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James Pascal 'Pat' Killingsworth, age 100, died December 14, 2012, at his home in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. He was born May 26, 1912, in Seminole, Oklahoma to Sarah Ina Jones and William Jackson 'Will' Killingsworth.
He grew up watching sleepy Seminole turn into a roaring boom town when the Seminole oil field came in in 1926.
He won at least two bicycles for selling the most new subscriptions to the Tulsa World to the 'prettiest girls you ever saw' who came to town with the rig builders and tool pushers. Oh, the stories Pat could tell!
He graduated from Seminole High School in 1931 with a perfect attendance record and only one point shy of being valedictorian of his class. Darn that girl!
After two wonderful years at the University of Oklahoma, where he was a member of Phi Kappa Sigma Fraternity, the Great Depression forced Pat to leave OU and go to work.
In 1934, he married Trula Maxine 'Max' Chrislip. Pat and Max lived in Kilgore, TX and briefly in Los Angeles, CA, before they returned to Seminole and he began a career in the oil field equipment business. He worked for Happy Belting Company, then Bovaird Supply Co., Guiberson Corporation and finally Otis Tool and Equipment Co.
Pat and Max moved with their two children, Joan and Mike, to Duncan, OK in 1948 when he became manager of the new Bovaird Supply store built to serve the rapidly expanding oil fields around Duncan.
Retiring finally at age 70, Pat pursued his hobbies of gardening and helping OU play football. His garden was Better Homes and Gardens beautiful and his veggie gardens were spectacular. Asparagus, okra, eggplant and the best tasting tomatoes. The gardening was therapy for the stress of caring for Max as her health declined over many years. In 1998 they moved to Bartlesville to be nearer their daughter and son-in-law, Joan and Dave Dreisker.
He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife of 65 years, Max, his son, Mike and a grandson, Aaron. He is survived by his daughter and son-in-law, Joan and Dave Dreisker, grandchildren Jed Dreisker, Kris Usdin, Shawn Killingsworth, Jessica Machiela and 6 great grandchildren.
The family appreciates the great care he received from Rivercross Hospice. Cremation arrangements were made by Add'Vantage of Tulsa. Private services will be followed by interment at Sixkiller Cemetery near Afton, OK.
The Plainsman's Creed hung in a small frame in Pat's home for all his one hundred years and is worth repeating in his memory.
"I waste no thought on my neighbor's birth
Or the way he makes his prayer
I grant him a white man's room on earth
If his game is only square
While he plays it straight, I'll call him mate
If he cheats, I'll drop him flat;
Old class and rank are a worn out lie
For all clean men are as good as I,
And a King is only that."
If you knew Pat, raise your glass in a toast to him next time OU's playing football and consider a contribution to the university in his memory.
Boomer Sooner.
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