By Cass Rains, Staff Writer
Enid News and Eagle
ENID —
Oklahoma Highway Patrol’s oldest living retired patrolman resides in Enid and still remembers his 24 years of service.
O.L. Rauch, who celebrated his 98th birthday Jan. 16, retired from the patrol Sept. 16, 1964. When he joined the patrol Sept. 15, 1940, OHP was in its third year of existence.
In his 24 years with the patrol, Rauch served throughout the state, coming to the Enid district in July 1957.
“Getting people to correct their driving habits,” is what Rauch said was his favorite part of working with the patrol. “Those who had bad habits, of course.”
One of Rauch’s most vivid memories of this times with the patrol involves being beaten by two men he’d placed into custody after they had assaulted the Duncan police chief.
Rauch was stationed near Poteau and was 17 years into his career when he stopped two men known as the Baker brothers.
“I stopped them because a woman driver had observed their erratic driving,” Rauch recalled. He said he learned neither man had a driver’s license and knew both were on parole or probation.
“I drove close to 30 miles before either of them objected,” he said.
The elder of the brothers, who was in the backseat, struck Rauch with his helmet. The younger brother, who was sitting beside him, repeatedly began striking him in the face.
“The younger brother was sitting next to me and the older brother said, ‘Get his gun,’” Rauch said. “I clamped my hand on that revolver as hard as I could. There was quite a struggle for possession of that revolver because it was a life-or-death struggle.”
Before long, the brothers overpowered Rauch and took his revolver. They continued to beat him and pointed the gun at his head. A driver passed and saw what was happening, and the two brothers fled the area.
“They hurt me, really hurt me,” Rauch said. “A man that had driven up said, ‘I’m taking you to the hospital in Poteau.’ He saw what pitiful shape I was in.”
Rauch spent the next week in the hospital and another at home recuperating from the injuries he suffered in the attack. As he recovered, a manhunt for the Baker brothers began.
“The whole highway patrol was looking for them,” he said.
The Baker brothers soon surrendered to law enforcement officials and were taken to court in LeFlore County.
The brothers entered pleas of not guilty during their initial appearance before the judge, who denied the two men bail, Rauch said.
“They were in jail from July 21 to sometime in October when the first session of court was,” Rauch said. “They both pled guilty to assault with intent to kill.”
Rauch said the judge in the case recommended the maximum sentence for the men in the case, which was 10 years at the time, unless the prosecutor recommended it first.
“He would not recommend the maximum,” he said, noting the older of the Baker brothers did not receive the 10 years. “He got six years.”
Rauch’s dedication to Oklahoma Highway Patrol never wavered, even when it was unable to pay him for the work he was doing.
“Well, there was a period when we were out of money because there were too many men to write checks to,” he said. “There was a period of 60 days when we went without pay. When they started paying us again they just made the checks bigger to make up what we’d missed.”
Rauch began his service with the patrol in Miami in 1940. The next year, he was transferred to Muskogee due to a shortage there.
In 1942 he met his wife, Catherine May Ceretto, at McAlester Courthouse, where she was a court reporter. They married May 24, 1943.
He stayed in Muskogee until 1945, when he again was transferred, this time to Oklahoma City at patrol headquarters. In a letter dated July 1945, it lists Rauch’s pay as $2,700 a year.
Rauch also spent time with the patrol in Wewoka and Poteau. He received a letter of commendation Nov. 7, 1947, for “stimulating interest in driving training in the school district” where he was stationed.
In 1953 he was transferred to Okmulgee, where he earned $350 a month as a patrolman and $42 longevity pay monthly, which added up to $4,704 a year.
In May 1957, Rauch received a commendation for helping to identify a driver who had escaped from troopers, causing damage to their vehicle. The letter notes the suspect was fined $25 and ordered to pay a $138 repair bill.
The following month, Rauch was promoted to supervisor and transferred for the last time to District 6, which was located in the Enid area.
Rauch retired seven years later. In a letter dated Aug. 4, 1964, he showed his fondness for the organization with which he spent 24 years.
“To me it has always been an honor and privilege to wear the uniform of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol,” he wrote.
Rauch said he wanted to join the patrol when he heard about the organization through the media.
“I read the newspapers and listened to the radio and I came to believe it was a good organization,” he said. Adding with a laugh, “I was kind of sick and tired of the job I had.”
