Thomas Mccrory

THOMAS LYONELL MCCRORY Thomas L. McCrory, born October 5, 1925, in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, went to be with his heavenly Father on Friday, January 7, 2011, at the age of 85, after a fall, surgery, and subsequent complications. He passed away peacefully while listening to John 14:2 - 3 with his daughter Kimberly and granddaughter Jessica by his side. He was raised in Bartlesville and joined the United States Marine Corps after graduation from high school and served during World War II. During that time he met and married the love of his life, and wife of 53 years, Geraldine Jeanette "Jerry" Gibbons, of Hermon, New York. He attended the University of Oklahoma and graduated from North Carolina State University with a Bachelor of Architecture Degree in 1941. He studied under such architects as Bruce Goff and Henry L. Kamphoefner, and worked on projects critiqued by Frank Lloyd Wright, Edwardo Catalano, Buckminster Fuller, and Mies van der Rohe. He was greatly inspired by Wright, whom he met several times, and was later job architect for repairs and additions to the H. C. Price, Jr., House, designed by Wright. Mr. McCrory was an innovative and original architect, whose hundreds of designs from his 50-year career include residences, churches, professional offices, schools, hospitals, and libraries. He is most known for his custom private homes scattered throughout northeastern Oklahoma that are so unique and timeless that they are researched, sought after, photographed, and studied. His family has begun a project to compile his life's work. After 32 years he sold his Bartlesville firm in 1991 to associate Scott Ambler. Tom & Jerry retired to Grove, Oklahoma, on beautiful Grand Lake, where he continued to work on projects locally. He loved boating on Grand Lake with family, summer vacations in Florida, was an avid reader, and enjoyed piano music, modern art, astronomy, aviation, eating at Drake's, and watching Fox News. He was a member of Sigma Chi, the Republican Party, and Delaware Baptist Church. He was charming and kind, and had a fantastic sense of humor. He will most be remembered as a devoted husband, loving father, beloved grandfather, and caring brother. Known affectionately as McDad by those who loved him, he is predeceased by his wife Jerry (2000), his father Clifford Wallace Lyonell McCrory (1987) [Marie Blank McCrory (1980)], his mother Gertrude Keesee Engel (1979), and his brother Michael Lynn McCrory (2002). He is survived by his daughter Kimberly Roach and granddaughter Jessica Kimberly Roach of Oklahoma, and grandson Paul Harding Roach of Arizona; daughter Jill [Glen Melin] and grandsons Glen Eric Melin [Sara] and David Thomas Melin of Texas; his sister Terry McCrory [Nick Avtonomoff], niece Katrina, and nephew Michael of California; nephew Michael Scott Dutcher of Oklahoma; his Uncle Roy Blank and cousins Kerri Hampton, Marsha Grimes, and Mike Blank. A memorial service will be held Friday, January 14, at 11 a.m. at Delaware Baptist Church in Grove, Oklahoma.

Service Details

Friday, January 14th, 2011 11:00am, Delaware Baptist Church