County of Statue: Kay County
Location of Statue: 6th St. & Grand St., city hall lawn, Ponca City
Sculptor of Statue: Jo Saylors
"PONCA CITY Lew Wentz once again will watch over the city he loved.
"Ponca City residents dedicated a bronze statue of the oilman and philanthropist Thursday on the northeast corner of the Civic Center Auditorium, now city hall, where Wentz showed free movies to children in the 1930s.
"The 6-foot-1-inch statue of Wentz standing with his hat in his hand not on his head depicts Wentz's unassuming character.
"A bachelor who loved to help children, he was well known for buying shoes, coats and Christmas gifts for children, and establishing the Crippled Children's Society of Oklahoma.
"The idea of a statue to honor Wentz, who died in 1949, came to Ponca City attorney C.D. Northcutt while driving back from the University of Oklahoma a few years ago. Northcutt said he was struck with the realization the city had no obvious expression of its appreciation for Wentz.
"So Northcutt and a friend, Dr. Ray Kinzinger, a dental surgeon, began making calls from the car.
"They knew who they wanted to do the job noted local sculptor Jo Saylors.
"Although she couldn't start right away, Saylors said, she told the men: "You better not get anybody else to do that. This is my town.
"Now Wentz's likeness stands across Centennial Plaza from a white stone statue of fellow oilman E.W. Marland, which was sculpted by Jo Davidson, under whom Saylors studied as a teenager.
"Northcutt said it seemed appropriate that Wentz should have a place of honor like the man who was somewhat his opposite.
'"They were not enemies, but they were not bosom buddies, he said.
"While Marland was flamboyant, liked big parties and went bankrupt, Wentz was more conservative, diversified his interests and gave to many causes.
"In fact, when Marland didn't have the last $30,000 to pay for the $130,0000 Pioneer Woman statue, Wentz did so anonymously, Northcutt said.
"Marland had his mansions, but Wentz lived in an apartment in the Arcade Hotel, and his idea of a big party was to invite six to eight people to dinner cooked by his Japanese chef, Northcutt said.
"Wentz had no college education, but he established foundations at Oklahoma State University and OU, helping many students attend college.
"Northcutt was among those. In the 1930s, when he was a student at OU, Northcutt borrowed $200 from the foundation to get his start in law school. Northcutt eventually would serve as a trustee for that foundation.
'"I needed that $200 pretty bad, and that was big money back in the '30s, he said.
"When Wentz died in 1949, his funeral was in the junior high auditorium, the largest in Ponca City then.
'"At his funeral, I stood in the back. There wasn't room to sit, Northcutt said. "I've always felt that he was a great man." ~ The Oklahoman, NewsOK, by DAWN MARKS, November 12, 2004