Miami intersection renamed in honor of Chuck Stotts

MIAMI, Okla. — Same intersection, but with a new name in Miami.

It's on 69-Highway, just a few hundred feet north of 24th Avenue Northeast. And it is now officially "Chuck Stotts Way."

It's in front of the Walmart location, which is where Stotts, who had a 40-year career with the company, also served as the store's manager in Miami for close to 30 years. He passed away in March of last year.

Family and friends say everyone loved him, and he was known for his compassion for and support of everyone.

"We're not from here. We moved here in '94, and this community embraced us and that's what made us stay. And, you know, Walmart managers move and change, but we just loved it here. And, so it's really special. Like I said, he's not a star, he's not a football star. He's just a, an ordinary man who did the right things — and there's a lot of people who deserve recognition like that, so it's really, really special," said Melinda Stotts, Miami Communications Mgr. / Wife of Chuck Stotts.

"And, and Chuck was special because Walmart managers usually don't stay very long. You know, they're usually at a store for 2 or 3 years and they move on. Chuck didn't want that. He wanted to stay here. He wanted to be a part of the community, so we had somethin' special here with, with Chuck," said Mayor Bless Parker.

Mayor Parker and State Representative Steve Bashore spearheaded the effort to rename the intersection.

The legislation to do so was approved last year.