Decade Days

Chandler Sims graduated from Casady in 1999 and attended the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD, where he was a 4-year letter winner in football. After graduating from the Naval Academy, Chandler took a commission in the United States Marine Corps where he learned to fly helicopters. Following three combat deployments he was assigned to Marine Helicopter Squadron 1, where he served as a Marine 1 pilot for President Barrack Obama. He left active duty in 2015 and moved to Dallas where he, his wife Ashley, and two sons Chandler (age 10) and Cabell (age 8) live today. Chandler received Casady’s Young Alumni Achievement Award in 2011. He is the oldest of four children, three of whom are Casady graduates. Chandler is currently a Senior Vice President at CBRE, the largest global commercial real estate advisory firm. 

"All of this is possible because of the foundation that was cemented on these 80.8 acres," Chandler said.

Kermit Alexander arrived at Casady with an interesting mix of personal views. Self described, he was "intimidated by extremely wealthy families at Casady, but he was also confident that he was as smart as anybody. He pursued sports to improve his athletic confidence (he was not the tallest or fastest, but he would work on both pursuing football, basketball, and track). He also loved the School's commitment to education."

This resulted in the following:

• Four-year letterman in basketball
• Little All City Player of the Year in 1983 for basketball
• SPC Basketball Champion for four consecutive years (the 1983 team was just inducted at Homecoming to Casady's Athletic Hall of Fame)
• Casady Olympics singles ping pong champion four years in a row
• National Merit Scholar
• National Achievement Scholar
• Presidential Scholar (today, only 161 students are named as Presidential Scholars, one of the nation's highest honors for high school students)

He kept up his "cocky self-affirmation by choosing Harvard because that’s where the smartest people go. He didn’t care about class size or environment." At Harvard, he accomplished the following:

• John Harvard Scholar (awarded to the top 75 freshmen students)
• AT&T Bell Labs Engineering Scholar (full scholarship to Harvard)
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science

After graduation, Kermit pursued a Master's in Computer Science from Stanford and worked for the Japan Ministry of Education as an English teacher in Japanese High Schools. He also began working as an engineer for AT&T designing telecommunications switching systems for foreign countries.

After leaving Japan and AT&T Bell Labs, Kermit worked as an independent consultant in technology. This included several stints with public and private organizations including:

Clay Bennett is a member of Casady’s Class of 1978. He is chairman of the Professional Basketball Club, L.L.C., which is the owner of the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Oklahoma City Blue of the NBA G League. He is chairman of Dorchester Capital, a diversified private investment company and serves as an investor, officer, and director of numerous business entities.

Highly involved in civic and charitable efforts, Mr. Bennett has served as chairman of the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce, the Oklahoma State Fair, Oklahoma Industries Authority, the Oklahoma Heritage Association, the Oklahoma Health Center Foundation, and he served on the University of Oklahoma Board of Regents from 2011–18, including a term as chairman from 2017-18. Mr. Bennett currently serves as a director of the Oklahoma City Industrial and Cultural Facilities Trust, and the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame. He is also the Chairman of the Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Advisory Council, which is comprised of representatives of law enforcement, elected officials, legal experts and business and civic leaders. It focuses on developing a more holistic approach to criminal justice in Oklahoma County. Mr. Bennett’s leadership in this area helped lead to a successful citizen-approved effort to construct a new Oklahoma County jail.

Mr. Bennett was inducted to the Oklahoma Hall of Fame  in 2007, and in 2014 joined the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame. In 2008, he received the Distinguished Graduate Award, the highest Alumni Award given by Casady School. Also in 2008, he was named “Oklahoman of the Year” by Oklahoma Today magazine. Since its arrival in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder has achieved significant success on and off the court, including five Northwest Division titles, four trips to the Western Conference Finals and one appearance in the NBA Finals.

The Bennett family has many ties in the Oklahoma City community and to Casady School. Both of Mr. Bennett’s brothers are graduates of the School as well as many nieces, nephews, and in-laws. His wife, Louise Gaylord Bennett, is a 1979 graduate. Their children include Mollie McCurdy who is a member of the class of 2000, Christy Lane, a 2006 graduate, and Graham Bennett from the Class of 2012. Two of Mr. Bennett’s grandchildren are in Primary Division. Francie McCurdy is in Kindergarten and Bennett McCurdy is in PreK. And he has twin granddaughters born this summer, Charlotte and Mollie Lane.

1960s Decade Day Speaker, Karen Carter Towles, is a fixture on the Casady campus. Although Mrs. Towles officially retired from teaching after 30 years in Primary Division, she is now working part-time as the Montessori Coordinator for the School and will be helping up to four teachers get their Montessori certification this year. 

Mrs. Towles graduated from Casady in 1965 and went to OU and graduated from OCU. She began her career in banking where she spent 13 years. When she left the banking industry after her children were born, she was a Vice President overseeing operations functions and customer service. 

Since Mrs. Towles and her husband Chris are both Casady graduates, they knew Casady was the only place for their children, Katie who was Class of 2000 and Clay who was Class of 2003. Mrs. Towles volunteered in Primary as a parent and loved it so much that she began teaching soon after Clay finished in Primary. Besides receiving her Montessori certificate and teaching here, she also taught Montessori classes at OCU for seven years and was an Examiner and Observer and still does volunteer work with OCU.

Max Weitzenhoffer is a well-recognized patron of the arts. As Chairman of Nimax Theatres, he owns six theaters in the teeming arts district of the West End in London, England. His extensive career involves roles as Chairman of the University of Oklahoma Regents, President and Chief Executive Officer of Seminole Manufacturing Company, and Visiting Professor of Musical Theater at OU. Mr. Weitzenhoffer earned Tony Awards for the revival of Dracula, and best musical for The Will Roger Follies. In 1994, he was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. Mr. Weitzenhoffer holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama from OU. Mr. Weitzenhoffer is married and  has two children, both of whom graduated from Casady, Nikki in 2020 and Owen in 2021. 

Mr. Weitzenhoffer came to Casady School as a seventh grader in 1951 and graduated in 1957. Casady Theatre was the highlight of his time here. His most famous role was in “Angel Street” also known as “Gaslight.” He played the role done by Joseph Cotton in the film and Gregory Peck on the stage.