Larry Mac Milligan

Larry Mac Milligan, long time Tishomingo resident and Murray State College instructor, died February 1, 2022 in Norman. He was born December 31, 1937 to Clifford and Allie Milligan in Hinton, Oklahoma where he grew up on the family farm and attended Hinton schools. In 1958 he met and married Aida Luz Ayala Vega of Toa Alta, Puerto Rico with whom he enjoyed a 60-year marriage. Soon after their marriage he attended Southwestern Oklahoma State University and East Central University earning bachelors and master’s degrees in art education before embarking on a 28-year career as an art educator at Lawton High School and Murray State College. He was predeceased by his parents, Clifford and Allie Milligan, and his wife, Aida Milligan. He is survived by his sister, Yvonne Donaldson and husband Dean of Irving, TX; sons Jeffrey Milligan and wife Nenita of Tallahassee, Florida, and Aaron Milligan and wife Erin, of Norman, Oklahoma; his grandchildren, Shawn of Frisco, TX, Zachary of Dallas, TX, Claire of Oklahoma City, Ismael of Beijing, China and Gabrial of Tallahassee, FL; and great-grandsons Paxton and Cruz Milligan and their mother Brandi of Frisco, TX.

He was a man of many, seemingly contradictory parts. In his youth he was a would-be rodeo cowboy who decided to study art. He was a life-long aficionado of pure-bred bantam chickens who appreciated the paintings of John J. Audubon. He was a perennial tinkerer on derelict machines like old tractors and milking machines who could discuss the technical drawings of DaVinci, a hobby rancher of sheep and goats who could teach you about English landscape painting, and a home body who didn’t like to travel but who traveled all over Europe and Egypt to visit the great museums. He was a confirmed atheist who nevertheless studied the Bible religiously and enjoyed Bible study with his friends. He worked every day with his hands but valued the life of the mind. He was a voracious reader and enjoyed discussing books with his friends. Raised by generous parents, he was a friend and supporter of countless migrant farm workers, many of whom he remained close to throughout his life. He was a proud Democrat who loved political banter with his Republican friends and drinking coffee with fellow old-timers at the Dairy Queen. He could sheer a sheep, milk a goat, made very good cheese and middling beer and was a decent water colorist. For 28 years he taught young people of similarly humble backgrounds about the Western artistic and cultural traditions that are as much theirs as anyone else’s.

He reconciled these dualities in pottery, the artistic medium he practiced until a month before his death. He mastered every aspect of the form from digging and refining the clay to mixing and experimenting with chemical glazes to designing and building kilns. He aspired to create beautiful tools, art to set on the table and feed the family from rather than hang on a gallery wall. In his prime he was well-respected as perhaps the finest potter in the craft pottery tradition in the state of Oklahoma.

He was uncomfortable with sentimentality, occasionally irascible, but beneath the surface he loved his wife, his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, treasured his friends, and respected every potter, goat farmer, chicken raiser, migrant worker, and FFA kid he met in Oklahoma and north Texas. He will be sorely missed by all who knew him, loved him, and called him friend.

A memorial service for Larry will be held Saturday, February 12, 2022 at 10:00 AM at DeArman-Clark Funeral Home, 305 E Main St, Tishomingo, OK 73460.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in Larry's memory may be made to Doctors Without Borders, https://donate.doctorswithoutborders.org/secure/donate.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.primrosefuneralservice.com for the Milligan family.