RAPP, Presiding Judge.
This is an appeal from an order of the district court in a habeas corpus proceeding granting the natural father primary custody of his two minor children. We reverse.
On June 18,1980, Michael R. Guthrie and Mary Elenor Guthrie were granted a decree of divorce by the District Court of Adair County. The mother was awarded custody of the two minor children, Aaron Michael Guthrie, born November 14, 1975, and Abram Mark Guthrie, born July 19, 1978. The father was granted reasonable visitation and ordered to pay $100 per month for the support of the two minor children.
In September 1980 Mary Guthrie and her two children moved to Forrest Grove, Oregon, apparently to be near her parents, Patrick and Nona Loop. Mary was badly injured in a motorcycle accident in August 1986 and remained in a coma for four weeks thereafter. During this period, while the children’s mother was in a coma, the maternal grandmother, Nona Loop, sought and obtained from the Circuit Court of Oregon an order appointing her the guardian of the children, Aaron and Abram. Although notice was given to the father, the guardianship proceeding was not objected to or contested by the father. The children, at the time of the guardianship proceeding, had been in Oregon in excess of five years.
The effect of this uncontested Oregon guardianship proceeding concerning custody was to confer jurisdiction of the children to Oregon under 10 O.S.1981 § 1604(3), (5), (9) and 10 O.S.Supp.1989 § 1605.1 The Oregon guardianship was a “dependency” proceeding and, thus, under section 1604(3), a “custody proceeding.” In addition, Oregon was also, under the criteria of section 1604(5), the “home state” of the children due to their residency therein for a period in excess of five years.
The children, after the Oregon court assumed jurisdiction, continued to reside in Oregon with their grandmother for approximately two years until she became ill. Mrs. Loop then transferred temporary custody of the children to her daughter, the children’s aunt, one of the appellants herein, in accordance with Oregon statute section 126.030.2 The record also indicates the [1199]*1199children’s mother, by a document styled “Agreement,” dated September 17, 1988, knew of and agreed with the grandmother’s temporary appointment of her sister, Mrs. Atha, the children’s aunt, as their temporary guardian. The aunt returned to her home in Oklahoma with the children, and this action was commenced within days thereafter by the natural father.
The father admitted that, while he has continued as a resident of this state, he has visited with the children only once during their residency in Oregon and that his contacts with the children since their removal to Oregon in 1980 have not been constant or continuous.
The father, at the hearing, was not able to show that the Oklahoma court met the prerequisites to jurisdiction, as set out by 10 O.S.Supp.1989 § 1605, when faced with the Oregon court’s assumption of jurisdiction in the guardianship action. The Oklahoma jurisdiction statute states:
§ 1605. Prerequisites for jurisdiction
A.A court of this state which is competent to decide child custody matters has jurisdiction to make a child custody determination by initial or modification decree if:
1. This state:
a. is the home state of the child at the time of commencement of the proceeding, or
b. had been the child’s home state within six (6) months before commencement of the proceeding and the child is absent from this state because of his removal or retention by a person claiming his custody or for other reasons, and a parent or person acting as parent continues to live in this state; or
2. It is in the best interest of the child that a court of this state assume jurisdiction because:
a. the child and his parents, or the child and at least one contestant, have a significant connection with this state, and
b. there is available in this state substantial evidence concerning the child’s present or future care, protection, training and personal relationships; or
3. The child is physically present in this state and:
a. the child has been abandoned, or
b. it is necessary in an emergency to protect the child because he has been subjected to or threatened with mistreatment or abuse or is otherwise neglected or dependent; or
4. a. It appears that no other state would have jurisdiction under prerequisites substantially in accordance with paragraphs 1, 2 or 3 of this subsection, or another state has declined to exercise jurisdiction on the ground that this state is the more appropriate forum to determine the custody of the child, and b. it is in the best interest of the child that this court assume jurisdiction.
B. Except under paragraphs 3 and 4 of subsection A of this section, physical presence in this state of the child, or of the child and one of the contestants, is not alone sufficient to confer jurisdiction on a court of this state to make a child custody determination.
C. Physical presence of the child, while desirable, is not a prerequisite for jurisdiction to determine his custody.
D. The controlling criterion for awarding custody by a court of this state shall always be what is in the best interest of the child, other statutory provisions merely being factors which may be considered. (Emphasis added.)
