Inaugural Impressions
Grayce Breene Kerr Flynn (1900–65)
Grayce Emma Breene was born in Jewett, Ohio, on September 12, 1900. The youngest daughter of Harry and Blanche Breene, the family ultimately moved to northeast Oklahoma, where her father worked as a drilling contractor. Singing was one of Grayce’s primary interests while growing up. Intelligent and energetic, Grayce was also a renowned cook known for her willingness to work long hours in the garden or kitchen.
Grayce met Robert Samuel Kerr during the summer of 1925 while visiting her sister in Ada. Robert had lost his first wife, Reba Shelton, just one year earlier. By their third date, Robert announced his intention to marry Grayce. The couple married on December 26, 1925, and lived in Ada, where Robert practiced law and invested in oil. They had four children: sons Robert Jr., Breene, William, and daughter Grayce Kay (Kay). The family moved to Oklahoma City, where Robert made a fortune in the oil industry and entered state politics. He was elected governor in 1942 and served in the US Senate from 1949 until his death in 1963.
Grayce was a dedicated political wife and assisted in his campaigns. As her husband was elected during World War II, the couple did not attend an inauguration ball and participated in few formal events. She was an avid collector of home furnishings and furniture throughout her public life, even opening an interior decorating business in Washington, DC. She published several cookbooks and routinely planned dinners and social events for large groups, whether in the Governor’s Mansion or in the nation’s capital. In 1961, she opened the Black Angus Restaurant in Poteau, Oklahoma, named for Kerr’s Black Angus Ranch.
Grayce assumed control of the Kerr family’s political and business future immediately after her husband’s death. She eventually returned to Tulsa, where she married childhood friend Olney Foster Flynn in 1964. She died of cancer on March 2, 1965, and is buried in Memorial Park Cemetery in Tulsa.
Grayce Breene Kerr Flynn at the Governor’s Mansion, 1946
(2012.201.OVZ001.7411, Oklahoma Publishing Company Photography Collection, OHS)
