“Your Good Neighbor” Wilford White was a respected and well-known auctioneer. His lifework spread across six states, dozens of sale barns, thousands of customers, and millions of cattle. His long and storied career began at the tender age of ten when he sold his first item at auction. This was a story he often recited, that of selling a rooster while standing on a street corner in Hobart, Oklahoma. From this humble beginning, he went on to become, arguably, the hardest working auctioneer in the business. For many years he sold a weekly circuit of livestock sales throughout Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arkansas. Wilford was the first auctioneer at numerous community cattle sales throughout western Oklahoma. He was a fixture at the Oklahoma National Stockyards for over 29 years tirelessly selling the cattle and hog sales. Eventually he became widely known as “Your Good Neighbor Wilford White," the voice of the Oklahoma National Stockyards daily market report broadcast on KFOR News Channel 4 and WKY radio throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s. By 1989, he had sold over 23 million head of cattle at the world’s largest stocker and feeder cattle market, the Oklahoma National Stockyards in Oklahoma City. The Stockyards City Main Street Association honored him in 2002 with “Wilford White Day” and commissioned a sidewalk plaque in his honor. Wilford was a former President of the Oklahoma State Auctioneers Association. He was recognized by his peers as a state champion auctioneer, and was a mentor and teacher to many other auctioneers. Later Wilford and wife Shelley enjoyed many years of success with an antique store, a real estate company, and an estate and auction business. He performed numerous benefit auctions that raised money for the Red Andrews Dinner, St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, the Murrah Building Memorial, and various other charities.
