Joe L. Conner

Joe L. Conner

May 3, 1949 - September 12, 2023

Joe L. Conner, Ph.D., proud Osage Nation member, tribal health researcher, and publisher of The Fairfax Chief, passed from this life on Tuesday, Sept. 12.

 

Dr. Conner was born on May 3, 1949, above the drugstore in Shidler, OK, to Thelma Leone Carr Conner and Don I. Conner. Early education was at Grainola, OK schools, then graduated from Shidler High School, where he earned his Eagle Scout award. Grounding for his dream of becoming a psychologist happened at Northwestern State College in Alva, OK. His master's and doctorate degrees were earned at Oklahoma State University. He was the first American Indian to complete a doctoral degree in both clinical and experimental psychology.

 

Dr. Conner began his career at the Pawnee Indian Hospital as a clinical psychologist. He also provided clinical services at the Seattle Veterans Affairs Hospital, the W.W. Hastings Hospital in Tahlequah, OK, to all the Puget Sound tribes in Washington state, and at the Santa Fe Indian Hospital, where he became the first psychologist to receive prescription privileges at a hospital.

 

Returning to Osage County, Joe and his wife, Carol Nice Conner, Ph.D., began a health research business, Paradox. Joe continued to innovate field research, develop prevention efforts, provide large health surveys for tribes including the Cherokee and Osage Nations, and consult for and with federal agencies. He estimated Paradox has provided services to more than 150 tribes.

 

Dr. Conner also co-founded the Native American program at Northern Oklahoma College in Tonkawa. He co-founded Oklahoma Indian All-State Basketball, resulting in many young Native players attending college who might not have done so otherwise.

 

He was an important part of the group that took a year to listen to Osages on the reservation and around the state and country, leading to a new Constitution for the Osage Nation. He led a five-year effort to get a grocery store back in Fairfax. He worked to right the unlawful mining of the Osage Mineral Estate by a wind farm. He supported efforts to keep the Fairfax Community Hospital open. For the last many years, Joe has been the chief advocate trying to restore the TallChief Theatre in Fairfax. He created an exhibit at the TallChief, seen by thousands of visitors from around the world, about the events leading up to the murders of Osages in the 1920s. A film about his efforts to save the TallChief will soon debut.

 

Donations in Dr. Conner's memory and honor should go to the TallChief Theatre fund, at www.tallchieftheater.com. Mail donations to the Fairfax Community Foundation at 301 S. 4th, Fairfax, OK 74637.

 

His friend Shari Cookson said, "May Maria Tallchief dance with his magnificent spirit."