RALPH A. OLDHAM

Ralph A. Oldham, 93, of San Angelo, passed away Monday, July 25, 2005 at Shannon Hospital. Funeral services will be at 3:00 PM, Thursday, July 28, 2005 at the Robert Massie Riverside Chapel with Mr. Boyd Jennings of the Green Meadow Church of Christ officiating. Burial will be held at 3:00 PM, Friday, July 29, 2005 at the Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery, 7405 W. Northwest Hwy., Dallas, Texas, with Mr. Timothy Jennings officiating. Arrangements are made by Robert Massie Funeral Home. Ralph was a long life member of the Church of Christ. He has been a member of the Green Meadow Church of Christ where he attended faithfully. Ralph was born November 5, 1911 in Jones, Oklahoma to Joseph Lewis and Margie Jackson Oldham. He graduated from Sunset High School in Dallas, and was a graduate of Engineering School of Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX. Ralph married Thelma Lee Potts on October 8, 1933 in Durant, Oklahoma. They had celebrated their 71st wedding anniversary. His first job was secured by standing in a line 3 blocks long at Sears-Roebuck in Dallas. This was during the great depression; he apparently made an impression and was hired on to work in the tire section. When he left S.M.U., he could not find a job in engineering and went to work with M.K.T. ("KATY") Railroad as a laborer on the section. In 1939 he was given the position as chainman in the Engineering Department at Parsons, Kansas. In 1941, he went with the Missouri Pacific Railroad as a Rodman in Engineering Department on construction of a high level concrete ballast deck bridge over the swamps and the Atchafalaya River. He volunteered for U.S. Naval Seabees assigned to 58th battalion and served throughout the South Pacific. Later transferred with Commander of Naval Construction Troops where he assisted in the development of and location of various military units including the triangulation of Okinawa and preparing Guada Canal for the strikes on Japan. Upon his return from World War II, he went back to work for the railroad as general foreman of construction and then as assistant design engineer of the "KATY" Railroad. He designed numerous industrial developments including the Brookhollow Industrial District in Dallas and Katy Park in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Brookhollow Development was a dream shared by Bill Windsor, owner of the huge tract, and Oldham, who designed the complete railroad layout and preliminary street plan. He was on the "shakedown" run of the "Texas Special" - the trial run of the new streamliner equipment for that famous passenger train. He prepared the new speeds and restricted curves for the lower center of gravity diesel engines. He was a former member of the American Railway Engineering Association and American Society of Civil Engineering. He was an avid golfer and bridge player. He was preceded in death by his parents, J.L. and Margie Oldham, Sister Pearl May Oldham and infant daughter Patricia Oldham. Survivors include his wife, Thelma Lee Oldham of San Angelo, daughter, Kathy Fitzgibbons and her husband John of Austin, TX, son Randy J. Oldham and wife Patricia of Flower Mound, TX, three grandchildren, Brad Fitzgibbons of Atlanta, Georgia, Mark Fitzgibbons of Austin, TX., and Amy Fitzgibbons Wolff of Kyle, TX and one great-granddaughter, Amanda Wolff. The family requests that Memorials be sent to Green Meadow Church of Christ, 3438 Green Meadow, San Angelo, 76904 or a charity of your choice. The family sends a special thank you to staff of Hospice of San Angelo for the wonderful care given to Mr. Oldham.