John J. Lewallen (1934-2010)
Clete Ramsey - Jun 12, 2011
Recently, I received my university’s alumni association magazine. It contained this item:
Mizzou | The Magazine of the Missouri Alumni Association
Summer 2011 | Volume 99 | Number 4
Class Notes | Deaths | P. 60
John Lewallen, BS ME ’57, of Bartlesville, Okla., Dec. 28, at age 76. A U.S. Air Force veteran, he worked in the aerospace industry for 16 years at Applied Automation until retirement.
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That item in Mizzou prompted me to do a Google search, which turned up this obituary in the Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise:
John J. Lewallen (1934-2010)
Mr. John J. Lewallen, 76, of Bartlesville, died early Tuesday morning at his home.
Mr. Lewallen was born at Kansas City, Kansas on September 6, 1934 to John W. and Gracie (Simpson) Lewallen. He grew up and received his elementary education in Kansas City and Hobbs, New Mexico, attended his sophomore year of high school at Glendale, California and graduated from high school at Sheldon, Missouri in 1952. He attended the University of Missouri at Columbia, Missouri and he was married to Carol J. Upton at Pittsburg, Kansas in 1956. Mr. Lewallen graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering in February of 1957 and began his employment with the Sandia Corporation in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He entered the United States Air Force as a Second Lieutenant and served at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base until receiving his Honorable Discharge in 1960 as a First Lieutenant. Following his discharge he spent the next 16 years in the aerospace industry with Boeing Aircraft in Wichita, Kansas on the B-52 Project, Honeywell Aerospace at St. Petersburg, Florida, the Philco Ford Space Division at the Manned Spacecraft Center in Clear Lake, Texas and also at Palo Alto, California, and with the Martin Marietta Space Division in Colorado working on Skylab and other projects. In 1973, he entered the petroleum industry with Applied Automation in Bartlesville until his retirement in 1994. He was a past member of several professional engineering societies. He loved to plan trips and travel, especially to Maui and Europe. Mr. Lewallen was an adored husband, father and grandfather. He was a man of character.
Mr. Lewallen is survived by his wife, Carol J. Lewallen of the home in Bartlesville, two daughters, Lisa Lewallen of Phoenix, Arizona and Stacy (Lewallen) Tucker of Bartlesville and two grandchildren, Dylan Tucker and Cody Tucker.
The family suggests that memorial donations be made to the Salvation Army, 101 N. Bucy, Bartlesville, Oklahoma, 74003, or the Westside Community Center, 501 S.W. Bucy, Bartlesville, Oklahoma, 74003 or to the USO.
A memorial reception will be held at the Lewallen family home at 2924 Ridge Road on Friday, December 31, 2010 from 2 P.M. until 4 P.M.
Cremation arrangements are under the direction of the Stumpff Funeral Home & Crematory
Published in Examiner-Enterprise from December 30, 2010 to January 30, 2011
(http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/examiner-enterprise/obituar
y.aspx?n=john-j-lewallen&pid=147481537&fhid=3324)
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A quick search found John J. Lewallen’s parents -- John Webster Lewallen (1911-1979) and Gracie (Simpson) Lewallen (1911-2003) -– buried at the Memory Gardens Cemetery at Lamar, Barton County, Missouri. Barton County is immediately south of Vernon County.
There is a Missouri Certificate of Death on file (http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/deathcertificates) for John J. Lewallen’s paternal grandfather:
Name of Deceased: Morris Wesley Lewallen
Time & Date of Death: 5:30 AM, 27 January 1958
Place of Death: Nevada City Hospital, Nevada, Vernon County, Missouri
Cause of Death: Probable coronary occlusion; arteriosclerotic heart disease
Interval between Onset and Death: 5 years
Autopsy: No
Usual Residence: R.R. 2, Sheldon, Vernon County, Missouri
Age at Death: 68 years, 1 month
Personal Particulars: Male; White; Married
Usual Occupation: Farming
Date of Birth: 27 December 1890
Place of Birth: Interprise, Oklahoma
SSAN: 448-05-7602
Was Deceased Ever in U.S. Armed Forces?: No
Father’s Name: John Wesley Lewallen
Mother’s Maiden Name: Sara Pendergraft
Name of Wife: Effie D. Lewallen
Removal: 29 January 1958, Eufaula Cemetery, Eufaula, Oklahoma
Funeral Director: Beeny Funeral Home
Informant: John Lewallen, K.C. Kansas
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Other accounts give Morris Wesley Lewallen’s date of birth as 27 December 1899, not 1890.
Morris Wesley Lewallen was buried at the Greenwood Cemetery, Eufaula, McIntosh County, Oklahoma.
I understand his birthplace was not Interprise, Oklahoma, but Enterprise, Haskell County, Oklahoma.
Various sources identify John Wesley Lewallen’s father as Jordan Lewis Lewallen (1838-1905).
If I understand the genealogy correctly, Alabama-born Jordan Lewis Lewallen was a son of Charles Lewallen and grandson of Daniel Lewallen.
As I’ve noted before, my mother’s maternal grandmother was Arkansas-born Mary Jane (Lewallen) Jackson (1861-1954). Her father, Monroe Washington Lewallen (1824-1895), was another son of Daniel Lewallen.
Vernon County, Missouri, where Morris Wesley Lewallen died, abuts Bourbon County, Kansas. Bourbon County’s seat, Fort Scott, was my mother’s home town, and is where Granny Jackson died. She’s buried with her husband, Tennessee-born William B. P. Jackson (1857-1911), at the Maplewood Cemetery in Harrison, Boone County, Arkansas.