Paul Otis Red Eagle started his earthly adventure on March 7, 1962, at Claremore, Okla. He was born to Harry Roy and Pauline Red Eagle. He grew up in Skiatook, Okla., with his older sister Kelly, younger sister Lisa, and a baby brother he called Shunka, who was eight years younger.
Paul was adventurous and could always be found outside. From a very young age he was very much aware of bugs, birds and anything creepy and crawly in nature. In the first grade, he discovered an ant hill on the playground and instead of running and playing with the other kids he was following the paths that the ants had created. He had gerbils in cages, tadpoles turning into frogs, he kept tarantulas in screen cages and later raised a pig named Pork Chop. He was all about exploring the world. When he was old enough his boundaries expanded. He would go to the airport and hitch a ride with the pilots like Reverend Neilson into letting him fly for free to just sightsee around Skiatook and the new lake. Like his uncle, Bud Wallace, he was always fascinated by how things were created. While growing up he was a boy scout, played little league ball and was a typical kid. He became a member of the Immanuel Baptist Church where he accepted Christ as his savior and was baptized by Reverend Paul Mitts.
He was a tall, handsome guy who played both football and basketball. After graduating from high school in 1980, our neighbor Pat Brunton, who worked for Sun Oil, helped him get a job as a roustabout in Osage County where he grew to love the oil business. He learned all about exploration and production. He thrived on that knowledge and was dedicated to his job. Paul received recognition and multiple awards from Sun Oil. Later in life, he had the opportunity to learn the pipeline business and became a Journeyman with the Local 798 Pipeline Union.
Paul met and married Terri Hayenga, a pretty little girl whose family had come to Hominy when her dad worked at Conner Correctional Center. He and Terri were transferred to Wakita by Sun Oil where he was involved in the operation of one of their gasoline plants. They were blessed with two beautiful daughters, Danielle and Amber. They grew up there and the Red Eagle family was very involved in that small town, the little family made life-long friends. Life was good. As usual, Paul was back to exploring the situation, and some of his friends recruited him for the Ranch Rodeo team. Danielle said that he was on the roping team and the wild cow milking team. I’m sure he worked hard to do his best at those activities like anything else. Paul was also part of the Wakita Volunteer Firefighters Association.
He was never a golfer or big fisherman but outside was where he wanted to be. After coming back to Osage County, he could be found exploring the countryside looking for arrowheads or unusual rock formations. He could also be found on a moonlit night star gazing. If you wanted to know anything about constellations or heavenly galaxies, you could just ask and he would tell you. There was just a vast amount of knowledge stored in his head.
Paul was proud to be a citizen of both the Osage and Cherokee Nations. From the age of 12 and all through his life he was involved in the Osage culture. His Osage name is Oh-Tsa-She-Na-Zhe which means ‘Looking for Something’ which perfectly describes him. He was a member of the Zon-Zo-Li Committee and participated in the annual dances, following in the footsteps of his grandfathers Harry Red Eagle, Sr., Harry Red Eagle, Jr., and his father Harry Roy Red Eagle.
He loved to eat good food and he was very witty. He would sit down to eat and in his falsetto voice would ask “Is this Gourmet?” Meat gravy, corn soup and fry bread were his favorites. Paul loved traveling and learning about the places that he visited. Some of those favorites were the Grand Canyon, the inside workings of the Hoover Dam, swimming in the Atlantic Ocean, and traveling to Washington, D.C. for the last 4th of July firework celebration of the 1900s with his family. Paul was probably at his happiest just being on a creek bank looking for rocks or sharing something he learned on the History Channel. We will miss his “How you doin?” Paul is survived by his mother Pauline Red Eagle; two daughters, Danielle Ebert (Derek) and Amber Red Eagle; two grandchildren, Amre and Harrison Roy Ebert; the mother of his children, Terri Hayenga; two sisters, Kelly Dyer (Rusty) and Lisa Red Eagle; one brother, Harry Roy “Noonie” Red Eagle Jr; one niece, Katie Stewart (Jessie); two great nieces, Gracie and Callie Stewart; four aunts, Tabby Davis, Judy Wallace, Anita Red Eagle, Janet Goodfox; and several cousins. He was preceded in death by his dad, Harry Roy Red Eagle; grandparents, Harry and Willimina Red Eagle, Russell and Polly Wallace; great-grandparents Harry and Mary Red Eagle Sr., Roy and Clara Montgomery, and O.J. and Ethel Wallace.
