Ken Feagins
Ken Feagins, 63, went to be with his Lord after a long illness on March 11, 2024, in Oklahoma City.
He was born Dec. 8, 1960, in San Antonio, Texas, to Joyce K. and Tom L. Feagins.
They lived there until he was 5 years old, then moved to Kingfisher, “God’s Country” as Ken liked to say.
They lived seven miles out of town, so Ken rode his bike everywhere to see friends. He enjoyed riding with his grandfather in his pickup.
Summers were fun antics with visiting “California cousins” and being with friends was made easier when the family moved to town Ken’s senior year of high school.
Student Council president and Oklahoma Honor Society were his extracurricular activities as well as band, choir, football, basketball and track. He and a friend were the first tennis players of the high school.
Ken loved the Beatles music and playing drums.
He showed great determination to excel and entered the University of Oklahoma on a President’s Leadership Scholarship.
He was voted “Big Man on Campus” in the early 1980s and pledged Beta Theta Pi fraternity where he made lifelong friends/ brothers.
Searching for his life work, he earned a bachelor of liberal studies, then went on to Vanderbilt Law School for his doctor of juris prudence.
Ken began his legal career as a litigation associate with Vial, Hamilton, Koch and Knox in Dallas, Texas.
For three years there, he published three law journal articles, but made time to perform in the “Bar None” variety show productions of the Dallas Bar Association, Young Lawyers.
He was a member of the Dallas Symphony League, Innovators and Liaison for the Single Adult Missions Council of Highland Park United Methodist Church.
Thinking he would teach law, Ken earned his LLM (“Master of Laws”) from Columbia Law School, where he was a “superb student” and finalist for commencement speaker.
He spent an academic year in New York City making friends with his classmates from around the world.
When he returned to Dallas, Ken married his fiancé Olivia Blessing on May 20, 1995.
Ken had a ready-made family with teenage son Waylon Blessing and daughter Brooke Blessing. The family lived in Dallas until the children left for college in 1996.
Ken and Olivia moved to Norman where Ken began his law practice with an abiding sense of justice. He specialized in employment discrimination cases, which allowed him to petition the Supreme Court of the United States several times.
Then he and Olivia traveled to Europe and South America to visit classmates from Columbia Law School.
Ken loved OU athletics and held season tickets in football, basketball and softball.
He enjoyed backyard swimming parties with neighbors and friends.
A member of the “Friendship Class” at McFarlin United Methodist Church for nearly 28 years, Ken was also a stalwart part of the Men’s Wednesday Morning Prayer Breakfast and the original “Outside the Walls” local missions’ group.
He was a serious Bible student and enjoyed several studies and historical bibles in his library.
In 2000, he left private practice to join the Oklahoma State Department of Health as an assistant general counsel. After several years there, he completed his career at the Health Department as director of accountability systems.
He wrote the first handbook for employees in the Health Department. He also rode motorcycles for several years with colleagues there.
Ken re-entered the private sector and earned an LLM in oil and gas law in 2014 from the University of Oklahoma to help mineral owners.
Ken leaves a legacy of love and friendships around the world.
He had a natural rapport with people from all walks of life.
He was a loving husband, father, grandfather, and friend. He relished life and his smile was still evident despite the discomfort of his illness.
He was cheerful, generous and compassionate. In his final days before hospitalization, he telephoned friends he thought might need encouragement that day.
As he liked to proclaim, “I woke up. It’s a good day for me.”
Ken is survived by his wife, Olivia; son Waylon Blessing; daughter, Brooke Stutts; granddaughters Emily Blessing, Alyssa Blessing and Allison Matteson; brother and sister-in-law, Tom B. and Julie K. Feagins; and numerous wonderful cousins.
A funeral service will be 10:30 a.m. Monday, March 25, 2024, at Kingfisher First United Methodist Church, 1800 S. 13th St., Kingfisher.
A memorial service will be held at McFarlin Methodist Church, 419 S. University Blvd., Norman, after Easter.
The family asks memorial donations be mailed to either the Beta Theta Pi Scholarship Fund at the Communities Foundation of Oklahoma, P.O. Box 21210, Oklahoma City, OK 73156 or website www. cfok.org/betathetapi. Type tribute information in “In Memory of Ken Feagins.”
Friends may also donate to Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF), ATTN: Philanthropy, 825 N.E. 13th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73104 in memory of Ken Feagins.