby) Crittenden, both deceased, he married Mary Lee King in 1956 in Fayetteville. They moved to Tahlequah and raised three sons, Philip, Christopher and Kelly. Mary Lee died in 2004.

Crittenden participated in rodeos for 20 years, bulldogging for 15 years and riding bucking bulls for a shorter time. He enjoyed his church, Tahlequah Bible Church, and loved spending time with family, friends and going fishing.