Tom J. Dugger

Tom Dugger died in Stillwater, Oklahoma, on Monday 5 October 2026, aged 77. His family said in a press release that he died from advanced Parkinson's disease, which he had lived with for several years.

The Stillwater News Press reported his death the same day, and NonDoc and other Oklahoma outlets followed. Randy Grellner, who succeeded him in the Senate, called him "an absolute gentleman with a servant heart". Senate President Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton, who entered the Legislature with him in 2016, said he was "a good man, a trusted friend and a true servant of his community". Former senator Dewayne Pemberton described him as "intelligent, thoughtful, kind and fiercely loyal".

A celebration of life was arranged for 3 p.m. on Friday 9 October 2026 at First Christian Church, 411 West Matthews Avenue, Stillwater, with Oklahoma Supreme Court Chief Justice Dustin Rowe, a longtime friend of the family, due to speak. Strode Funeral Home in Stillwater handled the arrangements.

Tommy Jack Dugger was born on 10 November 1948. He grew up in northeast Oklahoma and graduated from Nowata High School in 1967.

He went on to Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, where he earned a degree in accounting. As a student he was a member of Phi Kappa Phi, the academic honour society, and Beta Alpha Psi, the honour society for accounting and finance students. His loyalty to the university lasted the rest of his life: years later, as a senator, he was known for wearing an orange tie at the Capitol, and he served on the advisory board of the OSU School of Accounting.

Dugger began his working life in Oklahoma City with Peat, Marwick, one of the large national accounting firms, and then became audit and tax manager of the Oklahoma Publishing Company. In 1979 he moved with his family to Stillwater, where he became financial adviser and accountant for Aufleger and Garrett. In 1986 he set up his own practice, Dugger and Co., in Stillwater.

His professional service included seats on the Oklahoma Board of Accountancy and the Oklahoma Society of CPAs. He was named an OSU Distinguished Accounting Alumnus in 2005, received the Oklahoma Society of CPAs Public Service Award in 2002, and was honoured as a United States Small Business Advocate of the Year.

He served two three-year terms on the Stillwater City Council, including as vice mayor, and was a regent of Northern Oklahoma College.

In November 2015 he was elected to the Oklahoma Senate for District 21, succeeding the retiring Jim Halligan, and he took office in 2016. When he arrived the district covered all of Payne County; after redistricting it reached into Creek County. A member of the Appropriations and Budget Committee, he chaired its Subcommittee on Select Agencies, served as vice chair of General Government, and sat on the Education and the Agriculture and Wildlife committees. According to his family, his legislative priorities were college affordability, adequate funding for all levels of education and textbook tax exemptions. The State Chamber gave him a perfect score for supporting economic growth, job creation and business development, and the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education presented him with their Distinguished Service Award in 2023.

In September 2023 he announced that he would not run again, amid health challenges. He left the Senate in November 2024 and was succeeded by Randy Grellner.

Dugger and his wife, Ann, were both graduates of Oklahoma State University and made their home in Stillwater from 1979. He was a veteran of the Oklahoma National Guard and enjoyed the company of his friends at the Stillwater American Legion.

He was a familiar figure in Stillwater civic life. He was a past president of the Stillwater Community Foundation and the Stillwater Exchange Club, a past treasurer and executive committee member of the Stillwater Chamber of Commerce, and a graduate of the first Leadership Stillwater class. He served on the board of the Stillwater chapter of the American Red Cross, was an ambassador for OSU Global, and sat on the boards of Matthew 25:40 Mission and Turning Point Ranch, a therapeutic riding centre for children with special needs. He was a member of First Christian Church in Stillwater, helped with the activities of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, and enjoyed the Friday Morning Methodist Men's Group.

Dugger is remembered in Oklahoma as one of the Senate's financial minds, a certified public accountant who brought decades of audit and tax experience to the appropriations process and used it to argue for steady funding of schools, colleges and universities. In Stillwater he is remembered just as much for the long list of boards, charities and clubs he served, from the Community Foundation to a riding centre for children with disabilities. Colleagues from both his first Senate term and his last spoke of his kindness and loyalty as much as his work.