Aubrey McClendon’s wife Katie McClendon married him in 1981 after meeting at Duke University. It was the same year Aubrey graduated. Katie had already been an alumnus for a year. In light of the car crash that took Aubrey’s life following his indictment for allegedly rigging bids for oil and gas leases, let’s take a look at the long relationship they developed over so many years.
As many people already know, Katie is actually a relative of Kate Upton, the gloriously attractive model who started invading everybody’s phones through Game of War advertisements a year ago. Seriously, I think we can sort of give Kate Upton and Game of War at least a little credit for the invention of the cellphone ad-blocker. Aubrey McClendon’s wife was actually part of an adornment at the Duke student plaza. Her face was modeled and sculpted into the side of an archway featuring gargoyles, and she had the likeness removed because she found it too “ostentatious,” according to Reuters. I have seen pictures of the infamous gargoyle arch, and I personally didn’t find it odd, but then again it wasn’t my face! I’m sure it would feel pretty damn odd if it was your own face staring out at you, carved in stone for eternity.
It should certainly be mentioned that Katie is a massive, and I do mean massive donor to various societies and causes. Not including the $75 million (!) the couple has donated to Duke University, Katie herself is a board member of both the OK Historical Society and the OK Museum of Art. Aubrey McClendon’s wife seems like a very nice person to me.
Now, I don’t want to stir the pot too much, but I’d feel remiss if I didn’t bring up the 800 pound gorilla in the room: many people believe that the crash may have been intentional. Obviously this is total conjecture, but there are some compounding facts leading people down that path. Aubrey had allegedly mentioned to Katie that he thought he’d been singled out during the investigation over the bid rigging. If any of these nearly impossible to verify theories prove true, it would add a depth of complication to finding closure for Katie. No matter the cause, it’s undoubtedly very unfortunate and tragic for Katie McClendon.
