John Bale Jr.
May 15, 2018
John Bale, Jr., 88, passed away on May 15, 2018. He was born on July 12, 1929, in Dewey, OK, the son of John and Audrey Bale. He and his high school sweetheart, Beverly Roberts, were married on June 6, 1949, in Tacoma, WA, shortly before he shipped off for military service in Korea. He was the first soldier to receive the honor of promotion to Sergeant First Class in one year. He also received a Bronze Star for meritorious service in a combat zone. John completed, with honors, the bachelor’s and master’s degree from Oklahoma State University. He earned the doctorate at the University of Oklahoma. As a professor at Oklahoma State in the College of Business Administration, he received the Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award in 1970. In 1971, he was appointed associate dean of the College, a position he held for 21 years, in addition to a year as interim dean of the College of Business Administration. John was awarded the Regents Professor honor in 1992 and was also inducted into the Spears School of Business Hall of Fame. John served on numerous boards and committees while he worked at OSU and was inducted into several honors organizations, including Phi Kappa Phi. In addition, he held important leadership positions in the Oklahoma Business Education Association and the Beta Chapter of Delta Pi Epsilon. Also, he was active in the Perkins Church of Christ where he served as an elder. John was preceded in death by his parents, his wife Beverly, and his sisters Barbara Hansen, Judy Bale, and Maddie Bale. He is survived by three brothers, Clifford, Larry, and Dean. He is also survived by his children, John Michael Bale, Karen Bale-Brown, daughter-in-law Benita Knight Bale, son-in-law, David Brown. In addition, he is survived by five grandchildren, five great-granddaughters, several grandchildren-in-law, as well as several sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law.