Bobbye (Kellenberger) Potter (BS ’68, Library Science; BA ’76, French; MA ’83, History) was born in Sperry, Oklahoma, and grew up in Cherryvale, Kansas, where her parents operated the Kellenberger Café, but her small-town roots did not keep her from seeing the world later in life.
As a child, Bobbye had an aptitude for learning and developed a lifelong love of reading and libraries. She graduated from high school at 16 after skipping a grade and earned a degree in home economics from a junior college. Years later, her thirst for learning inspired her to attend The University of Tulsa as a non-traditional student (a proud mother of four), earning undergraduate degrees in Library Science and French, and then a master’s degree in History.
Bobbye married Dewitt “Dee” Potter, a graduate of the University of Kansas, who made his career in the energy industry. Dee retired from Reading and Bates after a long tenure in which he served for a time as vice president of exploration and production. The couple made their homes in Amarillo, Texas, Calgary, Canada, Bartlesville, and Tulsa. Their time in Calgary inspired Bobbye’s interest in other countries and cultures.
In Tulsa, Bobbye not only earned degrees at TU, she also became a devoted community volunteer, actively participating in several charitable organizations, but focusing most of her attention on the Friends of the Tulsa City-County Library. In 2002, she was named the library’s Marcus Tower Volunteer of the Year. Bobbye had originally wanted to be a librarian, and she found her outlet for this interest in her 20 years of volunteer service to the library and as a member of the library’s board of directors. She also served on the Tulsa Opera Board and the Tulsa Historical Society Board.
At TU, Bobbye became involved with the McFarlin Fellows and the Nimrod International Journal of Prose and Poetry. She and Dee also supported the Ed Cadenhead Memorial Fund for History, the TU Annual Fund, the Golden Hurricane Champions Fund, and a campaign for Skelly Field. In 1998, Bobbye received the Henry Kendall College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Service Award.
Bobbye and Dee traveled the world, with Bobbye visiting 34 countries and all of the continents except for Antarctica. As they approached retirement, they began returning to their beloved Canadian Rockies each summer.
In 1986, Bobbye and Dee Potter established a planned gift that would fund an endowment to provide books and electronic media for McFarlin Library in the subject area of history.
Dewitt Potter died in 2004, and Bobbye passed away in 2016, but their endowment gift has sustained their caring support of McFarlin Library. The University of Tulsa is grateful for this philanthropic couple’s gift, which continues to fortify the resources available at McFarlin Library.
