At age 27, after examining her back, a doctor told her she would be in a wheelchair by the time she was 40 years old.

He was wrong.

Fearless and full of adventure, Jane Hightower is now 88 years old and still not bound to a wheelchair. Five back surgeries in the last 10 years have slowed her down, but she still likes to go.

Her longtime friend and fellow traveler Betty McKinnis said Jane was always ready to go.

“If anybody said anything about going anywhere,” McKinnis said, “Jane would say, ‘Where do you want to go?’”

After the doctor’s diagnosis, Hightower began walking every morning for exercise and to stave off more back problems.

She saw another lady walking, she said, and they decided to walk together. Soon more would join and eventually there were 10 women walking two to three miles throughout Kingfisher every morning at 5:30.

It would be the beginning of “the dawn patrol” and long time friendships.

They exercised, enjoyed each other’s company and “solved a lot of problems,” Hightower said.

One Kingfisher resident commented to Hightower that when her windows were open in the spring, she could hear the dawn patrol three blocks away.

Hightower and her late husband, Parker, moved to Kingfisher in 1953 a few days after they were married in her hometown of Shelbina, Mo.

Several years later, they bought the home on South Seventh Street that she continues to live in today. Together they raised two boys – Joe the oldest and Lance the youngest, and three daughters – Kelly, Monica (Monti) and Mandi. Hightower also has

Hightower also has 13 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.

As time went by and the group of ladies on dawn patrol grew, Charlene Reiswig decided they should do something special each year and she would always dream up things to do, Hightower said.

One of their first adventures would be a trip into the Grand Canyon on the backs of mules. A total of 12 ladies, many in their 50s, including Hightower, enjoyed the trip together.

For Hightower’s 60th birthday, her daughters gifted her with a skydiving adventure.

Hightower and four friends took to the sky on a Saturday morning, each paired with a professional skydiver for a tandem jump.

“Out on the wing of the airplane, the instructor said we will jump at the count of three, but it was really, one…two and you’re gone,” she said.

“I always wanted to jump out of an airplane,” Hightower said. “It was everything I ever dreamed it would be.”

Another excursion took them to Albuquerque, N.M., to the annual hot air balloon festival. Fifteen women split up to take rides with some in the larger gondolas holding about 10 people and others in smaller gondolas holding only about four people.

Having ridden in both, Hightower said, the larger gondolas were not as fun as the small, but everyone had a good time.

After some of the trips, pictures would be passed around and inevitably would be enlarged and land on the back wall of the office at work, Hightower said.

For 12 years Hightower was the Kingfisher County Clerk and worked at the election board for 12 years before that.

Her involvement in the community also included many years of service at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic School.

A boys basketball program had been proposed at the school and Hightower felt there should be a girls team if there was going to be a boys team.

No coaching volunteers stepped forward, so Hightower became the girls basketball coach and remained in that position for 20 years on a volunteer basis.

The children didn’t know much about basketball in the beginning, she said. “We started with drills and slowly, little by little they got better every year,” Hightower said.

She also taught band for eight years, assisted by Nancy Hasenfratz the first year. She fell into that position as well.

The band teacher would occasionally ask her to fill in when he was gone. When he unexpectedly died, Hightower took over as band teacher in a volunteer capacity, until three years ago when she stepped down after suffering a neck injury.

Through the years Hightower became acquainted and close friends with three ladies in the community - Betty McKinnis, Bonnie Ruhl and Dixie Stake.

The foursome went on many exploits, creating fun memories.

Anything athletic or adventurous were right up Jane’s alley, McKinnis said.

When the group went to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Hightower went parasailing, while her friends watched from the beach.

On a snow skiing trip to Colorado, Hightower accidentally took the wrong lift and had to make her way down a slope beyond her expertise, but it led to a love for skiing, she said.

“I couldn’t wait to go back up,” Hightower said.

Then there was the time the group went on a five-day excursion of white water river rafting in Colorado. Hightower assumed the point position on the raft, taking on the initial force of the waves.

“Jane was up front during the rapids,” McKinnis said. “Things like that didn’t scare her, but I was hanging on for dear life.”

It was an adventure and a lot of fun, Hightower said.

The foursome also took a trip to England, Scotland and Ireland.

“Jane has been such an interesting and wonderful friend,” McKinnis said. “She is always so thoughtful and kind.”

Most of Hightower’s adventures were with friends because Parker was content to stay at home, but she did convince him to go to Alaska for their 50th wedding anniversary, she said.

She also took all the grandchildren on a trip of their choosing – Washington, D.C., Alaska, Cancun, Mexico and a Disney cruise – to name a few.

She has also traveled to Hong Kong, Taiwan and Rome multiple times, as well as Bali.

When asked if there was anything she wanted to do, but hasn’t, she said she would have liked to go to Singapore and fly in a biplane.

In her spare time, Hightower enjoys quilting and previously made stained glass, which is evident in the many stained glass windows in her home.

She also loves decorating for holidays, especially Christmas with her 300 plus Santa collection.

Her next-door neighbors and close friends, Joe and Melba McLain described Hightower as “awesome, generous, adventurous and fun.”

“She puts a smile on your face,” Melba said. “She is such a good friend.”

Hightower has had an adventurous life and has made lots of lasting friendships in her 67 years in Kingfisher.

“I’ve had a good life,” Hightower said. “The Lord has been good to me.”