Individual Details
Irene Malcolm
(20 Jul 1910 - 25 Oct 1984)
Holy City Artist Produced Other Works
by Mark A. Hutchison, Published: August 19, 1990
LAWTON Those who knew Irene Malcolm describe her as eccentric, shy and humble.
Financing for her work as an artist, they say, came mostly from a $25-a-week job sweeping offices in a downtown Lawton building.
She seldom accepted portrait or mural commissions.
Malcolm, who died in 1984 at the age of 73, is best remembered for her artistic contribution to the World Chapel at the Holy City of the Wichitas. But the majority of her sketches, portraits and crayon drawings are tucked away in the dusty attic and closets of her Lawton home.
Born in 1910 in Lawton, Malcolm was one of four children of Dr. John and Lottie Eubanks Malcolm. The Malcolms arrived in Indian Territory in 1880.
Around 1930 Malcolm and her older sister, Ruth, traveled Europe.
When they returned to Lawton, they brought with them more than memories.
"Their father sent them both to Europe. That's where they got the ideas for our house," said Arville Sanders, who was married to Ruth.
"We started building the house in 1939 with an FHA loan and moved in in 1940. The honeycomb stone came from the (Wichita) mountains north of Lake Lawtonka."
Sanders, 87, lives in Lake Jackson, Texas, with a nephew. The Lawton home is for sale.
Malcolm graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in botany. She studied art at the Fine Arts center in Colorado Springs and also was a pupil of Leonard Goode, an OU art instructor.
Her training allowed her to develop many talents, Sanders said.
Ceramic lamps and figures she fired in a backyard kiln, today adorn the tables and shelves inside the home. Maple wall cabinets in the living room are roughly carved into grapes and vines.
Portraits of people in her life are scattered throughout the two-story interior. There's one of Ruth, a niece in a red dress, and an unidentified boy eating an apple.
On the floor of a bedroom lies a painting of a sink containing a pail with a mop handle protruding toward an open window. On the back of the painting is scrawled in pencil, "Kitchen Sink ... 1938."
Stacks of crayon drawings on cardboard also are left behind, as well as pencil sketches on yellowed paper.
Anita Miears, a longtime neighbor, said she first met Malcolm in the mid-1960s.
"She did more of the crayon work after I got to know her," Miears said. "I never saw a lot of her paintings till after she died."
A quiet and sensitive woman, Malcolm often taught ceramics and painting to neighborhood children. In many of her works are grapes and leaves, perhaps a symbol of her love of nature.
The inscription carved on a wooden board now virtually hidden by an overgrown bush in the back yard may best depict her unselfish attitude.
" ... Tongues in trees ... sermons in stones, and good in everything."
Malcolm never married, although one man had a tremendous influence on her life.
"Her spirits would always come up when she saw Rev. (Anthony Mark Wallock, Holy City founder) Wallock," Sanders said. "When he passed away (in 1948) she just sort of lost interest."
Wallock provided ideas and approved Malcolm's work at the Holy City.
She completed her seven-year task in the chapel in 1952. Because of a bad back, she only returned to it once in 27 years.
"She had a lot of disappointments. She said water was leaking on some of the paintings," Sanders said.
Malcolm did little in her later years, Sanders said. She rarely left her home.
Her work remains, however. Most of it in good condition.
Holy City executive director David Lott wants to build an Irene Malcolm museum near the chapel. Sanders embraces the idea.
"I would like to see everything restored," Sanders said.
by Mark A. Hutchison, Published: August 19, 1990
LAWTON Those who knew Irene Malcolm describe her as eccentric, shy and humble.
Financing for her work as an artist, they say, came mostly from a $25-a-week job sweeping offices in a downtown Lawton building.
She seldom accepted portrait or mural commissions.
Malcolm, who died in 1984 at the age of 73, is best remembered for her artistic contribution to the World Chapel at the Holy City of the Wichitas. But the majority of her sketches, portraits and crayon drawings are tucked away in the dusty attic and closets of her Lawton home.
Born in 1910 in Lawton, Malcolm was one of four children of Dr. John and Lottie Eubanks Malcolm. The Malcolms arrived in Indian Territory in 1880.
Around 1930 Malcolm and her older sister, Ruth, traveled Europe.
When they returned to Lawton, they brought with them more than memories.
"Their father sent them both to Europe. That's where they got the ideas for our house," said Arville Sanders, who was married to Ruth.
"We started building the house in 1939 with an FHA loan and moved in in 1940. The honeycomb stone came from the (Wichita) mountains north of Lake Lawtonka."
Sanders, 87, lives in Lake Jackson, Texas, with a nephew. The Lawton home is for sale.
