James Clark Argo
1938-2017
Longtime Edmond resident and photojournalist James C. “Jim” Argo died early Saturday morning. Argo was born in Wichita, Kansas, January 9, 1938, to Harold Francis and Eloise Clark Argo. At the age of 6 weeks he moved with his parents to Texas, living in Houston and Fort Worth before settling in Amarillo. He was a graduate of Amarillo High School and attended Amarillo Junior College and Texas Tech University where he majored in journalism.
While in school he worked for the Lubbock Avalanche Journal and later, the Amarillo Globe-News. In 1963 he was hired to work for The Daily Oklahoman and Oklahoma City Times, now known as The Oklahoman. During his long career he won many state, national and international awards for his photography. He was author or co-author of seven books as well as a major contributor to many others. He also freelanced for numerous magazines and periodicals.
One of the earliest photographers on the scene when the Murrah Building was bombed in Oklahoma City, he served as Chief Photographer for The Oklahoman, during the weeks and months of coverage, a position he again held when he retired from the paper in 2005. His greatest pleasure during his career was traveling the state of Oklahoma capturing and preserving images of the people, places and events for future generations. His private collection of over 20,000 images has been donated to the Oklahoma Historical Society.
In 1997 he was inducted into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame and in 2011 to the Oklahoma Historians Hall of Fame.
Survivors include his wife of 52 years, Burnis George Argo, son Jimmy Argo and wife Stephanie and children Katy, Claire and Jameson’s son, John Argo, all of Edmond, and fiancé Megan Barth, Oklahoma City; a niece, Beth Harvey McNeill, Lubbock, Texas, and her family and a number of cousins in Kansas. He was preceded in death by his sister Judy Argo Harvey, Amarillo.
A Memorial Service will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday at the First Christian Church. Services are under the direction of Matthews Funeral Home and Cremation Service, Edmond.
Beloved Burnis, Jimmy and John, and the rest of the Argo family,
Our hearts are broken, but our spirits are lifted recalling our many fun times with Jim and y’all.
Our camaraderie, fellowship, adventures and more continue to go forward.
Wishing we could be at your side at Jim’s celebration.
You and Jim will be in our thoughts and prayers.
Jim will be with us, forever!
Much love,
Felice and Pete Feldman
San Antonio, Texas
Burnis and all:
My thoughts and prayers are with you during this difficult time.
Jim was a big part of my professional life. He and I were together on the morning of the 1995 federal building bombing. We were separated when a gas line blew up between us behind the water resources board. I will never forget his driving and all the trees and vehicles we missed while driving downtown to get to the scene. None of us knew what was ahead of us.
Jim was an excellent photographer and I am glad I had the opportunity to work with him for all those years and all of our Edmond conversation that followed.
I bet Jim and Ann DeFrange and Ann Kelley are sitting on a cloud, laughing and talking about old times. I will miss him as I have missed them.
Diana Baldwin
Burnis and family. I am so sorry for your loss. Jim was a special person and will be missed by so many people. Hugs and prayers to each of you and I’m so grateful to have know him. Marsha BaxterLPN