Inaugural Impressions
Ann Smith Bartlett Burke (1920–2013)
Ann Chilton Smith was born in Seattle, Washington, on November 9, 1920, to Edgar and Joan Smith. She had one older brother, William, and a younger sister named Constance. She attended Seattle University and the University of Washington. Her path to Oklahoma started in California, where she met Dewey Follett Bartlett at a dance while caring for her grandmother. The couple engaged before Dewey left for service in World War II as a dive bomber pilot. They married in California on April 2, 1945, and went on to have three children.
The Bartlett’s moved to Tulsa after World War II. Dewey worked in the oil industry and soon became active in civic affairs. He was elected to the Oklahoma Senate in 1962. Four years later, he was elected governor of Oklahoma. Ann assisted in his campaign by meeting with supporters and making public appearances. She knitted a sweater for her daughter while on the campaign trail and often passed out cards with her and Dewey’s picture on one side and recipes on the other, reinforcing her image as a homemaker and mother who strongly supported her husband. She supported several initiatives pertaining to education, childcare, and the arts while in the Governor’s Mansion. For example, in 1970, she chaired the National Library Week Committee in Oklahoma to promote literacy and libraries.
Ann remained active socially and politically after her husband lost his bid for reelection in 1970. Dewey went on to serve one term in the US Senate before succumbing to lung cancer on March 1, 1979. Civic groups that Ann supported included the League of Women Voters and Tulsa Family and Children’s Services. In 1980, she served as chair for Senator Howard Baker’s presidential campaign in Oklahoma. She then supported Ronald Reagan for president after Baker dropped out of the race.
Ann married John Garrett Burke, who died in 1989. She regularly attended Tulsa’s Christ the King Catholic Church and enjoyed occasional literature courses at the University of Tulsa. Ann died in Tulsa on January 26, 2013, and is buried at Calvary Cemetery.
Ann Smith Bartlett Burke and Governor Dewey Bartlett, 1968
(2012.201.OVZ001.0877, Oklahoma Publishing Company Photography Collection, OHS)
