His death dominated the next day's front page and accounted for almost four full pages inside. A columnist wrote that if Oklahoma City ever chisels its own Mount Rushmore, "Aubrey is on it."
For nearly a week following his death, flags flew at half staff at banks, churches and energy businesses. Stores near the Chesapeake campus closed so employees could attend the funeral, which was held in a mega-church and drew a standing-room crowd of more than 3,000
Several hundred mourners also attended a sunrise memorial Saturday. They included Brant Briggs, an usher at Chesapeake Arena, who served McClendon and his old friend and fellow Thunder owner, Bennett, in their side-by-side front-row seats. "He had such a kind, generous heart," Briggs said. "He will be missed by so many people." The Thunder honored McClendon with a pregame ceremony this Wednesday that included video from his introduction into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame.
McClendon's style wasn't for everyone, acknowledged his friend and former Chesapeake executive Mike Stice, who attended the dinner at the Beacon Club the night of the indictment.
"He was a risk taker beyond most people's comfort level," Stice said.
Many people in Oklahoma are talking about the possibility that the car crash wasn't an accident - that a despondent McClendon may have taken his own life. His family hasn't commented on this talk, but at his funeral, his children spoke of his sunny optimism. Other people close to him dismissed the idea of suicide, saying the man they knew projected a positive, seize-the-day attitude.
They also noted that he'd withstood adversity before. In 2012, after the Chesapeake removed him as chairman, he bucked up employees at a town-hall-style meeting, according to a recording.
"It ends by winning, at the end of the day, delivering on what you are doing, what you believe in and what you will continue to do," he told the staff. "You just have to outlast it."
Tom Price, who worked for McClendon for more than 20 years, described him as "the toughest guy I ever met. The notion that Aubrey in any way, shape or form (might) bring his life to an end voluntarily is insane."
Several friends in Oklahoma City noted that McClendon had recently become a grandfather. As was his custom, every morning he sent AEP employees a quote of the day. On the day his grandchild was born, he wrote, "A baby is God's opinion that life should go on."