The Standridge House

Contact Clifton Key (940.564.2979) for changes or corrections.

William Franklin (1892-1953) Standridge bought the lot for the house in 1928 and probably built the house that year. He had come to Olney in 1926 from Portales, New Mexico and was the owner of Blondy’s Auto Store on Main Street. His wife Pearl (1898-1995) came to Olney in 1930, assuming that was the year they married. Blondy served on the City Council was active in the Boots and Saddle Club, Masonry and the Methodist Church. After high school, Herman Mahler came to work for Blondy in the late 1940s.

Herman was the fraternal triplet of the Mahlers, and he married Marjorie Bailey. After Blondy’s death, Pearl was the owner, and Her man ran the business. Pearl married Frank Armstrong (1900-1986), an old Baylor County rancher and cowboy with which the Boots & Saddle Club membership of the Standridges fit.

In 1996, Kenneth Standridge, as executor of the estates, sold the house to the Lewis and Marilyn Farmer Trust, who turned around and sold the house to Ralph T. (1942-2021) (Chief) and Santos (Perez) Widner. Ralph was a native of New Mexico, and he had served in the U.S. Army. He came to Olney in 1967 and met and married Santos Perez at St. Teressa’s Catholic Church that same year. Ralph was employed as a Department of Defense Ci vilian Contractor, where he served as Assistant Station Manager of the Lake Kickapoo Station on F.M. 2178 15 miles north of Olney. He also owned and managed the Skyline Apartments, the Olney Radio Shack and worked on televisions. The Widner children were Bobby K., Michael D., and Christopher, with Chris most widely known in the area for his D.J. talent.

In 2015 Ralph sold his interest in the house to his son Christopher, and Santos followed suit in 2018. Also, in 2018 Chris and wife Megan sold the house to Rebeka Miller, who in 2021 sold to JZC Residential Holdings, LLC to use the property for rental income.