Description:
John Temple talks about growing up in northeast Oklahoma City and about his family's funeral home, Temple and Sons.
Transcript:
Interviewee: John Temple
Interviewer: Melba Holt
Interview Date: 11/13/2007
Interview Location: Ralph Ellison Library
Melba: Good morning, Mr. Temple. How are you today?
John Temple: Good morning. How are you?
MH: I’m doing good. We’re really delighted that you agreed to participate in the Oklahoma Voices Centennial Project by granting us an interview. We’re going to move into the interview. Just relax and just project any way you see fit. What is your name?
JT: John P. Temple.
MH: And your birth date?
JT: 11/21/1951.
MH: And where are we located?
JT: Here in Oklahoma City.
MH: At the Ralph Ellison Library.
JT: Yes, we are.
MH: Where were you born?
JT: Oklahoma City.
MH: Where did you grow up?
JT: Here in Oklahoma City, in the northeast community.
MH: What was it like?
JT: My childhood was a little different. [both chuckle]
MH: Tell us about it.
JT: My childhood was basically here in the northeast community. I was able to attend basically segregated schools, minority schools. I believe that the education I received in the northeast community was a lot better than children received after integration. The education that I received during my childhood – I lived in a small community, a small neighborhood, and went to neighborhood schools, and therefore we had teachers that cared about us. Teachers reported directly back to the parents. Most likely, during that period of time, any encounters that you may have had at school, you may have had the same encounter at home. Being from a family where my mother was an educator, there was a great deal placed on education. My mother taught at Douglass for forty years, but it was just a joy to grow up in the northeast community and have the experience of being taught by some peers that are local legends now. Also, there was quite a bit of pitfalls, anxieties, being from a family that served the community, especially in the funeral business. The funeral business changed and the attitudes towards funeral business changed greatly between the period of when I was a child in the early ‘50s to now. The funeral business, the way the conception was in the community, there was a lot of taboos and a lot of fears. All that has changed gradually, not to a great extent, but it has changed. It was just a joy to grow up in the northeast community.
MH: Would you care to explain some of the taboos that you saw early growing up in the funeral business?
JT: Just the lack of knowledge. It was the fear of death. It was the fear of a person that is passed, the remains. It wasn’t the religious concept, then. It was just the lack of knowledge, and we still encounter that today. To give you a prime example, we have people that will come to the facility in today’s times, and they will not come in. They will blow their horn. They want us to come out. They’re coming to maybe pay a premium, drop off a card, but we still have those people that have the fear of death.
MH: So they don’t even want to come inside. Before we go into any more depth in the business side of the funeral business, I would like for you to name your parents.
JT: My mother was Odessa Eudaily Temple. My father was Earl M. Temple.
MH: What were your parents like, Mr. Temple?
JT: They were older in nature, very stern, very strict. There were quite a few stories, humorous stories.
MH: You wanna tell one of them? Tell one of them in your interview.
JT: My mother had a lot of clichés. I’m going to tell you one. This pertains to trying to get ahead in life and saving for the future. Get all you can, can all you get, and then sit on the can.
MH: That’s a good one. What was your father like?
JT: He was very stern. He expected quite a bit. He had me fooled for years.
MH: What was he expecting?
JT: Well, children grow up so fast in today’s time. During the period I was growing up, the phone was very prevalent. I was a teenager. He had me fooled about the phone until I was about sixteen. I believe I was just naïve.
MH: What did he tell you about the phone?
JT: During that period, everyone had one phone. It was in the center of the home and we all had to share that phone. He had me believing that the phone company was charging us by the minute or the second every time you were on the phone. He would tell me, “Son, you’re running up my phone bill.”
MH: That is very good. That is clever. That is very clever.
JT: Very.
MH: Do you remember your grandparents?
JT: No. They’d already passed.
MH: Do you know or remember their names? Do you want to call their names in their interview? Do you have any brothers?
JT: I’m the only child.
MH: You mentioned that you went to school in northeast Oklahoma City. Could you name your elementary school, your junior high, and your high school in your interview?
JT: Woodson, which now is – was – Old Douglass, and Northeast High School. During that period of time, junior high and high school was together.
MH: They combined it. Do you have any school memories from that time, any playmates that you would like to name in your interview that were important to you?
JT: No, not in grade school. Grade school was just a period of time that I had quite a few acquaintances, but none that I’d like to name.
MH: Did you go into higher education? Did you receive college training or higher education after you finished at Northeast?
JT: I did.
MH: Would you like to take us through your educational training?
JT: I completed higher studies at Central State University, which is known now as University of Central Oklahoma. In my period of time, it was Central State University. I received a B.S. in Mortuary Science.
MH: You mentioned your mom was a teacher for forty years at Douglass High School. What was her field? What did she teach?