Comparison of the record and this statute fails to demonstrate the continued existence of Oklahoma’s jurisdiction.
[1200]*1200The record clearly establishes that the children’s “home state” is Oregon and not Oklahoma, based upon their prolonged Oregon residency with their mother and their grandmother under the Oregon court’s uncontested guardianship action, thus eliminating section 1605(A)(1) as a jurisdictional basis for the Oklahoma court.
While the father is and has remained a resident of this state under the record presented, section 1605(A)(2) is of no avail to confer jurisdiction for two reasons. First, there was no showing of a “significant connection” with Oklahoma by a child and at least one contestant. The most the record demonstrated was an Oklahoma residency by the father, and at best, a lackadaisical effort by the father at any form of attempted sustained communication between himself and his children. Second, there was no evidentiary showing of any nature by the father that it would be in the children’s best interest for Oklahoma to assume jurisdiction under subsection 2.
Moreover, there was no claim by the father that the children, while physically present in Oklahoma prior to and during the hearing, were, under section 1605(A)(3), abandoned or in an emergency situation. It is also apparent from the record that Oregon did assume jurisdiction via its guardianship action, thereby eliminating Oklahoma statutory section 1605(A)(4) as a ground.
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RAPP, Presiding Judge.
This is an appeal from an order of the district court in a habeas corpus proceeding granting the natural father primary custody of his two minor children. We reverse.
On June 18,1980, Michael R. Guthrie and Mary Elenor Guthrie were granted a decree of divorce by the District Court of Adair County. The mother was awarded custody of the two minor children, Aaron Michael Guthrie, born November 14, 1975, and Abram Mark Guthrie, born July 19, 1978. The father was granted reasonable visitation and ordered to pay $100 per month for the support of the two minor children.
In September 1980 Mary Guthrie and her two children moved to Forrest Grove, Oregon, apparently to be near her parents, Patrick and Nona Loop. Mary was badly injured in a motorcycle accident in August 1986 and remained in a coma for four weeks thereafter. During this period, while the children’s mother was in a coma, the maternal grandmother, Nona Loop, sought and obtained from the Circuit Court of Oregon an order appointing her the guardian of the children, Aaron and Abram. Although notice was given to the father, the guardianship proceeding was not objected to or contested by the father. The children, at the time of the guardianship proceeding, had been in Oregon in excess of five years.
The effect of this uncontested Oregon guardianship proceeding concerning custody was to confer jurisdiction of the children to Oregon under 10 O.S.1981 § 1604(3), (5), (9) and 10 O.S.Supp.1989 § 1605.1 The Oregon guardianship was a “dependency” proceeding and, thus, under section 1604(3), a “custody proceeding.” In addition, Oregon was also, under the criteria of section 1604(5), the “home state” of the children due to their residency therein for a period in excess of five years.
The children, after the Oregon court assumed jurisdiction, continued to reside in Oregon with their grandmother for approximately two years until she became ill. Mrs. Loop then transferred temporary custody of the children to her daughter, the children’s aunt, one of the appellants herein, in accordance with Oregon statute section 126.030.2 The record also indicates the [1199]*1199children’s mother, by a document styled “Agreement,” dated September 17, 1988, knew of and agreed with the grandmother’s temporary appointment of her sister, Mrs. Atha, the children’s aunt, as their temporary guardian. The aunt returned to her home in Oklahoma with the children, and this action was commenced within days thereafter by the natural father.
The father admitted that, while he has continued as a resident of this state, he has visited with the children only once during their residency in Oregon and that his contacts with the children since their removal to Oregon in 1980 have not been constant or continuous.
