We Remember (Aug 2008 to April 2009)

We Remember is a special section of Encounter in which we honor the lives of the men and women in the OU engineering family who are no longer with us. If we have omitted anyone, it was unintentional. Please contact us so we can pay appropriate tribute to our alumni. 

John Richards Leonard, born April 12, 1918, passed away peacefully in Houston on August 27, 2008. John was born in Parkersburg, WV, the oldest of five children. When he was five years old, the family moved to Texas, where their father was employed in the oil patch in the area around Abilene. He graduated from Merkel High School in 1936 and enrolled in the University of Oklahoma at Norman, majoring in mechanical engineering. To pay for his education, he worked full-time for the Magnolia Petroleum Company (now Exxon-Mobil) in Oklahoma City, and went to college part-time in Norman. His education was interrupted by World War II, and he entered the Army Air Corps as a Second Lieutenant in 1942. Honorably discharged in 1945 with the rank of Captain, he moved his wife and baby daughter to Norman and completed his degree on the GI Bill. He began his post-war career as a mechanical engineer in the Natural Gas Department at the Magnolia headquarters office in Dallas, the city where his son was born. He and his family moved many times in the course of the next 30 years, including Ulysses, Kansas; Chickasha, Oklahoma; Midland, Texas; and Vanderbilt, Texas; finally coming to Houston in 1960. In 1975, he retired from Exxon-Mobil and worked as a consultant on North Sea projects in Norway and England. 

Edwin C. Lindenberg - passed peacefully from this life on September 27, 2008. He was born on April 19, 1925, in Fort Wayne IN, to Edwin C. and Olga Ortlieb Lindenberg. At the age of 18, he left Fort Wayne and went to College on a U.S. Navy scholarship at University of Oklahoma November 1943 in the V-12 program. He was commissioned as Ensign and served on the Navy Tanker USS Sabine (AO-25) and was discharged in 1946. At OU he lettered in basketball, was a member of the Sigma Epsilon fraternity, and met his wife, Joan Seneker. In 1948, he received his degree in Mechanical Engineering. He moved to Sapulpa, OK where he and Joan were married in November 16, 1947, at which time he began his 36-year career with Warren Petroleum and Gulf Oil Co. After a living in many different countries and returning back to Tulsa, he retired in 1983, as Senior Vice President of Warren Petroleum. Dedicated to the GPA (Gas Processors Association), Ed served on the GPA Board 1974-1983, President-Elect- 1980-1981, President - 1981-1982, as well as served on the International Committee as Co-Chair 1982-1989. He received the Citation for Service Award in 1994. He was the first GPA Director and President to serve from outside the continental United States and as President, established the first GPA Chapter of Gas Processing Professionals outside the United States. He was the first real President for the GPA expansion into the International gas processing industry. In 1980, he was the first foreign-based President who previously served assignments in Kuwait, Latin America the Far East. He was deeply impressed with the need for continuing contact with GPA as the technological center of the gas processing industry. He also was a member of various organizations such as TESCOT, U.S. Power Squadron, U.S.T.A. Missouri Valley, Sapulpa City Council, OU Alumni Association, Alzheimer's Association and so many others. 

Garman Oscar Kimmell, Jr., 95, passed away on November 8, 2008. He was born in Hutton, Maryland, on October 7, 1913, to Garman O. and Marie L. Kimmell, Sr. and moved to Wichita, Kansas, with his parents and sister, Melba, as a young boy. Garman received his MS in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Oklahoma in 1937 and married Vera Pauline Setzer, on July 10, 1938. They settled in Oklahoma City; and after working for Black Sivalls, & Bryson as Chief Researcher for 11 years, he founded Kimray, Inc. in 1948, a manufacturer of oil and gas equipment and controls. Garman invented and designed most of the products manufactured by Kimray and served as President and Chief Developer for 57 years, seeing the company grow from 4 employees to over 550. He has received 28 patents. Garman designed and manufactured medical devices, including the equipment used to perform the first open-heart surgery in Oklahoma by doctors Greer, Carey, Zuhdi, Holly and Hartsuck, at Mercy Hospital, where he also served with them as the Technical Physicist. The Vena-Cava Filter he invented has been used in over a half million patients. Garman was involved in educating, lecturing, and teaching at high schools, colleges, civic organization, and Christian groups. He served as a mentor for Junior Achievement and on numerous boards. Garman recorded the Oklahoma Philharmonic Orchestra for 30 years as a public service, with recordings aired on KCSC. He was instrumental in the promotion and funding of the Character Training Institute in downtown Oklahoma City, a worldwide organization promoting character development in families, businesses, schools, governments, prisons, and churches. 

