We Build history.

 
 

ABOUT

Big thinkers. Team collaborators. Budget savers.

Willowbrook is a full-service construction company committed to building value. Our construction professionals oversee projects from inception to completion—including planning, design, procurement and construction—to ensure technical and management expertise on each project.

Over the last four decades, Willowbrook has grown from one office in Chickasha to additional offices in Oklahoma City and Tulsa and a staff of more than 150 dedicated employees. 

In 2017, Weston DeHart became president of Willowbrook after being groomed for a decade by his father Cary DeHart. 

Our family-owned, full-service construction company continues to manage trans-formative projects across the state. 

Willowbrook’s professional construction managers are committed to delivering high-performance results. Our expertise, teamwork and value-added services make us the premier construction management firm in Oklahoma. Integrity is built into every level of the organization. Our passion for building value drives our performance, ensuring an unrivaled experience and results.

 
 

Our legacy

A Look Back on the History of Willowbrook

Cary DeHart was born in Chickasha, OK in 1952, and grew up next to his grandparents. Cary’s grandfather Ed DeHart came on a covered wagon at the age of one to Chickasha, in 1901. Ed worked as a teen as a farm hand for Cary’s wife’s Bj’s grandfather. Ed was known to be a very kind and smart man.

In 1920, at age 20, Ed started DeHart Sheetmetal Works in Chickasha. Ed had 8 younger brothers, so he had dependable labor. “Ed had several inventions that he had patents on. His business was fairly large for the 20’s but did not survive the great depression. Many of his brothers went to California and other states,” Cary said. Today there are still many companies that have the name DeHart Sheet Metal.

After Cary’s dad Elmer DeHart came home from World War II, Elmer went to Oklahoma A&M, now Oklahoma State University, on the GI bill and learned Mechanical Engineering. In the late 1940’s, Elmer came home to Chickasha and formed DeHart Air Conditioning with his father Ed. When Cary was young, his grandfather Ed would bring Cary and the other neighborhood boys scrap lumber and nails from the air conditioning crates. Cary said, “We built several forts, a five-story tree house, and even a two-story fort with a fireplace. We learned how to use a hammer and saw. It was then I considered myself as a builder.” During the summers, Cary worked for DeHart Air Conditioning. He learned how to work with sheet metal installing duct-work and systems, then later did service work. His father by his side would guide him just in the right way on how to approach business issues. Elmer would allow Cary to fail at some small things to learn lessons from them.

In 1970, Cary went to Oklahoma State University majoring in Mechanical Engineering. During the summer after his sophomore year, Cary estimated and managed a large commercial mechanical project in Chickasha. Cary stated, “I learned a lot that summer and decided that I wanted to build and be in charge of the total construction, not just the mechanical.” Even though Cary was making good grades, he felt he needed to take business courses like accounting, business law, and construction related courses. Elmer told Cary that he should speak to his college counselor about switching his major to Construction Management. After switching he stated he loved the Construction Management courses and knew it was a fit. Just after his junior year of college, he married BJ DeHart, and then graduated college in 1974.

Cary’s grandfather had a greenhouse and loved to work in his garden. One hot summers day,while working in his garden, Ed had a stroke and heart attack at the age of 74. Cary and Elmer, carried him into the house and he died a few days later. Cary was 21 and had just moved back to Chickasha from OSU. “My dad, like his father, was a hard worker and smart businessman. He taught me to do my best and to keep my word,” Cary said.

Two large construction firms in Dallas, Texas interviewed Cary and both offered him jobs. “The starting salary was $17,000 a year and that was good for 1974,” Cary said. Cary thought about what he wanted to do, and the jobs that wanted to hire him were away from home and acquire lots of travel. “A week or so after graduating college, my dad sent me a Request of Proposal for Construction Management for the renovation of the Administration Building at OCLA (now USAO) in Chickasha, OK” said Cary. The job was mostly mechanical work, so Cary answered the RFP and interviewed for the project. “I think the college picked me for the following reasons: I was the home town boy, our background in mechanical, my degree in Construction Management and my proposal fee was very low,” stated Cary. This project was only the 2nd public project done under Construction Management in Oklahoma. Cary stated he never worked for anyone else other than working for his dad as a teenager.