JT: She taught math – algebra, geometry, and trigonometry.
MH: A mathematician. Did you have a nickname?
JT: [chuckles]
MH: It must be a good one. [laughs] You wanna tell us that nickname?
JT: [unintelligible]
MH: You’re going to skip it? Okay. Would you describe a perfect day as a young person? What was the best day you could have as a kid? What was happening on a day like that?
JT: Everyday was a perfect day. I had to work every day. I had to get busy after school and do necessary chores around the house. Also, on weekends, I had to work at the mortuary.
MH: What were your jobs growing up in the business?
JT: I had to cut lawns. I had to cut the lawn at the residence and at the business. I’d cut the lawns at some rental property, so I had a busy schedule. My dad was getting me started early in the funeral business, which I believe I started around ten years old. It was minor, but he wanted to introduce me to the business side. I wouldn’t do anything major, but he liked to take me on services. My job at services would be passing out programs, possibly walking down and holding up flowers. He started me slowly.
MH: That’s good. Is there a teacher that stands out, who had a strong influence in your life outside of your mother?
JT: There were several teachers, but I just want to name the counselor and the principal. That was Dr. Todd. He was very influential in my life, just keeping my head straight and keeping me on course. That was in high school. In elementary, I want to say Mr. Hall, Howard D. Hall. I skipped over early elementary school, which I started at Page.
MH: That’s where I thought I had seen you first, at Page.
JT: Howard D. Hall was the principal at that time. He had a great influence. There was my kindergarten teacher, Miss Conner and Mrs. Griffin. Do you remember them?
MH: Yes. I went to them. I went to Page.
JT: I transferred from Page to Woodson.
MH: I had an opportunity to go back and teach at Page, so I have fond memories of Page.
JT: Oh, beautiful memories.
MH: Excellent memories. Who would you say had been kinder to you than anyone in your life that you can think of? The act of kindness that somebody might have had in your life that stands out in your mind that you might would like to share. If there’s more than one, feel free.
JT: Let me think about that.
MH: You can think about it and come back to it. I would like for you to let us know, since you were born into the business of the funeral home, and it has been around you all your life, I would like for you to tell us about the history of your business as you know it, when it started, what your father had in mind when he started this business, who he started with. In your own way, you could just give us the history of the Temple Funeral Home Service.
JT: Temple & Sons started in 1947. It was started by my father, Earl M. Temple. Initially he had his brother. He had the business with him. The business started that early, and in its infancy it was difficult to maintain two households. My uncle had to give up the partnership and he moved back to New York.
MH: What was his name?
JT: John H. Temple. I was named after my uncle. It was a rough transition. My father had purchased the old Dawson Mortuary.
MH: Where was it located?
JT: There in the original location at Northeast 6th and Kelley. Dawson had gone out of business, so my father Earl Temple had purchased the building. He was backed by my mother. She was the only one who had an income, which was derived from teaching. My mother backed my dad in the mortuary business. Previous to that, my dad had several businesses.
MH: Why don’t you name them?
JT: He had first started with Mr. Dunjee with The Black Dispatch selling newspapers. Next, he went to – I believe he was employed with – the family’s last name was Palmer, but they were the only Black bottling company at that time. They had a product called Jay-Kola.
MH: That was Mr. James.
JT: Was it Mr. James?
MH: Yes.
JT: Okay. They had the Jewel Theater also.
MH: I don’t know that they also owned the Jewel, but I know Mr. James had the Jay-Kola company.
JT: Okay. He sold and delivered pop for that family. He also had a fish business on the corner of Northeast 4th and Geary across from Bailey’s Courts, which later would be transformed into a laundromat. Then, finally, he went into the funeral business in 1947.
MH: That’s very significant because you’re helping us with the landscape that was removed by Urban Renewal in this interview. Thank you very much. Okay, so finish telling us.
JT: He initiated the business in 1947. He went a year and a half before he was able to render service to his first family. There was basically a monopoly at that time. The leading mortuary at that time was located on 2nd Street.
MH: Do you want to name it?
JT: Blanton and Butler. When they went out of business, you had a couple of other mortuaries that took the lead. McKay-Davis, Rolfe, and ourselves. That’s where we’ve been ever since.
MH: Yeah, you all have been in the lead in funeral services. Let’s talk some more about whenever you progressed from, let’s say, into the ‘50s. You said that the business changed. Was there a significant change that you saw from the ‘50s to, say, the ‘60s in the funeral business?
JT: In the ‘50s and ‘60s, we were still located – most business was south of 8th Street. The latter part of the ‘60s when Urban Renewal came through, everyone relocated.
MH: Where did you go?
JT: In ’68, we relocated to 2801 North Kelley.
MH: And you’ve been in that location?
JT: Ever since.
MH: Have you expanded the services that you offer in addition to just the basic funeral service?
