W.D. “Jim” Finney was born in Texas and came with his parents to Fort Cobb, Oklahoma, at the age of 10. One year later, the family moved to Anadarko where Finney graduated from high school before graduating from Oklahoma A&M College (now Oklahoma State University) in Stillwater in 1923. While at OSU, he was a member of the college’s livestock judging team and track team. He served as the county extension agent at Alva before becoming a partner in an automobile agency in Fort Cobb. In 1933 he became a cashier at the bank in Fort Cobb and rose to its presidency before retiring in 1966. He then opened an insurance agency and operated a successful cattle ranch with son, Wray. Finney was a member of such groups as the Board of Regents of Oklahoma State University and the Oklahoma State Health Council. He was inducted into OSU’s Half Century Club before becoming president pro tempore of the Oklahoma Historical Society in 1977.