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1938 – 2026
A banker by trade and a builder by instinct, he spent fifty-eight years making Ponca City a better place to live.
Carl Renfro was born in Oklahoma City on January 16, 1938, and grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. In 1968 he chose Ponca City — and spent the rest of his life uplifting, shaping, and loving it.
He graduated from the University of Missouri – Kansas City in 1960 with a degree in business administration and finance, and continued his studies with the American Banking Association through the University of Oklahoma. From 1979 to 2006 he served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Pioneer Bank & Trust, and chaired the Oklahoma Bankers Association’s Senior Banking Management Committee. At the time of his death he was still serving on the RCB Bank Advisory Board and the RCB Bank Trust Board.
Banking was his profession. Service was the thing he actually did with his life. He gave time to the Kiwanis Club, Crime Stoppers, the Ponca City Chamber of Commerce President’s Club, the St. Joseph Medical Foundation, Ponca City Friends of Education, the Ponca City Economic Development Foundation, and Harmony House, and served as President of the Ponca City Country Club.
What he built
Carl's instinct was never to write a single cheque. It was to create something that would keep paying out long after he was gone.
1993
Working with Tribes in Ponca City, Carl helped establish the Standing Bear Native American Foundation and Park — 170 acres, a statue honoring the Ponca civil rights leader Chief Standing Bear, eight Tribal courts, a powwow arena, and a museum and education center.
Together
The work was never his alone. In 2023 Carl and his wife Brenda (Berman) Renfro set out to bring Killers of the Flower Moon to the Poncan Theatre. Through the Renfro Lectureship program with Northern Oklahoma College they succeeded, hosting one of the premier showings of the film.
They called it a gift of love to the Ponca City area community.
Brenda survives him, and the foundation’s work continues with her.
The section above names and pictures a living person. It was added at the client’s direction and every sentence traces to the published obituary — but Brenda should read it and approve both the wording and the photograph before launch.
The photograph is captioned generically because the people in it have not been confirmed. It appears to show a Northern Oklahoma College Renfro Lectureship event. If that is Carl and Brenda with Terry Bradshaw, the alt text and a visible caption should say so — but do not assert it until someone confirms.
Recognition
The man himself
He was a family man who loved simple things. Steak and potatoes, brownies and ice cream made a perfect meal. He looked forward each year to the flowers blooming in the beds around the house, and sat out on the patio watching the birds enjoy them too.
He was an avid golfer, and would often load up his dog Caroline and just drive around the Country Club course. He loved music, going to the movies, and watching OU football — and he always looked forward to visits from his children, grandchildren, and friends.
Carl loved Oklahoma and its people. He was a community and state leader who became one of its greatest champions — an unwavering advocate for economic and workforce development, quality education, the arts, and the preservation of Oklahoma’s rich history.
Brenda is honored above at the client’s direction. The obituary also names Carl’s children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren — all living people, and listing them in an obituary is not the same as publishing them on the foundation’s website. Ask the family before adding them. The full list is in content/carl-renfro-obituary.md.
The foundation carries forward the causes Carl spent his life supporting.