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Lloyd Austin

Lloyd Gene Austin, age 88, passed from this life on April 30, 2015, in Edmond, Oklahoma.  Lloyd was born in south central Kansas on Sept. 21, 1926, to Dorse and  Lydia (Weber) Austin.  He was educated through high school in Potwin, Kansas, and was inducted into the U.S. Navy shortly after his 18th birthday.  Lloyd served as a radioman during WWII, and was on the island of Okinawa when atomic bombs ended the war.  After his separation, Lloyd enrolled at El Dorado Junior College in Kansas, graduating in 1948.  That same year, he married the great love of his life, Joyce Elaine (Slaymaker) Austin, and enrolled at the University of Oklahoma.  Lloyd was converted into a lifelong Sooner, and frequently credited the education he received there under the G.I. Bill for his later successful career.  He graduated with a B.S. in petroleum engineering in 1951 and was employed a few days later by The Texas Company.

Lloyd worked for Texaco in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Illinois before transferring in 1968 to Caltex Pacific Indonesia in Sumatra, Indonesia, where he became managing director.  In 1978, he was promoted to Texaco corporate headquarters in White Plains, New York, with Angola, Nigeria, Ghana and Morocco on his desk.  The next year, he transferred to Texaco Trinidad, Inc. as president and general manager of operations in Trinidad and Tobago.  In 1985, after Texaco purchased Getty Oil Co., he transferred to Kuwait as president and CEO of operations in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.  During the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990, he and Joyce moved temporarily to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, but they returned to Kuwait shortly after coalition forces liberated the country.  Lloyd retired in 1991.  In 2008 he was honored to be inducted into OU College of Engineering’s Distinguished Graduate Society. 

Lloyd and Joyce built a retirement home at Grand Lake, Oklahoma, where they regularly welcomed children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, particularly at Christmas and the Fourth of July. 

Lloyd also fulfilled his wish for a log cabin in the mountains of Colorado where he and Joyce could spend summer months and enjoy visits from family and friends.   Lloyd was a loving and generous man, devoted to his family and his Christian faith.  He had a strong relationship with the Lord and served many churches as a deacon, board member, teacher, or leader.  After retirement, he held several directorships and advisory positions with non-profit organizations.  Lloyd is still a director emeritus at Home of Hope, which serves individuals with physical and mental disabilities in northeast Oklahoma.  He and Joyce have received OU’s “Seed Sower” award in recognition of their many contributions.  Lloyd was proud to say that all five children are OU graduates.  Lloyd and Joyce relocated to Edmond, Oklahoma, in 2013.

Lloyd is preceded in death by his parents and siblings Ralph Austin, Dorothy Coons, and a twin sister Lois who was stillborn, his oldest daughter Donna Lantrip, and two great-grandchildren. 

He is survived by his loving wife of 66 years, Joyce, and four children:  Ken Austin and wife, Barbara; Janice Oldham and husband, Gary; Marcia Rupert and husband, Kurt; Larry Austin; and son-in-law Steve Lantrip.  He is also survived by grandchildren: Debbie (and Justin) Erwin; Sidney (and Omar) Rashidzada; Tommy (and Alexis) Austin; Ben (and Sara) Oldham; James (and Miranda) Oldham; and Emma, Maddy and Stan Rupert.  He was blessed with 17 great-grandchildren who survive him. The family requests in lieu of flowers that donations may be made to a charity of your choice.

Funeral services were Tuesday May 5, 2015, at Faith Bible Church with interment to be Wednesday at 1 p.m. at McGill Cemetery in Putwin.

Services are under the direction of Matthews Funeral Home, Edmond.

Last modified May 7, 2015

 

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