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Don Lane
Pampa High School Class of 1948
Don was born in Pampa, the sixth child of Ada and R. W. Lane, early pioneers. He graduated from Pampa High School in 1948 as valedictorian. While in PHS, he was a member of the Little Harvester newspaper for four years, two years as Co-Editor; a member of National Honor Society for two years, serving as president his senior year; member of the A Cappella choir; named Who’s Who in history, received the Journalism award and named All-Round student his junior year; was President of his senior class; president of the Panhandle High Schools Press Association; and was a member of the 1948 Harvester baseball team which was the first year for baseball to be a part of the University Interscholastic League competition.
Don is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Bachelor of Law degree, graduating 6th in his law school class. While at OU, he was President of Phi Alpha Delta Legal Fraternity, Phi Kappa Sigma (social fraternity), and Student Union Activities Board, which planned and sponsored various student activities, also serving one term as chairman of the Homecoming Activities, Barbershop Quartet contest, and student director of the Sooner Scandals variety show. He was also a member of the OU Men’s Glee Club for four years, student coordinator for the Celebrity Concert Series, and research assistant to the legal advisor to the University.
He received a commission in the Air Force through the ROTC program and served on active duty for two years in the Judge Advocate General’s Department of the Air Force. While on active duty, he was admitted to the United States Court of Military Appeals in Washington, D.C. He continued to serve in the Air Force reserve for several years following active duty, reaching the rank of major.
In 1956, he was appointed law clerk to the Honorable A. P. Murrah, Judge of the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, for whom the Federal Building in Oklahoma City was named. In 1960, he and his family moved to Pampa to continue his private practice of law. Don has served as city attorney for the City of Pampa since 1977. For eleven years he was director of the First National Bank in Pampa. He is a Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation.
His community activities have spanned a broad range. A member of the First United Methodist Church, he has served in various capacities: church school teacher for over 40 years; lay leader of his local church and for the Pampa District; chairman of the Board of Trustees, Administrative Board, Finance Committee, and Pastor-Parish Relations Committee. He has served as president of the Pampa Center Foundation since 1995. Its board members raised over $2.6 million to build a new facility for Clarendon College-Pampa Center. He has also served as president of the Pampa Chamber of Commerce, Lovett Library Board of Trustees, Gray County Chapter of the American Cancer Society, Board of Trustees of the Coronado Community Hospital (now the Pampa Regional Medical Center); and the Pampa Kiwanis Club, also serving one year as the Lieutenant Governor of the Texas-Oklahoma Division 6 of Kiwanis International. He currently serves on the board of Genesis House. He was named Pampa Citizen of the Year, 2000, the highest community award.
Susanne Whitney of Elk City, Oklahoma, and Don were married in 1957. Susanne has always been a wonderful supporter of all that he has done and above all, a wonderful mother to their two children, Richard, a cardiologist, and Susan, an attorney. Susanne and Don are thankful and proud of their family, Richard and Pam (an attorney), Susan and Jackson Chaney (an attorney) and five wonderful grandchildren, Jennifer, Thomas and Taylor Lane, and Jarod and Whitney Chaney.