TULSA, Okla. — The Booker T. Washington High School Hall of Fame will add a globe-trotting musician, a local businessman, a journalist and a state senator to its ranks next month.
A dinner is scheduled for 7 p.m. on April 4 at the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame at 5 S. Boston Ave. Tickets are $25 each with proceeds going to the foundation’s scholarship fund, which provides financial aid for up to four years for graduating seniors and recent graduates.
Tickets and sponsorship packages may be purchased through the foundation’s website, btwhalloffame.org.
A formal induction ceremony for the four honorees is scheduled for April 5 at the Nate Harris Fieldhouse.
A 1972 graduate, Bobby Eaton Jr., has performed with Memphis Horns, Sly Stone, Peabo Bryson, Natalie Cole, Ike and Tina Turner and DJ Rogers. Since returning to Tulsa in 2016, Eaton has made an effort to share his production skills with the launch of an online talk radio show hosted and produced by local youth.
Vice president of sales for Fellers Marketing and Advertising, 1984 graduate Karl Engel manages more than 100 internal and external sales accounts across the country. The former cross-country standout is also a graduate of the University of Tulsa and regularly volunteers with the Hornet track program.
Known across northeastern Oklahoma for her work at KTUL, 1991 graduate Neile Jones has received state and regional awards for her reporting. Prior to returning to her hometown, Jones spent 17 years as a reporter and anchor in Arkansas and covered the 2014 Sochi Olympics for Nexstar Broadcasting. The frequent community volunteer is also a published author, with her 2010 book, “Look Again…Because You Can” detailing her experiences as a domestic violence survivor.
Prior to joining the Oklahoma legislature in 2012, state Sen. Kevin Matthews served 25 years with the Tulsa Fire Department, retiring as an administrative fire chief in 2010. A 1978 graduate of Booker T. Washington High School, Matthews is also an alumnus of the University of Central Oklahoma and a member of Phi Beta Sigma.