Lloyd E. Rader Park

Lloyd E. Rader Park. . Public servant, welfare reformer and national policy advisor, Lloyd E. Rader, Sr. skillfully directed Oklahoma's Department of Human Services for thirty-one years. This Park honors his exceptional efforts to help those in need and the key role which he played in building a strong foundation for the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center., He was born in 1906 near Hinton in Oklahoma Territory. He was a successful businessman in Weatherford where he attended Southwestern Oklahoma State University. He was married to the former Ruth Scheiner who was a constant source of strength and encouragement for him., Active in Bill Murray's campaign for Governor, Rader was appointed by the Governor as Custer County Relief Superintendent. In 1933 he moved to Oklahoma City and worked for the Oklahoma Tax Commission until 1939. During that time he educated himself about state government and public administration., In 1951, Governor Johnston Murray appointed him state director of the Department of Public Welfare, later the Department of Human Services. He used the 2% sales tax which was earmarked for public welfare to masterfully match federal funds and created state of the art institutions and programs to help the mentally ill, juvenile offenders, the elderly, and the physically challenged. He also set aside sales tax funds to build a new Children's Hospital in the 1970s and opened it free of any debt. During financial emergencies, he also helped fund University Hospital and helped support the entire Health Sciences Center., One of the most gifted administrators in the state's history, he often accompanied then Governor David Boren on his surprise inspection tours of state facilities in the 1970s and amazed the Governor by being able to call most staff members, children, and others at institutions by their first names., Rader also exerted great influence at the national level. He helped U.S. Senator Robert S. Kerr develop and pass the Kerr-Mills Bill which paved the way for later enactment of Medicaid and Medicare., When Rader died in 1986 he had served longer as a state agency head than any other person in state history. His deep concern for others left a lasting legacy.