Lon Donavant Jr

Lon Donavant Jr. 1918-2009 Lon Donavant Jr., 91, of Grove passed away October 6, 2009. Funeral Services will be 1 p.m. Thursday at Grove Methodist Church. Lon was born on Jan. 9, 1918, in Jefferson City, MO. He graduated from Cleora High School in 1936. He went to John Brown University and then Oklahoma State University to study electrical engineering before he entered the U. S. Army, where he was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant. During World War II, he taught Morse code and served as a forward observer and field artillery officer in Northern Africa, Sicily and Southern France. He was a prisoner of war for six months but was able to escape. After being honorably discharged from the Army, he graduated from OSU with a degree in electrical engineering. He went to work for Oklahoma Gas & Electric Co. in Oklahoma City. He then moved his family to the island of Aruba for five years to work for Standard Oil. He moved his family to Grove and bought the property that would become the resort Donavant's Point on Elk River. After his daughter's high school graduation, he worked for Boeing Airplane in Wichita, KS, and General Dynamics/Astronautics in Altus, where he helped maintain the giant underground missile silos. When he went to work for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in the late 1960s in Houston, TX, he served as an engineer with the team that worked on the Apollo space program. He earned an Apollo Achievement Award from NASA after the Apollo 11 mission successfully achieved man's first landing on the moon. He later moved back to Grove to work for Northeast Oklahoma Rural Electric Cooperative, where he retired in the early 1990s. His hobbies included fishing and golf. He was also a Mason. He traveled all over the country in his RV and was a huge fan of the OSU Cowboys. He was always seen at Grove Ridgerunner sporting events to watch his grandchildren and great-grandchildren play. He and his wife were excellent Bridge players. They also were known by friends, family and members of the community as Papa Lon and Granny Dot. His parents, Lon Payton and Bessie (Kasen) Donavant, preceded Lon in death. Survivors include his wife of 67 years, Dorothy; brother Jack of Wichita, KS; brother Floyd of Grove; sister Louise Wallace of Wichita; daughter Lona Hampton and husband Kelly of Zena; grandson David Hampton and wife Kim, Zena; grandson Robert and wife Diane, Zena; granddaughter Kristi Collington and husband Jason, Jenks, Okla.; and 6 great-grandchildren Ben, Kellea, Case, Ashley, Alicia and Kellon. A visitation for family and friends will be held from 6:30 until 7:30 on Wednesday, October 7, 2009 at the Worley-Luginbuel Funeral Home Chapel. Funeral Services will be at 1:00 p.m., on Thursday, October 8, 2009 at the First United Methodist Church with Dr. Richard Dayringer and Pastor Gary Bishop officiating. Music will be performed by the Native American Performing Arts Group and Nancy Lungren. Serving as pallbearers will be David Hampton, Robert Hampton, Ben Hampton, Lon Case Hampton, Jason Collington and Steve Lamphear. Interment will be held at the Zena Cemetery will Military Honors provided by the United States Army Ritual Team from Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Services are under the direction of Worley-Luginbuel Funeral Home in Grove, Oklahoma. Friends and family may leave online condolences by viewing Lon's obituary at www.honorigmemories.com

Service Details

Thursday, October 8th, 2009 1:00pm

Interment Details

Zena Cemetery