The late David Boren never forgot his Seminole roots when he made it to Capitol Hill, a man who often communicated with him as a local college student says.

Raymond “Butch” Lutomski, who once served as student senate president of Seminole Junior College (now Seminole State College), said he would call then Senator Boren and update him on campus events. Not only was the senator interested in the goings on at the college, he wanted to know how he could help both the institution and its students.

“My sophomore year, I was elected student senate president. Senator Boren would ask about our campus and how our students were doing,” Lutomski recalled. “He would follow our sports programs. When Coach (Lloyd) Simmons pulled off the baseball coup by getting John Green, whose dad Dallas coached the Chicago Cubs, to play at Seminole as a freshman, he was excited. He also followed Wayne Case, top notch basketball player and student senator.”

Lutomski solemnly noted that Green’s nineyear-old daughter, Christina, was among six people killed in a 2011 shooting in Tucson that left 12 others wounded, including Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle “Gabby” Giffords.

Boren was interested in more than the sports programs at “JUCO.” He wanted to know how he could help all students, Lutomski said.

“He would ask me, ‘are the kids liking Seminole, is there anything else we needed?’ This guy from Seminole who was an Oklahoma governor and now a U.S. Senator, never forgot where his roots were from. He saw Seminole go from a 13th and 14th grade to a Junior College with its own campus,” Lutomski said.

Lutomski said his first encounter with Boren was when he was governor of Oklahoma.

“Our Shawnee junior high class took a field trip to the State Capitol,” Lutomski said. “As a campaign button collector, I went to a lot of campaign rallies. I remember Boren’s campaign with his broom so he could make a “clean sweep” of government. He always was personable; little did I know I would have more contact with the future U.S. Senator.”

Boren, an alumnus of Seminole High School, passed away Feb. 20 at the age of 83. He served four terms in the state legislature beginning in 1967 before making a successful bid for governor in 1974. He became the nation’s youngest governor, although he held only one term. Boren opted to not seek reelection in 1978 and successfully ran for the U.S. Senate.

He resigned as senator in 1994 to become President of the University of Oklahoma, a post he held until his retirement in 2018.

“He definitely left his mark on Seminole and surrounding counties,” Lutomski said. “He will be missed but not forgotten.”