Richard O "Dick" Newman, Sr
Aug 30, 1920 - Dec 18, 1995
Rewritten & posted by Jo Aguirre

He received a degree in electrical engineering from Oklahoma State University. He was in the Army during World War II, and he joined PSO as a junior engineer after the war. Rising through the ranks, he was named a vice president in 1965 and was promoted to executive vice president in 1968. Newman was PSO's president from 1972 to 1982, when he became the chairman of its board.  He retired on Aug. 30, 1985, his 65th birthday. During his tenure as president, PSO completed coal-fired generating units at Oologah and dropped plans for the Black Fox nuclear power plant near Inola because of public opposition and rising costs. Newman was the president of the Metropolitan Tulsa Chamber of Commerce in 1976. He was the president of the Oklahoma State Chamber of Commerce in 1982. He was also a  trustee of St. Francis Hospital, the University of Tulsa and Phillips University, and was the board president of Goodwill Industries, Tulsa Christian Foundation, Downtown Tulsa Unlimited and the Indian Nations Council of Boy Scouts. He also was an elder at Eastside Christian Church. In addition, he was a board member of First National Bank of Tulsa and Williams Cos. Inc. Newman received many honors for his civic work, including a 1982 award from the National Jewish Hospital-National Asthma Center. He was active in the American Nuclear Society and the American Society of Professional Engineers. He received the Outstanding Engineer Award in 1978 from the American Society of Professional Engineers.

Survivors include his wife, Betty; a daughter, Linda Weathers of Tulsa; two sons, Mark Newman of Claremore and Richard Newman Jr. of Tulsa; a brother, Howard Newman of Tulsa; a sister, Darlene Brown of Columbus, Ohio; eight grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

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