Odilia Mary Russo Dank (September 3, 1938 – August 17, 2013) was an American educator and politician from

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

who served as a Republican member of the

Oklahoma House of Representatives The Oklahoma House of Representatives is the lower house of the legislature of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Its members introduce and vote on bills and resolutions, provide legislative oversight for state agencies, and help to craft the state's ...

, from District 85. Dank was elected in 1994 and served until she was term limited in 2006.

Early life

Odilia Mary Russo Dank was born in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, to parents Dr. Peter and Dr. Magdalene Russo. The family moved to Oklahoma when she was two years old. Dank and her family lived at Lake Aluma Chulosa, a small township on the northeast side of

. Her father worked as a

radiologist Radiology ( ) is the medical specialty that uses medical imaging to diagnose diseases and guide treatment within the bodies of humans and other animals. It began with radiography (which is why its name has a root referring to radiation), but tod ...

and her mother worked as a dentist prior to marriage. Dank graduated from Casady High School in Oklahoma City.

Education and career

Thereafter, Dank earned a bachelor's degree in 1960 from Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Lynchburg,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. In 1974, she received a

Master of Education The Master of Education (MEd or M.Ed. or Ed.M.; Latin ''Magister Educationis'' or ''Educationis Magister'') is a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. This degree in education often includes the following majors: curriculum an ...

degree from the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

. Dank worked in the Oklahoma City public school system for 20 years as an educator and counselor; for 12 years, she was a counselor at Del City High School. Her first teaching job in southwest Oklahoma City was teaching government and Oklahoma history. On the weekends, Dank and a fellow teacher would travel around the state which in turn resulted in her interest in politics.

Oklahoma House of Representatives (1994–2006)

Mary Fallin Mary Fallin (; née Copeland; born December 9, 1954) is an American politician who served as the 27th governor of Oklahoma from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, she was elected in 2010 Oklahoma gub ...

vacated her House seat in order to run for

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

and Dank decided to campaign for the vacancy. Dank was elected to represent District 85 in the

in 1994 and served until 2006 when her husband, David Dank, ran and succeeded her. During her time in office she was appointed chairman of the Education Committee, the first woman in that position. She also served two terms as vice chairman of the

Oklahoma Republican Party The Oklahoma Republican Party is an Oklahoma political party affiliated with the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party. Along with the Oklahoma Democratic Party, it is one of the two major parties in the state. It is currently the ...

Committees

*Chair of the Common Education Committee *House Appropriation sub-committee on Education *Rules, and Revenue and Taxation committee *Children and Family committee

Awards and achievements

Dank received several awards and recognition for her work in the legislature, including: *Pioneering Spirit Award by the Oklahoma Charter Association *REID's legislative excellence award (2004) *Casady Alumni Achievement Award (2001) *Oklahoma State Chamber's Outstanding Legislator Award (1999) *Distinguished Service Award from the Mid-Del City schools for outstanding performance and dedicated service (1989)

Death

Dank died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

on August 17, 2013, in Oklahoma City.

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

, Dank's predecessor in the state House, issued an executive order on August 19 directing that all flags on state property be flown at half-staff in Dank's honor from August 23–26.

References

External links

Women of the Oklahoma Legislature Oral History Project – OSU Library
1938 births 2013 deaths Politicians from Cleveland Randolph College alumni University of Oklahoma alumni Women state legislators in Oklahoma Republican Party members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives 21st-century members of the Oklahoma Legislature Politicians from Oklahoma City Deaths from cancer in Oklahoma 21st-century American women politicians Educators from Ohio American women educators 20th-century members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives 20th-century American women politicians {{Oklahoma-politician-stub