Malcolm graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in botany. She studied art at the Fine Arts center in Colorado Springs and also was a pupil of Leonard Goode, an OU art instructor.
Her training allowed her to develop many talents, Sanders said.
Ceramic lamps and figures she fired in a backyard kiln, today adorn the tables and shelves inside the home. Maple wall cabinets in the living room are roughly carved into grapes and vines.
Portraits of people in her life are scattered throughout the two-story interior. There's one of Ruth, a niece in a red dress, and an unidentified boy eating an apple.
On the floor of a bedroom lies a painting of a sink containing a pail with a mop handle protruding toward an open window. On the back of the painting is scrawled in pencil, "Kitchen Sink ... 1938."
Stacks of crayon drawings on cardboard also are left behind, as well as pencil sketches on yellowed paper.
Anita Miears, a longtime neighbor, said she first met Malcolm in the mid-1960s.
"She did more of the crayon work after I got to know her," Miears said. "I never saw a lot of her paintings till after she died."
A quiet and sensitive woman, Malcolm often taught ceramics and painting to neighborhood children. In many of her works are grapes and leaves, perhaps a symbol of her love of nature.
The inscription carved on a wooden board now virtually hidden by an overgrown bush in the back yard may best depict her unselfish attitude.
" ... Tongues in trees ... sermons in stones, and good in everything."
Malcolm never married, although one man had a tremendous influence on her life.
"Her spirits would always come up when she saw Rev. (Anthony Mark Wallock, Holy City founder) Wallock," Sanders said. "When he passed away (in 1948) she just sort of lost interest."
Wallock provided ideas and approved Malcolm's work at the Holy City.
She completed her seven-year task in the chapel in 1952. Because of a bad back, she only returned to it once in 27 years.
"She had a lot of disappointments. She said water was leaking on some of the paintings," Sanders said.
Malcolm did little in her later years, Sanders said. She rarely left her home.
Her work remains, however. Most of it in good condition.
Holy City executive director David Lott wants to build an Irene Malcolm museum near the chapel. Sanders embraces the idea.
"I would like to see everything restored," Sanders said.
Events
| Birth | 20 Jul 1910 | Lawton, Comanche County, Oklahoma | |||
| Census (family)-shared | 6 Jan 1920 | (Dr. John W. Malcolm and Charlotte J. Eubanks) Lawton, Comanche County, Oklahoma |  |  | |
| Census (family)-shared | 12 Apr 1930 | (Dr. John W. Malcolm and Charlotte J. Eubanks) Lawton, Comanche County, Oklahoma | | | |
| Census-shared | 10 Apr 1940 | (Ruth Irene Malcom) Lawton, Comanche County, Oklahoma | | | |
| Census (family)-shared | 5 Apr 1950 | (Arville Virgil Sanders and Ruth Irene Malcom) Lawton, Comanche County, Oklahoma | | | |
| Death | 25 Oct 1984 | Comanche County, Oklahoma | |||
| Burial | Highland Cemetery, Lawton, Comanche County, Oklahoma | | |
Families
| Father | Dr. John W. Malcolm (1870 - 1944) |
| Mother | Charlotte J. Eubanks (1872 - 1956) |
| Sibling | Thomas DeWitt Malcolm (1896 - 1971) |
| Sibling | Dwight L. Malcolm (1900 - 1990) |
| Sibling | Ruth Irene Malcom (1907 - 1981) |
Notes
Census (family)-shared
John W Malcolm Husband M 49 years Arkansas - Physician, general practiceLottie J Malcolm Wife F 47 years Texas
T De Witt Malcolm Son M 20 years Oklahoma - Mechanic, automobile
Dwight L Malcolm Son M 19 years Oklahoma
Ruth Malcolm Daughter F 12 years Oklahoma
Irene Malcolm Daughter F 9 years Oklahoma
Census (family)-shared
John W Malcalm Husband M 60 years Arkansas - Doctor, medicalLattie J Malcalm Wife F 58 years Texas
Ruth Malcalm Daughter F 23 years Oklahoma - Teacher, college
Irene Malcalm Daughter F 19 years Oklahoma
Census-shared
Ruth Malcomb head F 33 Oklahoma - Teacher, public schoolJane Malcomb sister and partner F 30 Oklahoma - Teacher, public school
Lottie J Malcomb Mother F 68 Texas
Census (family)-shared
Arville V Sanders Husband M 47 years Okla - Proprietor, Retail Hardware StoreRuth M Sanders Wife F 43 years Okla
Susan J Sanders Daughter F 4 years Okla
Lattie J Malcolm mother-in-law F 78 years Texas
Irene Malcolm sister-in-law F 39 years Okla - Artist and ceramics at home
Burial
Plot: Block 43, Lot 74Endnotes
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