The father, at the hearing, was not able to show that the Oklahoma court met the prerequisites to jurisdiction, as set out by 10 O.S.Supp.1989 § 1605, when faced with the Oregon court’s assumption of jurisdiction in the guardianship action. The Oklahoma jurisdiction statute states:
§ 1605. Prerequisites for jurisdiction
A.A court of this state which is competent to decide child custody matters has jurisdiction to make a child custody determination by initial or modification decree if:
1. This state:
a. is the home state of the child at the time of commencement of the proceeding, or
b. had been the child’s home state within six (6) months before commencement of the proceeding and the child is absent from this state because of his removal or retention by a person claiming his custody or for other reasons, and a parent or person acting as parent continues to live in this state; or
2. It is in the best interest of the child that a court of this state assume jurisdiction because:
a. the child and his parents, or the child and at least one contestant, have a significant connection with this state, and
b. there is available in this state substantial evidence concerning the child’s present or future care, protection, training and personal relationships; or
3. The child is physically present in this state and:
a. the child has been abandoned, or
b. it is necessary in an emergency to protect the child because he has been subjected to or threatened with mistreatment or abuse or is otherwise neglected or dependent; or
4. a. It appears that no other state would have jurisdiction under prerequisites substantially in accordance with paragraphs 1, 2 or 3 of this subsection, or another state has declined to exercise jurisdiction on the ground that this state is the more appropriate forum to determine the custody of the child, and b. it is in the best interest of the child that this court assume jurisdiction.
B. Except under paragraphs 3 and 4 of subsection A of this section, physical presence in this state of the child, or of the child and one of the contestants, is not alone sufficient to confer jurisdiction on a court of this state to make a child custody determination.
C. Physical presence of the child, while desirable, is not a prerequisite for jurisdiction to determine his custody.
D. The controlling criterion for awarding custody by a court of this state shall always be what is in the best interest of the child, other statutory provisions merely being factors which may be considered. (Emphasis added.)
Comparison of the record and this statute fails to demonstrate the continued existence of Oklahoma’s jurisdiction.
[1200]*1200The record clearly establishes that the children’s “home state” is Oregon and not Oklahoma, based upon their prolonged Oregon residency with their mother and their grandmother under the Oregon court’s uncontested guardianship action, thus eliminating section 1605(A)(1) as a jurisdictional basis for the Oklahoma court.
While the father is and has remained a resident of this state under the record presented, section 1605(A)(2) is of no avail to confer jurisdiction for two reasons. First, there was no showing of a “significant connection” with Oklahoma by a child and at least one contestant. The most the record demonstrated was an Oklahoma residency by the father, and at best, a lackadaisical effort by the father at any form of attempted sustained communication between himself and his children. Second, there was no evidentiary showing of any nature by the father that it would be in the children’s best interest for Oklahoma to assume jurisdiction under subsection 2.
Moreover, there was no claim by the father that the children, while physically present in Oklahoma prior to and during the hearing, were, under section 1605(A)(3), abandoned or in an emergency situation. It is also apparent from the record that Oregon did assume jurisdiction via its guardianship action, thereby eliminating Oklahoma statutory section 1605(A)(4) as a ground.
Continuing with this analysis of the statute, after elimination of section 1605(A), it is clear that this matter falls within the ambit of section 1605(B), which is unequivocal in its language that the mere presence “of the child, or of the child and one of the contestants, is not alone sufficient to confer jurisdiction on a court of this state.”
The trial court, after hearing the resident father demonstrate his discontinued relationship with the children, then wholly ignored both the intervening action of the Oregon court and its legitimate assumption of jurisdiction, and the Oklahoma trial court’s lack of authority under 10 O.S.1981 § 16163 to modify the decree. As stated in G.S. v. Ewing, 786 P.2d 65, 69-70 (Okla. 1990):
Section 1616 clearly prohibits an Oklahoma court from modifying a custody provision if the court entering the original decree continues to have jurisdiction. The corollary to the principle announced in § 1616 is that significant connection jurisdiction continues in the state of prior decree if one parent continues to reside in the state even if the child lives in another state for six months or more. (Footnote omitted; emphasis in original.)
Here, the prior state is Oregon, and the grandmother, Mrs. Loop, continues to reside in Oregon. Mrs. Atha, the appellant and party claiming a right to temporary custody under 10 O.S.1981 § 1604(9)4 via the uncontested power of attorney authorized by the Oregon statute, was in Oklahoma with the children less than twenty days prior to this action.
Accordingly, the decision of the trial court is reversed and custody is to remain with the duly appointed guardian of the children, Nona Loop, and her designee, Joyce Atha.
The motion to dismiss contained in the response to the petition in error is denied.
MEANS, J., concurs specially.
BACON, J., dissents.