Checotah lost not just a lifetime friend but an icon and legend when Myrtle Mae (Wallace) Frost passed away Sept. 26, at the age of 94.
Frost played basketball at Checotah from 1944 to 1948 and was an All-State selection several times, averaging 25-30 points a game. She even scored a staterecord of 61 points in a game that still stands as the school record today.
After Frost graduated from Checotah in 1948, she went on to play for the All-American Red Heads professional women’s basketball team from 1948-1953.
Being the talented and professional athlete that she was, Frost literally had a lifetime of accolades.
In 1968, Frost received the Jim Thorpe Award. Then in 2012 she was inducted into the Pro-Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. That same year she and the rest of the All-American Red Heads were also inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
In 2018, Frost was honored on International Women’s Day when she was treated to box seats at the Oklahoma City Thunder game. The Thunder recognized Frost for her contributions to women’s basketball as a video of her was shown on the arena’s big screens.
However, one of her most memorable moments happened last year when Checotah High School honored their second-ever Athletic Hall of Fame players at the Checotah Event Center. The inductees included: Gary Stidham, Larry Bookout, Greg Dixon, Tracy Scroggins and of course, the one and only, Myrtle Wallace Frost.
After the inductees received their personal plaques, Frost was pleasantly surprised by school officials announcing that the Checotah Event Center would now be named the Myrtle Frost Event Center after the pioneer Frost was to women’s sports. As tears flowed, Frost, fans and over 30 family members tried to take in the significance of that moment.
Frost had been such an inspirational icon throughout her life, both professionally and personally. She even ran a daycare from her home for over 50 years and was known as “Nanny Frost” to not just her 17 grandchildren, 32 greatgrandchildren and 5 great-great-grandchildren, but to all that grew up under the shadow of her incredible wing span.
Yes, Checotah has lost another icon, but Frost’s legacy lives on in the generations she inspired for decades.
