Binding Contract
The “larger than life” bronze sculpture unveiled at the Bank of Western Oklahoma this week is a tribute to the late Donald Harrel and to the cowboy way of life so prominent in western Oklahoma. A cowboy’s word, sealed with a handshake, was a binding contract; a contract much like the one that Donald and Jimmy Harrel made in the purchasing of the Bank of Western Oklahoma some twenty plus years ago. The cowboy heritage was passed to them from their late fathers, Henry Harrel and Lance Harrel, true cowboys and ranchers who settled in western Oklahoma in the early nineteen hundreds.. A fitting tribute had been planned to honor their fathers through commissioned oil portraits of them to be displayed in each of the six bank locations.
Plans changed, however, in 2008, with the passing of Donald Harrel, the revered partner of the Bank of Western Oklahoma. Bradford Williams, one of the most sought after artists in the western genre, was commissioned in 2009 to create a sculpture in memory of Donald. The bronze sculpture of Donald and Jimmy Harrel on horseback depicts their mission and that of the Bank of Western Oklahoma, to continue the way of life where a cowboy’s word and a handshake is a “Binding Contract.“
The owners and employees of the Bank of Western Oklahoma proudly dedicate the “Binding Contract” sculpture to the memory of Donald Harrel and in honor of Jimmy Harrel. Keela Harrel Terry and family, Donald’s children Terry, Joey, and Marsha and their families hope that this sculpture will instill the simple principles of the cowboy way of life and serve as a legacy for generations to come.