Pat Smith, Director of Oklahoma Route 66 Museum in Clinton, Retires

Sen. Darcy Jech, Michael Wallis, Brian Aneshansley, Pat and Virgil Smith, Dr. Bob Blackburn, Rep. Anthony Moore, and Trait Thompson

After more than 30 years of greeting travelers and sharing the story of Route 66 with people from around the world, Pat Smith (and her ever-present husband, Virgil) has retired.

The Oklahoma Route 66 Museum opened in 1995 and was the first publicly funded museum on Route 66. Pat had been working at the museum for six years already, having started when it was still the Western Trails Museum. But the Mother Road has always been a part of her life - the family farm sat right alongside the highway. Pat was promoted to Director in 1999 and has been in that position ever since.

It would be impossible to list out all of the projects that Pat and Virgil were responsible for over the years, but one of the biggest was acquiring and restoring the Porter House Cafe, a vintage Valentine Diner that originated in Shamrock, Texas.

As the largest museum dedicated to Route 66 and its history, it brings tourists in from all over the world and is regularly cited on social media as one of the top museum experiences along the entire corridor. A lot of that has to do with Pat’s hands-on nature and her constant smile when people walk in the front door. Indeed, Pat is as much a fixture of the museum as the exhibits themselves or the neon sign above the front windows.

A farewell party took place at the museum on Wednesday, October 29th, and the space was packed. Speakers included Dr. Bob Blackburn, former Executive Director of the Oklahoma Historical Society, and author/historian Michael Wallis. The Friends of the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum, the non-profit arm of the museum’s operations, presented Pat with an original artwork by renowned artist Alison LaMons that features the Will Rogers Motor Court neon sign from Tulsa. Two proclamations were read by Trait Thompson of the Oklahoma Historical Society celebrating Pat’s achievements and retirement: one from the Lt. Governor and one from the Governor.

Kaisa Barthuli, who recently retired as the program manager of the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program at the National Park Service, presented a certificate honoring Pat’s “outstanding contributions to the knowledge, understanding, an enjoyment of historic US Highway 66 for the long-term benefits of the American public.”

At the end of the ceremony, Pat herself took to the microphone to thank all of her volunteers and supporters from across the state, stating that they were the ones that made all of the work at the museum possible.