Eastern Oklahoma County, Oklahoma

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1910-1930 US Census Record

Photo from National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Inc.

Paul Glee Waner, aka "Big Poison", was born April 16, 1903 in Harrah, Oklahoma and died August 29, 1965 in Sarasota, Florida. He is buried at Manasota Memorial Park, Bradenton, Manatee County, Florida. Plot: Section L, Lot 164, Space 1.

Paul and Lloyd's father, a former professional ballplayer himself, encouraged them. Paul once commented, however, "Our sister Alma was the best hitter in the family."

Paul attended one year at Harrah High School and ultimately graduated from Central High School in Oklahoma City. The little league park in Harrah, Oklahoma, is named for the brothers.

Paul threw and batted left-handed. He made his major league debut April 13, 1926. He played for Pittsburgh Pirates (1926-1940), Brooklyn Dodgers (1941, 1943-1944), Boston Braves (1941-1942), New York Yankees (1943-1944). On June 19, 1942 he lined the ball off Forbes's right-field wall to become the sixth player ever to reach 3,000 hits. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1952. Paul Waner's Hall of Fame Plaque.

Daily Oklahoman
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
March 4, 1965 page 63

Paul Waner Seriously Ill
Sarasota, Fla. - Paul Waner, the Hall of Fame outfielder known as "Big Poison" during his 20 years with the Pittsburgh Pirates, was in serious condition in a hospital Wednesday.

Waner, in his 60s, was admitted three weeks ago with pulmonary emphysema and it has become complicated with pneumonia.

Waner, from Harrah, Oklahoma, led the National League in batting three times, 1927, 1934, and 1936, and his 20 year average was .333.

Daily Oklahoman
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
August 30, 1965, page 22

Oklahoma's Paul Waner Is Dead

Sarasota, Fla - Paul "Big Poison" Waner, member of Baseball's Hall of Fame and one of the games greatest hitters, died at his home Sunday. He was 62.

[article continues at length about his baseball career]

Paul was born at Harrah on April 16, 1903. He is survived by his widow, Mildred; a son, Paul Waner, Jr., Fort Worth; his mother, Mrs. Edda L. Waner, Harrah; his brother, Lloyd; a sister, Mrs. Ruth Formby, Harrah; and two grandchildren.

The body is at Toale Brothers Funeral Home in Sarasota. Funeral plans are incomplete.

Photo from Find A Grave

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Photo from National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Inc.

Lloyd James Waner, aka "Little Poison", was born March 16, 1906 in Harrah, Oklahoma and died July 22, 1982 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He is buried at Rose Hill Burial Park, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, Plot: Section 11, Space 2 NEC, Lot 186.

Lloyd was a McLoud High School graduate and attended three semesters at East Central State University in Ada before going into professional baseball.

Lloyd batted left-handed and threw right-handed. He made his major league debut April 12, 1927. He played for Pittsburgh Pirates (1927-1941, 1944-1945), Boston Braves (1941), Cincinnati Reds (1941), Philadelphia Phillies (1942) and Brooklyn Dodgers (1944). He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1967. Lloyd Waner's Hall of Fame Plaque.

Photo from Find A Grave

Photo from Daily Oklahoman

Lloyd (right) and Paul Waner pose together in 1929.

Daily Oklahoman
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
July 23, 1982 page 23

Hall of Famer Loyd Waner, 76, Dies

Lloyd Waner, who left the Oklahoma prairie to become a major league baseball Hall of Famer, died at 2:15 pm Thrusday at Presbyterian Hospital of complications relating to emphysema. He was 76.

Waner is survived by his wife, the former Francis Mae Snyder; a daughter, Lydia Freeman of Oklahoma City; a son, Lloyd Waner Jr. of Oklahoma City and five grandchildren. Paul, "Big Poison" Waner, the other half of the only brother combination elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, died in 1965.

Funeral services are scheduled for 11am Saturday at Hahn-Cook-Street and Draper Funeral Chapel. Burial will be at Rose Hill Cemetery.

[article continues at length about his baseball career]

Daily Oklahoman
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
July 23, 1982 page 23 [photo]

Collision Sped Waner's Road to Majors

...The Waner brothers grew up near Harrah, on a farm their father O. L. "Ote" Waner claimed in the Land Rush. Their work was dawn to dusk and always hard, and baseball was their only entertainment. Ote Waner had been a good ballplayer in his own time and passed on the love - and talent - for the game to his sons....

Additional Daily Oklahoman articles found about Lloyd &or Paul Waner:
August 1, 1982 page 35
July 25, 1982 page 29
August 9, 1981 Section B, page 38
July 17, 1981 page 19
July 30, 1967 page 116 (photo)
July 25, 1967 page 51 (photo)
July 23, 1967 page 29 (photo)
April 16, 1967 page 159
March 15, 1967 page 41
January 30, 1967 page 15 (photo)
March 5, 1965 page 31
February 25, 1962 page 103

Photo from Daily Oklahoman

Daily Oklahoman
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
April 8, 1983 page 76 [photo]

Retiree recalls Polish Harrah

Harrah - Ruth Formby... In 1924 Ruth and her brother Lloyd Waner entered East Central State Teacher's College at Ada...Lloyd spent a year at Ada, then went into baseball...another brother, Paul Waner...both are in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Her brother, Lloyd, introduced Ruth to Minor Formby, a pitcher for the San Francisco Seals...their marriage in 1928...1943 Minor opened Harrah's first cleaning and processing shop...

Daily Oklahoman
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
October 2, 1961 page 4

Death Claims Arthur Waner
Harrah - Services for Arthur Waner, 79, Harrah resident for 52 years, will be at 2 pm Monday in the Harrah Methodist Church. Burial will be in Memory Lane Cemetery under direction of Wilson Funeral Homes.

Waner died Saturday following a long illness.

Born at Huntsville, Ill., Waner came to Oklahoma in the run of '89 with his parents. He was a former deputy sheriff of Harrah and retired in 1953 from the oil supply business.

An uncle of Lloyd and Paul Waner of major league baseball fame, Waner played baseball with Harrah's Keen-Kutters amateur team, early in his life.

Surviving are his wife, Laura, of the home; a daughter, Mrs. Trudie Brown, Vallejo, Calif., and two sons, Virgil, Borger, Texas and Travest A., Harrah.

Sources November 26, 2003:

Continental Lodge #287 F&AM
Daily Oklahoman
FindAGrave
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Inc.
Shawnee News-Star
The Baseball Page