Hon. John Morgan Amick

Surrounded by members of his beloved family, John Morgan Amick died peacefully at his home in Oklahoma City on October 9, 2019, at the age of 96.John Amick was born to John Sherman and Iola (Morgan) Amick in Oklahoma City on January 31, 1923. John's mother died when he was about 2 ½ years old. She called him Jack, and by that name he was known until he went into the Army in 1943. The Army insisted that he be called John, the name shown on his birth certificate. After his mother's death, he was cared for by his Morgan grandparents for a while, and later by his father's sister Seretta Park in Kansas City, Missouri.In the fall of 1927, Jack's half-sister Georgia brought him to Jefferson, Oklahoma, for a two-week visit with Georgia and with his father's first wife Louia M. Amick. The Jefferson Amicks were so taken by the young lad that the visit was repeatedly extended, and in the end Jack never returned to Kansas City and instead was raised by Louia in Jefferson. After graduating from high school in Jefferson, Amick attended Oklahoma A. & M., now Oklahoma State University, and was a student there when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. While at OSU, in his third year with ROTC, he and his fellow 3rd year ROTC buddies, lived in the Stillwater Fire station which later became known as the Firehouse Gang. Amick then joined the Army Reserve, which was put on active duty on April 6, 1943. After basic training at Ft. Knox and OCS at Ft. Benning, Amick was assigned to the 65th Infantry Division as a machine gun platoon leader in a heavy weapons company where he served with Stephen T. Early,Jr., the son of President Roosevelt's press secretary. The Division was soon sent to New York City, where it boarded an Italian luxury liner, the Conte Grande, which had been captured by the British, renamed and converted to a troop ship. The renamed ship departed New York bound for Southampton, England, but because of the Battle of the Bulge, it was diverted directly to France and landed at Le Havre on January 15, 1945. The division could not go directly into combat, for most of its equipment had gone with its advance party to Southampton. The division got into active combat in March, 1945, fought through Germany for several weeks, and met the Russians between Linz and Vienna, Austria. After Germany surrendered, Amick spent over a year in military government in Austria and was then sent back to the USA, where he entered Law School at the University of Oklahoma. While at OU, he met and married Jean Ash, a graduate of the University of Oklahoma School of Music.After graduation from law school, Amick went back to Grant County where he served three terms as County Attorney. He then entered into private practice in Medford. In 1959, he was appointed as an Assistant United States attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma. After some time in that position, Amick resigned and took a job as Assistant Oklahoma County Attorney. He was appointed as a County Judge for Oklahoma County in 1968 to complete the term of the late Hon. Frank Miskovsky. He ran for the same office and won, serving from January 13, 1969 to June 1, 1973. He resigned from the bench in June, 1973, to accept a position on the faculty of OCU Law School, where he taught until 1978. In 1978, he filed for the office of District Judge for the Seventh Judicial District and won, and served in that position until he retired on December 31, 1998, completing a total of 25 years as a judge in Oklahoma County. After his retirement, Judge Amick served as a settlement judge for the Supreme Court.Judge Amick was a member of the Oklahoma County Bar Association from1948 until his death, served for a time as its president and general counsel, and was one of a few members to receive the association's 70-year pin. He was a devoted member of the Crown Heights United Methodist Church since 1959, where he taught a Sunday School class for 45 years, and up until 4-5 years ago, sang in the choir. He was a member of Civitan, Civic Music and most recently a member of the Downtown Kiwanis Club. As a pleasant diversion from the pressure and stress at the courthouse, Judge Amick performed in several productions at Lyric Theatre, Oklahoma Theater Center and the Lincoln Plaza Dinner Theater.Judge Amick was predeceased by his sister Georgia M. Amick, his brother Robert H. Amick, his adoptive mother Louia M. Amick, and his beloved wife of 68 years Jean. He is survived by their 5 children, Douglas Morgan Amick, Martin Sherman Amick and his wife Callie Amick, Margaret Ellen Amick, Linda Kathryn Dodson and Alan Russell Amick, as well as six grandchildren, Sarah Marie Goe Robertson, John Logan Dodson, Isaac McKinley Amick, Adam Morgan Dodson, Leigha Marie Amick and Sean Kaden Amick. A memorial service is planned for November 1st, 2019 at 11:00am, at St. Luke's United Methodist Church, Oklahoma City, OK. Memorial contributions can be made to the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma City, Salvation Army or the City Rescue Mission.