Oilers’ Lakovic was a feared enforcer
A farewell to people with Oklahoma ties who enjoyed the game day experience:
•Sasha Lakovic, 45, of West Kelowna, British Columbia, was a veteran enforcer in the National Hockey League and various minor league circuits. Lakovic played the 1994-95 season in the Central Hockey League with the Tulsa Oilers. Lakovic had 20 goals, 44 points and a team-high 214 penalty minutes in 40 games for a rugged lineup that also included veteran NHL tough guy Craig Coxe.
Lakovic ended his career with 2,281 penalty minutes in 392 minor league games. He played in 37 NHL games, either with the Calgary Flames or New Jersey Devils, and had four points and 118 penalty minutes in 37 games.
He had a brief acting career after hockey. Lakovic appeared as a Soviet hockey player in the Walt Disney film Miracle. He died six months after he was diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer.
•Tooter Hacker Potter, 89, of Bartlesville. The Dewey High grad was a drum majorette and a state champion roller skater. She spent 30 years working for Phillips Petroleum.
•Mike Engel, 44, of Clinton. He played football, basketball and baseball at Clinton High School. Engel, who worked in several trades, liked to play golf and go fishing.
•Darold Robertson, 90, of Newcastle bred Greyhounds and trained them to race. Robertson spent 60 years transporting his dogs to Florida, Iowa, Colorado, South Dakota and Massachusetts to compete.
The World War II veteran was a pitcher for an Army
softball team. He liked to hunt quail.
•Jim Solomon, 69, of Marlow. He worked at the famous Waurika Snake Hunt for more than 30 years. The Vietnam veteran and volunteer fireman also liked to play pool.
•Zack McBee, 26, of Tyrone. He played football and baseball at Tyrone High. He also represented the Bobcats at the state track meet. McBee liked to go hunting and fishing.
•Tracie Sheffield Pierson, 39, of Blanchard was a long-distance runner and triathlete. She competed in marathons and triathlons; Pierson also rode in the annual Ragbrai, a seven-day bicycle event across the state of Iowa. She was operations manager for International Paper.
•Lana Ingram, 75, of Yukon was a bowler who once
posted a perfect 300 game. A family obituary said Ingram’s husband,
Stanley, knew he had a keeper during their dating days when Lana “liked loud cars that went around in circles and blew dirt everywhere.”
•Gene Nunn, 83, of Edmond operated the pro shop at Heritage Lanes bowling center.
•Norman Hancock, 80, of Kingston was a coach at Monroney Junior High School in Midwest City, Mustang High School and Thackerville High School.
•Warren Fisher, 80, of Yukon. He loved sports, especially Yukon Miller athletics. The retired Marine and longtime Lucent employee spent many years coaching the Yukon Jays wrestling program.
•Demetrius Rhodes, 53, of Oklahoma City. He played football under legendary coach Mike Little at bigschool power Putnam City West. Rhodes joined the Army shortly after graduation and was a machinist and combat engineer. He had tours in Afghanistan and Iraq before a medical discharge. Rhodes was a huge fan of OU football.
•Allen McNeil, 64, of Yukon loved the outdoors. He liked hunting, fishing and shooting on the family farm in Mulhall. The Vietnam veteran was proud to have killed a Boone & Crockett 18-point buck in 2014 with a muzzle loader. He last visited the farm nine days before his death, to hunt turkey with friend James Pace.
•Jackie Peck, 38, of Bartlesville. Some of Peck’s fondest memories was playing baseball for Bartlesville High School. He also played American Legion ball over the summer for the Bartlesville Braves and the a Doenges Ford Injuns. Peck, who was in the auto industry by trade, also loved to go hunting and fishing.
•Christie Smith Fritz, 68, of Enid earned a physical education degree from Oklahoma State. She went on to coach girls basketball and track at Coyle and Carrier junior high schools.
•Fred Aaron, 71, of Del City. He coached soccer at Del City High School and in youth leagues. Aaron was an industrial arts teacher for 30 years, 26 of those at Del City.
•Marissa Dunagan, 19, of Edmond. Dunagan was a student-athletic trainer at Edmond Santa Fe High School. She transferred to Deer Creek High for her senior year and served as manager for the girls soccer team. The players and coaches recognized the tough behind-the-scenes chores of a manager and chose Dunagan as the team’s Most Valuable Player. She died on her birthday.