|
| |
OU Regents' Professor William Reid (Bill) Upthegrove died at his home in Norman on May 25, 2016. He was 87. Bill was born in Ann Arbor Michigan on November 10, 1928, a son of Clair and Hazel Katherine Platt Upthegrove. His father was an engineering professor at the University of Michigan and his mother received her BS in Chemistry there.
After receiving his BS degree in metallurgical engineering at the University of Michigan in 1950, Bill served on active duty for three years as an Ensign, and later Lieutenant (junior grade), on the U.S.S. Radford in the Pacific Fleet during the Korean War. He received the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for heroism at the risk of life for swimming to rescue a fellow seaman who had been swept overboard in extremely high seas.
Bill met his future bride, Margot Jeanne Mowatt, before shipping out of Pearl Harbor in 1950. They were married on a short leave in Pearl Harbor on July 11, 1953, after which they returned to Ann Arbor for graduate school, where Bill received his MS and PhD in metallurgical engineering. In 1956, Bill took a position as Assistant Professor of Engineering at OU, where he was tasked with building a new School of Metallurgical Engineering. After being promoted to Associate Professor, in 1962 he accepted a position in industry as Section Head for Powder Metallurgy Research at International Nickel Company in Bayonne, New Jersey.
Bill returned to academia in 1964 as Professor and Chairman of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. In July 1970, he returned to OU as Professor and Dean of the College of Engineering. After serving as Dean for 11 years, Bill resigned that post and assumed duties as a Professor in the School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering. In 1981, the OU Regents awarded him for his long and successful tenure as Dean by appointing him as Regents' Professor. Bill retired from OU in 1993. During his academic career, Bill kept in touch with "the real world" by serving as a consultant to a variety of industrial, governmental and educational organizations. He continued consulting after his retirement from OU until 2013. Bill was a Board Member for United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) of Cleveland County from 1972 to 1988, serving two four-year terms as its Chairman. He was on the National Board of Directors for UCP from 1988 to 1993. Bill and Margot lobbied extensively for the rights, service needs and opportunities of disabled persons, and were instrumental in establishing public school access for special needs children in Cleveland County.
In spite of keeping long hours and his heavy professional workload, Bill was a dedicated father and a trusted friend to many. He enjoyed nothing more than spending time with his children and grandchildren, and was extremely proud of having raised five kids "who pretty much have their heads screwed on right." Bill and Margot loved to entertain in their home; their engineering faculty cocktail parties were the stuff of legend. Bill's quick wit and dry sense of humor will be greatly missed.
Bill was preceded in death by his lovely wife, Margot; his brother, Nelson; and his sister, Mary Clair. He is survived by his daughter, Amy Zimmer (Dave); his sons David (Angela), Tom (Leslie Grobar), Bruce (Dee Ann) and Michael; and his six grandchildren (Sarah, Sam, Reid, Seth, Emma and Chloe), who miss their "Grumps" very much.
The Upthegrove family would like to express its gratitude and appreciation to the Valir Hospice Care team, specifically Dee, Greg, Deborah and Zanita, for the past six months of support and loving care.
A memorial service will be held at Havenbrook Funeral Home Chapel the time to be determined on Saturday, July 2, with a reception to follow.
In lieu of flowers, gifts in Bill's memory may be directed to Ability Connection Oklahoma (formerly United Cerebral Palsy of Oklahoma), 10400 Greenbriar Place, Suite 101, Oklahoma City, OK 73159, or other charity of your choice.
This site may be freely linked, but not duplicated in any way without consent.
All rights reserved! Commercial use of material within this site is prohibited!
© 2000-2024 Oklahoma CemeteriesThe information on this site is provided free for the purpose of researching your genealogy. This material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, for your own research, as long as this message remains on all copied material. The information contained in this site may not be copied to any other site without written "snail-mail" permission. If you wish to have a copy of a donor's material, you must have their permission. All information found on these pages is under copyright of Oklahoma Cemeteries. This is to protect any and all information donated. The original submitter or source of the information will retain their copyright. Unless otherwise stated, any donated material is given to Oklahoma Cemeteries to make it available online. This material will always be available at no cost, it will always remain free to the researcher.