Howard K. Berry Jr.

Howard K. Berry Jr., lifetime resident of Oklahoma City and jury trial lawyer, has died at his home. He was 92. The cause of death was a life well lived. To his friends and family, he was known as HK. He often stated he was born with a legal eagle on his shoulder. His grandfather was County Clerk in the original courthouse on Main Street. His mother worked in the Court Clerk's office where she met his father Howard K. Berry, a policeman who never went to law school but later became a prominent trial lawyer.

HK attended Linwood and Cleveland grade schools, Taft Junior High School and Classen High School. He graduated from OU where he was a Sigma Nu and then served in the United States Air Force as a captain. He was a member of St Luke's Church since age 11. After his military career, he returned to Oklahoma City and supported his family with a full-time job as a nighttime motel clerk. He was assisted by the GI Bill, a federal program which instilled him as a yellow dog liberal Democrat. He was able to graduate with scholastic honors. HK later made a generous gift to the OU law school for giving him such a great education. Upon graduation, he joined his father who taught him the art of jury selection and persuasion. Early in his career he obtained a favorable verdict for his client that the trial judge said was the highest in his court, the courthouse and maybe in the whole state. He especially admired his fellow trial lawyers who did not have the privileges that he had enjoyed as the son of a lawyer. He appreciated his heritage and established, in his father's honor, the Howard K. Berry Sr. award given each year at the Oklahoma County Law Day luncheon to a deserving recipient. The award is a cash award.

During his career, he lectured and published on jury persuasion. He became President of the Oklahoma State Bar Foundation, the Oklahoma County Bar Association, the Oklahoma Trial Lawyers Association (which later awarded him their lifetime achievement award). He was elected by his peers to the Constitutional Judicial Nominating Commission where he became chairman. HK often bragged that over 60 years of this commission there was never a breath of scandal. Howard was a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers. Both his father, Howard Sr., and son, Howard III, were also admitted to this prestigious organization.

HK enjoyed his golf and social life at the Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club and the Las Campanas Country Club in Santa Fe, New Mexico. His mother gave him a passion for art. He established a scholarship at Oklahoma City University art department in her name. He became a collector and generous patron of the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. In 1965, he purchased stock in the Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club for $2,500. It is believed that at the time of his death that he was the longest surviving member of the country club. HK is survived by his son Howard and wife Carol as well as by his daughter Robin and husband Kent Hawkins. He enjoyed 15 grandchildren, Melanie Berry, Joel Berry, Jennifer Berry, Ashley Berry, Jack Berry, Melissa Jackson, Joseph Berry, Gerald Jackson, Ben Berry, Suzanna Berry, Alex Berry, Caden Belcher, Jaiden Berry, Josiah Berry, and Samuel Berry, all of whom survive him. He lost his beloved son Jack Edward Berry to Crohn's disease in 2017. The family wishes to thank caregivers Mark Bowlan, Megan Navrath, Cindy and Mercy Hospice.