With Cary’s first contract with OCLA (USAO), he needed to form a company. “My parents had just built Willowbrook Apartments in Chickasha and they had a corporation named Willowbrook Development Company, Inc. So I took it to save a few hundred dollars in legal fees and later changed it to Willowbrook Construction Company, Inc,” Cary said. “With my first project, my dad made sure I hired good experienced people. My first employee was an older carpenter named Chick. He taught me that if it is worth doing and spending your time, then it is worth doing it right and with quality,” said Cary. After picking up more work, Cary’s father wanted him to hire more people. Buren Thompson was one of them. “Buren was very experienced with commercial construction and mentored me with his understanding of construction and he was the best superintendent ever,” stated Cary. Buren also mentored Allen Neal, Tommy Holt, Terry Holt and others.

Early on, Cary and his team did both commercial and custom homes. Cary designed and built the first solar house in Chickasha around 1975 and has built 6 other custom homes. In May of 1976, the Chickasha High School burned down. Cary was called in the next morning and was hired to rebuild it as the school districts Construction Manager. Cary states that it was probably because of the great team he had. It was a lot of pressure, but Cary and his team completed the work very fast and under budget for the school. This gave them a great reputation for performance and value to the clients. Willowbrook Construction Company, Inc. did most of the projects in and around Chickasha and that part of the state during the first 8-10 years of being in business. “I heard once someone asking a local architect why Willowbrook seemed to get most of the work. He replied because Willowbrook had the people that know how to build and build great,” Cary recalled.

After the oil bust in 1982, there was no work at all in Oklahoma. The company had to travel for work in Texas and Arkansas. “I did not like going away and it wasn’t fun,” Cary said. These were the tough years and in order to be able to show our bonding company that we were making a profit, I was not able to take a salary for 3 straight years. Cary remembers working til 6 pm, going home to help the kids with homework and such, then going back to work from 9 pm til 2 am. Over the next 10 years, Cary built upon the company’s reputation, experience, and a solid foundation for the company and in 1995 things started to happen. That’s when he submitted a proposal to design- build a large addition to the Delta Faucet Plant in Chickasha. The company won the project and it was our largest to date. Shortly after that, a tornado hit the Uniroyal Tire Plant in Ardmore, OK. They were called in the next day to put it back together. Cary said, “So now we had two of the biggest, most demanding jobs ever. I was overwhelmed, but our growth and experience over the last two decades, with Allen and Tommy as superintendents, made it happen and made it successful.”

At that time the company had 3 people in the office, a secretary, Larry Potter (metal buildings), and me. That year Jan Dunkin joined the firm and brought a more professional approach to customer service and marketing. “She helped develop our brand and develop more clients. Jan was great with people, great with architects, subcontractors, and fellow employees,” Cary stated. When Jan was hired, there were two companies, Willowbrook Construction and Construction Management Specialist (CMS). “She stated we needed just one company name to market, and we made CMSWillowbrook,” said Cary. Jan passed away after serving the company for 24 years.

Cary formulated a succession plan in 2007. It was a 10 year plan and Cary was 55 at the time. “I could tell that Weston was very interested and excited about our company and later Summer was too. The plan worked out very well and better than I thought was possible. Both Weston and Summer worked hard and have made our company so much better and they deserve the credit for our success and growth. But of course it isn’t just them” he continues, “but everyone in our company.” Cary states that this company has great people working for the company from the VP’s, Project Directors, Project Managers, Superintendents, Pre-Con team, Marketing, Safety, Accounting, Self- Performance, and every single person on the team. Cary says that the company’s success has been steady and the growth has been in control. “We have done a pretty great job, due to the great staff we have. We all help each other and our culture is extremely good. We like working together for the good of our clients.” Cary says that the company’s goals are to meet and exceed the client’s goals and to be the construction firm that is most respected in the industry. “I want our company to be the best of the best in Oklahoma, the best for our clients, the best for our employees, and the best for our architects and subcontractors. I hope the future for our company is to continue our success in helping and providing value to our clients in bigger and better ways,” Cary said. “It’s not about Cary DeHart, it’s about everyone in our company.