Adin Harry Hall, son of Susan and Leonard Hall, died January 5, 2009. Adin was born in Fairview, Oklahoma, on March 15, 1919. He was a graduate of Oklahoma University with a B. S. in Mechanical Engineering. He was a member of Phi Kappa Sigma and was selected as a junior to Tau Beta Phi engineering honor fraternity. He later obtained an M. S. in Metallurgy from University of Houston. He met his future wife, Elizabeth (Betty) Bailey, while at OU. They were married in Dallas, Texas, in 1943. During his four years in WWII, Adin served as Director of Administration at the Ordnance Unit Training Center, Red River Ordnance Depot, Texarkana, TX, earned the rank of Major. He was employed by Shell Oil Company for 40 years, obtaining several patents and reorganizing their Loss Control Division, which subsequently served as a model for oil companies worldwide. For years, he represented the American Petroleum Institute at conferences around the world. In 1975 he presented a paper on petroleum measurement at the World Petroleum Congress in Tokyo. Adin was an active member of the Downtown Rotary Club of Houston, TX and the Austin Rotary Club. He received the Paul Harris Fellowship Award. 

William D Harris, Jr., passed away on Thursday, January 8, 2009 in Dallas, Texas after a brief illness. He was born on June 18, 1929 in Marietta, Oklahoma to William D. Harris, Sr. and Johnnie Maude Harris, where he lived until completing high school and where he was quarterback of his high school football team. He received his degree in chemical engineering from Oklahoma University in 1952 where he was elected to Tau Beta Pi, and worked briefly in engineering. After military service as a first lieutenant in the United States Army, he returned to OU to get his law degree in 1957. While in law school he had the honor to serve as editor-in-chief of the law review and was in the Order of the Coif. He worked for many years as an intellectual property attorney with his firm in Dallas, specializing in patent, trademark, and copyright litigation. He was well respected in his field and received the first Lifetime Achievement Award from the Dallas/Fort Worth Intellectual Property Association in January 2002. He served on and chaired the Grievance Committee for the Dallas Bar Association for many years. He was a pioneer in the field of patent law and served as a mentor to many young attorneys. 

Mr. Eddie Utaki Nakayama, 85, retired Phillips Petroleum Company Process Engineer, died at 3:59 p.m. on Saturday, January 24, 2009, in the Jane Phillips Medical Center. A native of Plattville, Colorado, Eddie Utaki Nakayama was born March 29, 1923. He was the son of Lloyd Masujiro and Hisako (Uyeda) Nakayama. He was reared in Plattville and began his education there. When he was 11 years old, he moved with his family to Oklahoma City where he completed his elementary school and was graduated from Central High School with the Senior Class of 1941. He continued his education at the University of Oklahoma and was graduated with a B.S. Degree in Mechanical Engineering in May of 1944. He was enlisted in the United States Army on July 19, 1944 and received his honorable discharge on July 6, 1946. He began his longtime employment with Phillips Petroleum Company in the Western District, Goldsmith, Texas, Gasoline Plant, and was transferred to Odessa, Texas. In 1951, he came to Bartlesville with the Gasoline Department, and then transferred into the Refining Department. Eddie and Miss Helen Sasaki were united in marriage in Oklahoma City on December 14, 1951 and they established their home in Bartlesville. Eddie was retired from the local company in April of 1985. He was a devoted husband and father and loved to spend time in his garden and fishing. 

John Charles Law passed away on Wednesday, February 12, 2009 from his residence at the age of 84. He had lived in the Covington/Mandeville area for 38 years. He was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to the late Clarence G. and Leah H. Law. A veteran of World War II, he served in the Marshall and Mariana Islands with the U.S. Navy, Seabees, 110th Battalion. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in Civil Engineering and was employed by Chevron for 35 years retiring in 1986 as a Production Superintendent. 

William K. "Bill" Garms, 88, passed away peacefully Saturday, March 28, 2009, at his home in Tulsa, OK. He was born November 11, 1920, on a farm in Kingfisher County. He is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and was a member of The RufNeks, Loyal Knights of Old Trusty and the marching band. Bill joined the Army Air Corp in 1941 and served in the Intelligence Section in the European Theater for 42 months. He left active duty with the rank of Captain and was in the retired Reserve of the USAF. Bill retired from Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation after 25 years of service. He then joined the Wheatley Company and later the Judd Valve Company. He was a registered Professional Engineer in Oklahoma and Texas and held offices in the Oklahoma Society of Professional Engineers. 

William V. Gasser, 87, passed away Tuesday, April 7, 2009, in Tulsa. Bill was born in Fond du Lac, WI, February 2, 1922. He graduated from high school in Sheboygan, WI and received his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Oklahoma University in June 1949. Bill was 1st Lt. and pilot in the Air Force flying left seat B-26 in the Mediterranean Theater overseas during WWII. Flying 66 missions over North Africa, Italy and France, Bill was decorated with the Air Medal with 8 Oak Leaf clusters and the Purple Heart, Distinguished Unit Citation, and Croix de Guerre with Palm. Bill instructed Air Force cadets at Frederick, OK where he met and married his wife of 63 years, Mary Lois Cunningham. He also instructed cadets in Enid before his discharge. Bill completed an 18 month Graduate Engineers Training Course in Milwaukee at Allis Chalmers Manufacturing Co. and worked in Omaha NE, transferring to the Tulsa office in 1952. Bill became District Mgr. for Marathon Electric Co. In 1957, he became General Mgr. of Service Tool Div. of Automation Industries in Tulsa. Bill started his own company in 1964, Gasser Construction Co., designing and manufacturing pre-cast concrete panels and erecting over 400 buildings over a span of 43 years in the Tulsa area.