A confidential settlement approved in Garfield and Kingfisher County district courts Wednesday in the estate of Raymond Kokojan means that Hennessey schools, students and teachers will probably enjoy some of its benefits as soon as this fall.

His estate, referred to as “substantial” by his bank, was left to the Hennessey Educational Foundation to manage. It reportedly included four farms and oil and gas interests.

The foundation board learned of Kokojan’s wishes from a Stride Bank officer in July 2018, shortly after his death, but the foundation and school have been in litigation with his second wife and her two children since October 2018.

Family members alleged in their court challenge that he suffered from dementia and lacked the capacity to legally amend his trust.

His amended trust specifically excluded his second wife, Judith Kokojan, from any financial provisions after his death because “substantial gifts have been made to her during my life,” according to the trust language.

The two were married in February 2011 in Enid, and Kokojan amended his trust to give his entire estate to the school foundation in January 2012.

Prior to Kokojan’s amendment, the trust’s income and principal was to be divided equally between his wife and her two children.

All parties reached an agreement in a March 4 mediation according to court documents, and Judith Kokojan and her children dismissed their original claims Wednesday.

“The litigation has been confidentially resolved and the foundation is excited to finally be able to speak publicly about this gift,” said Jo Elaine Matousek, president and founder of the foundation. She said they are ready “to get about the business of following Raymond’s directives.”

Kokojan attends ’97 reunion

Kokojan attended the foundation’s All-School Reunion in 1997 that celebrated the school’s 100th year, and asked Matousek “lots of questions” about the foundation’s missions.

“Ray valued education,” she said about the HHS 1945 graduate who was valedictorian of his class, but never walked across the stage. Instead, he left school that March and served in the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II. His parents, Louis and Lucille Felder Kokojan, received his diploma at commencement in May.

Kokojan attended the University of Oklahoma, worked in management for 15 years then returned home to farm.

He and his first wife, Mary Teresa Glaviano, were married in 1955 in Polk County, Florida, and they lived half of the year in Florida and half in Hennessey until her death in 2006. They had one son, Raymond (Kokie) Kokojan Jr., who died in 1973.

The elder Kokojan died June 11, 2018. He was 92.

Foundation board members

“The foundation is eternally grateful to Ray Kokojan and the trust he has placed in the foundation’s hands to administer his estate in accordance with his wishes,” Matousek said.

Foundation members will soon work “to iron out the details of administering and distributing the funds,” Matousek said.

Other foundation members are Dr. Samantha Moery, John Peach, Flor Velasco, Tim Taylor, Kay Fulkerson, Keith Meek, Amber Koehn and Chandra Seiger.

The Hennessey school board authorized Superintendent Dr. Mike Woods to sign agreements on behalf of the board last month after an executive session with school attorney Phyllis Walta.

Use of funds

Annual funds to the foundation may be used for:

• Support of academic programs, classes or instruction at all Hennessey schools (excluding athletic or marching band programs as part of the teaching curriculum or as “after-hours” extracurricular programs).

• Pay for tuition or fees for students attending Hennessey Public Schools to attend votech programs.

• Scholarship programs to be known as the Ray Kokojan Scholarship Fund to provide educational scholarships on an objective and non-discriminatory basis to graduates of Hennessey High School through the Foundation. No student shall receive more than $5,000 in scholarships from the fund in any single year.

Scholarships will be paid directly to the institution. The scholarships shall be awarded by a selection committee as determined by the foundation for attendance at any duly accredited institution of higher education or vocational school which would lead to qualifying the eligible recipient for a profession or gainful occupation.

Scholarships shall be awarded first on scholarship and second on financial need, and may be renewable for up to four years at the discretion of the foundation selection committee as long as the recipient remains in good academic standing with the educational institution.

• Covering the costs of participation in the Citizen and Constitution programs, administered by the Center for Civic Education, to also include the We the People Competition for high school students.