JT: We have expanded not only the business side, but we’ve also expanded the facility. We expanded the facility back in – let’s see. This is 2007... Roughly 1995. We expanded the facility. We built a new chapel and gutted the existing building. We made more offices and more visitation suites. We have a chapel that seats 400 now. We expanded to meet the needs of our clientele, such as offering pre-need sales, insurance, cremation. That’s something new that has come about. We’ve started offering cremation services.
MH: Are there any additional services you offer?
JT: We offer pre-need counseling, also post-need counseling.
MH: I noticed that you all have a floral business. Do you want to talk about that?
JT: We incorporated the floral business about fifteen years ago. It was something that we started out. I had a close friend and he was very artistic, very talented. His gifts were actually in one area that led over into the floral area. He was very accomplished, and he’s the one that basically had given us the idea of the floral business, but it has grown to be a tremendous asset in today’s time.
MH: It has been greatly needed in northeast Oklahoma City, and I’m really happy about that.
JT: Really, it has. At one time, when I was a child, I believe there was only one minority florist, and that was Mr. Parks. I don’t know if you’re familiar with Mr. Parks.
MH: Was it Mrs. Parks’s husband?
JT: Correct.
MH: I do remember, and when he left, we didn’t have one.
JT: No, we did not have one. We have been truly blessed and embraced by the community. Also, we service the whole metropolitan Oklahoma City, since we are a member of FTD. There’s another national service I belong to, which I can’t recall their name.
MH: I noticed when I was doing the research for your interview that you all utilize technology to help enhance your services. Would you like to talk about some of the ways you use that technology to help your clientele?
JT: Everything in today’s time is driven by computer. We can, at a moment’s notice, we can make contact with any mortuary in the United States and receive any bit of information. Everything is sent via fax or email these days. In the past, it has taken three or four days to transmit necessary documents, vital statistics. In today’s time, it’s just a matter of a few minutes.
MH: I’d like for you to talk a little bit about the Reflections piece of your service, if you’d like to talk about how that came about.
JT: That was implemented by another good friend of mine, Brother Mitchell. He’s a local sound man at a local church here in Oklahoma City. He came to me with the idea of putting a piece together with family reflections. Initially, we started with just a monitor, but we thought it’d be an asset and a great tool if we would go ahead and spend the extra revenues and install a big screen in our chapel along with a projection system. The outlay was pretty great, but the rewards have been very beneficial.
MH: I can attest to that.
JT: Basically, what we’re doing is we will gather 35 family photos from a family prior to the service. The family gets to select their own style of music, and we’ll use their music as background for the family photos. He’ll place it on a disc for us. We’ll play it during the chapel service. We’ve taken it one step further now and we’ve placed monitors in every visitation room so we can play that family memorial during the visitation process when family and friends come in to pay their respects. We’ve noticed that friends are just standing there an extra five or ten minutes just viewing the family photos.
MH: That’s very meaningful. I experienced that with my cousin’s funeral arrangements. I didn’t get to go to his funeral, but because you did that, it allowed me to have that family experience. I had mentioned to you before your interview that I was just going to say how good you make people look. It’s outstanding. I sing in a choir and I’ve been involved with life insurance in a career. I go to more funerals than I care to mention, and the work that you do with the person’s appearance is outstanding.
JT: Thank you, Ms. Holt. I learned early to take pride in what we do, but I have also been blessed with a staff that has been dedicated. Just about every member that’s employed there – Brother Potts has 30-plus years. Brother Shelton, which he started with us in high school, has been around the gamut but he’s back with us and he’s a big asset.
MH: Yes, he is.
JT: We have several people that have 20-plus years with us.
MH: Would you like to name them in your interview?
JT: We have Brother Potts that’s with us. We have Brother David Shelton and Brother Embry. My son, he’s been there more than ten years now. In fact, I have two sons. You met Mark Temple. He attended the University of Central Oklahoma and received his B.S. and also his funeral director’s certificate from Edmond. I have a younger son. He’s getting ready to get started in the funeral business.
MH: Let’s name him.
JT: His name is Christopher Temple. My wife, her name is Jaree Temple. She also attended the University of Central Oklahoma and she’s also a licensed funeral director and embalmer.
MH: Do you have any regrets about the career path that you’ve taken? Sometimes when people follow into a family line of business, sometimes they take with them some regrets. Do you have any regrets over that?
JT: No. I was pushed gently into the family business.
MH: I thought that was very significant, that you weren’t forced.
JT: I was not forced into the family business. I was persuaded very gently.
MH: That’s good, so you could have made another choice.
JT: Oh yes. Yes.
MH: Would you like to share with us your religious beliefs in your interview, Mr. Temple?
JT: Well, I was raised Presbyterian. In fact, raised at the only Presbyterian church. It was on the corner of 3rd and Geary at the time. We merged –
MH: Can we name that church?
