Harry Pickler

Dr. **Harold George Pickler** M.D. (May 24, 1941 - January 8, 2022) was a veterinarian from Oklahoma City. He worked for the Oklahoma City Veterinary Clinic for fifty years, and worked five years for Sellers Veterinary Hospital.

## Childhood and education

Harry was born in Oklahoma City to financial advisor Fabian Pickler (1892 - 1967) and pilot Abby Pickler (1890 - 1981). He had an older brother, Warren (1921 - 1994), a reporter, and a nephew, Young (1946 - 2021), a restaurant worker.

Despite not having pets in his youth, Pickler wanted to become a vet when he grew up, having grown up watching nature shows on TV and reading many animal books. He served in the cancer awareness club at St. Juanita's High School, and in college, he joined the animal rights club. He graduated university in 1963 with an undergraduate degree in biology. He then attended veterinary school from 1963 to 1967. His advanced education was also proven useful, as it made him ineligible for the Vietnam draft.

## Career

In 1967, a frat brother hired Pickler for the position of Veterinarian at Oklahoma City Veterinary Clinic. He befriended most of his coworkers throughout the years. He was promoted to Sr. Veterinarian in 1973.

Pickler bought several pets in the early 1990s of his career. In 1991, he bought a betta fish named Jeff, a rabbit called Jose, a goldfish named Robin, and a boxer called Aliyah. A year later, he bought another goldfish, simply named Goldie. He let his fish go into the wild, feeling that they should swim in their natural habitat.

Pickler often presented Aliyah and Jose to his co-workers during meetings and coventional events for eco-friendly research purposes, and he also occasionally showed them to young students in school during the environmental events and festivities of the year.

In 2017, Pickler retired from Oklahoma City Veterinary Clinic. He then began working for Sellers Veterinary Hospital, serving for five years until his death. Pickler stated in an interview that he continued working despite being retired because he wanted a backup source of income in case he lost his retirement benefits for any reason.

## Personal life

In 1960, during his second year at university, Pickler met Heather Mayberry (born 1941), soon to be a lobbyist for Absolute Zero Systems. He helped her study for an exam in the class of Dr. Judge. Although she failed it, Mayberry appreciated Pickler's help. They began dating after that, and in 1969, heather proposed to Harry. He accepted and they married 1971. They went to Oktoberfest for their honeymoon. They had two sons together, Damien (born 1976), a biotechnologist for McDonagh Engineering, and Ezekiel (1981 - 1986). Ezekiel died at five years old, having succomed to a three year battle of whooping cough. Harry felt extreme guilt for Ezekiel's death, having forgotten to get him diagnosed and treated in time.

Despite speculation, Heather has claimed not to be related to archeologist and adventurer Trayvon Mayberry.

## Death

On January 8, 2022, Pickler was diagnosed with bunions. Unable to fight it with normal treatment, he sought a witch doctor, who fed him a snake. It killed him. An investigation on the witch doctor is currently underway. Pickler was survived by his son, wife, and granddaughter, Kim (born 2010).