Dennis Furr, longtime Oklahoma high school softball coach, dies at 49

Longtime Oklahoma high school softball coach Dennis Furr died Friday morning surrounded by his family and friends after a battle with cancer. He was 49.

Furr's coaching career spanned nearly 20 years as a head coach, with experience at both the high school and college level. He appeared in the state championship game nine times at the high school level and won six fastpitch state titles .

Furr was the head softball coach at Lone Grove High School at the time of his death. He recently led Lone Grove to consecutive Class 4A State Championships in 2021 and 2022 and a runner-up finish in 2023.

"Coach Furr obviously had outstanding success with his teams on the softball field, but we recognize that his legacy goes far beyond that," Lone Grove athletic director Sam Hale said in a statement to The Oklahoman .

"His lasting relationships with his players, colleagues, and friends represent more about him as a person than anything else. He was a unique and genuine person who made a great impact on our program during his time here at Lone Grove. We will forever remember and appreciate his friendship with us and how much he cared for our kids."

Furr graduated from Marlow High School in 1995 before attending Southeastern Oklahoma State University. He got his first start as the head softball coach at Sulphur High School in 2003, where he led Sulphur to its first district championship in school history.

He became the head softball coach at Lawton MacArthur in 2005, spending six seasons there and winning back-to-back Class 5A titles in 2008 and 2009. He moved on to Chickasha in 2011 and won back-to-back titles again in 2014 and 2015 before becoming the head coach at Cameron University in 2016. He then served as an assistant at Texas A&M-Kingsville before going back to the high school level at Lone Grove.

LONE GROVE ATHLETIC DEPARTMENTIt is with great sadness that we inform you that Coach Dennis Furr passed away at 4:47...

Posted by Lone Grove Athletic Department on Friday, July 26, 2024

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Dennis Furr, longtime Oklahoma high school softball coach, dies at 49