Donnie “Bear” Seward was born December 31st, 1951, to Albert and Inez Seward in the Sunny Slope area of Osage county. He attended elementary school at Middle Enterprise and then graduated from Ralston High School in 1970. He then moved to Ponca City where he spent the rest of his life. Bear worked for the city of the Ponca City as a supervisor in the Solid Waste Department from 1978 until his retirement in 2003.