Dee Wiebener receives Regents Business Partnership Excellence Award

Alva's Dee Wiebener has worked in the retail clothing business for over 25 years. She was recently honored by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education. She received a Regents Business Partnership Excellence Award at a luncheon at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond.

Owner of LaDeeda clothing store on the north side of the square in Alva, Wiebener has provided thousands of dollars worth of new clothing to Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva. The clothes are for the Teacher's Closet, which was founded in 2017 by NWOSU professors Dr. Jen Oswald and Dr. Jennifer Page for education majors. Over the last 18 months the program expanded to serve students in other majors and provided over $15,000 of clothes to help students build a wardrobe at no charge.

The closet program gratefully accepts donations of clothes that would take students from interviews to the workplace. Besides women's clothing, donations of men's suits and other professional looks for men are needed.

Students get to select their clothes from the closet for free. Northwestern's Teacher's Closet program was started to help supplement the wardrobe of education majors as they face steep fees for certification exams, background checks and licensures, etc.

Wiebener speaks to students in the classroom on occasion about dressing for success. "They wear their Eskimo Jo's pj bottoms to class. You can't dress like that for an interview or to the workplace." She said the young women shouldn't dress like they are going out for Saturday night for an interview.

"Students need to make their clothes go further," she said. Explaining, she said they can use one blazer and get different shirts, slacks and skirts to go with it for multiple outfits.

When approached about this project by Northwestern professors, Wiebener said, "That's something I'd really like to do." She's donated to the university closet three or four years. "I don't do as much as they do," Wiebener said of the Northwestern people in charge of the closet. "It's a really neat deal."

Fashion retail is in Wiebener's blood as she is the daughter of JaDeanna Farris who owned JaDeanna's clothing store on the west side of the square 28 years. She worked in the store with her mother some and eventually bought the business from her in 2007 and renamed it LaDeeda. Two years ago, she moved the store to its current location on the north side of the square "with the help of so many who volunteered to help us."

Wiebener's late mother-in-law June Wiebener started and owned the Daisy Village on the north side of the square for 26 years. Wiebener worked there some and eventually she and her sister-in-law Joy (Wiebener) Meier bought the Daisy together, but eventually Wiebener went back to help her mother at JaDeanna's.

Wiebener said, "I appreciate my girls who help me at the store – and the support of my husband Jack." Those women are Patty Shoulders, Becky Pingelton and Kayla Wilson. Wiebener said she's had others help through the years who were excellent and she thanks them all.

At the Regents Business Partnership Excellence Award Luncheon, Jack and Dee were also recognized for branching out to other NWOSU efforts. They've helped the rodeo team with valuable resources to cover many unmet needs.