JT: Sure. We merged with Trinity Presbyterian Church up on 23rd, and that was done in the early ‘60s. Then I kind of migrated and became a Methodist, and then a Baptist. I’ve been at Saint John a number of years. I’ve also been part of a nondenominational church, so my religious belief – religion has always been an important factor in my life. I grew up in the church and I’ve been in the church all my adult life. I believe that without God, you can’t do anything, but all things are possible with God.
MH: That’s true. What would you say to a young person wanting to go into their own business? What would be the advice you would give a young person that might be listening to this tape who wanted to go into their own business, Mr. Temple? What would be your advice to them?
JT: I would check all avenues of the business that you’re wanting to go into. I’ve noticed so many of our children now, there’s only one area that they’re wanting to pursue, or even consider, and that’s the music industry. They go for the glitz and glamour, but I would just ask that they pursue all avenues. Keep an open mind. While you have that drive, I would hope that you would not lose it. If you have a dream, if you have a desire, follow your heart. Don’t let anyone sway you. I’ve found out, I’ve seen, I’ve learned, that after a certain period of time and a certain age, all your desires, the passion starts to diminish. Whatever passion you may have, go ahead and follow your heart’s desire.
MH: That’s a very significant bit of advice. What would you say – how long have you been married, Mr. Temple, to your wife?
JT: Thirty-six years.
MH: That’s one of the reasons I wanted to interview you too. [JT laughs] It’s because of your family, knowing that you remained in the same family. I would like for you to share any advice you would like to give to any young people who are trying to build strong, healthy families. What has helped you to do that? What has helped you to stay with your family and stay in your marriage?
JT: First, I’m very fortunate to have the wife that I have. I’m not the perfect husband, but she has stood by me in every ordeal that I want to participate in or undertake. I just want to be the man, the father, that she could look up to. I believe that every child is entitled to a happy childhood. I’ve read several times that the birthright of every child should be happiness. I just want to be there for my children, to raise them in the manner that I was raised, give them every possible chance in life, because I believe every child deserves that.
MH: Is there any resources that you used outside of the example that your parents gave you that you think is important? Are there any resources that stand out besides examples that your family set for you?
JT: Education has always been very important. I just wanted to make sure that my children have every opportunity to pursue whatever endeavor they wanted to follow, and I’ve been blessed that they want to follow my footsteps into the family business, but they were not forced either. They could pursue any occupation that they desired.
MH: That’s a critical area and a critical decision for many people who own their own business, so I’m glad you’re carefully sharing that with us.
JT: Well, in today’s time, it’s difficult to keep a small family business, small family operation, to keep it surviving and going from one generation to another. The hardest part is just having the next generation having the foresight and level-headedness to carry on the business in the manner they should be.
MH: An important question that I would like to ask you because of the work you do is any reflections you’d like to share with us about the Oklahoma City bombing.
JT: It was a very tragic situation for all of the families that were involved. Basically, no one was immune from it. The whole state of Oklahoma, the whole community, we were all involved in the bombing in one area or another. We were just involved in one aspect of it. It was a tragic ordeal that we had to go through. It was a tragic ordeal that families, and even our families that we had to service, had to go through. Thinking back, I believe we handled roughly fifteen or sixteen of those victims. I believe out of that, possibly six or so were children, and just to witness the devastation that had occurred. I’m speaking on a physical note. That’s just the physical aspect, but the mental aspect of it, having to deal with the families of such tragic and violent circumstances in the manner that it occurred, it was new to us also, but we knew that we had a job that we needed to fulfil. We had to help the families that were depending on us. We could aid them and assist them in the mental and physical care that they needed at the time.
MH: Mr. Temple, as we end your interview, is there a statement that you would like to make concerning the centennial as a whole for the state of Oklahoma? This is our hundredth year, and that’s the main reason we’re having this opportunity. You’ve been here most of your life. We’d like for you to end your interview with any statement that you have concerning your relationship to the state and the celebration that we’re involved in that’s making this interview possible.
JT: I’m so happy with the change that I have seen. It has been a slow change. It’s been a slow progression leading up to where we are today. I remember being involved in sit-ins, sanitation strikes, marching Downtown in front of John A. Brown so we had the right to eat. I would just hope that the next 100 years, we would have a greater presence and the change would be more in line with our accomplishments, rather than just continuing to judge us as a people, rather than judging us on the accomplishments we have made.
MH: I couldn’t agree with you more, and I too stand in agreement with you that we can move forward as a state and reflect on the contributions that we’ve made. With that, I’d like to end this interview and thank you for being one of the Oklahoma Voices.
JT: Well, thank you Ms. Holt for inviting me. It’s just been an honor and a pleasure to speak with you today.
MH: Thank you.
End of interview.