Fred M. Ockerman

Fred M. Ockerman, age 66, of Glenwood, formerly of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, passed away on Thursday, November 17, 2016. He was born on June 21, 1950, at Seminole, Oklahoma, the son of Bill Ockerman and Berniece Elsie Ziemer Ockerman. On January 17, 1976, he married Lurene Coates Ockerman. He was preceded in death by his parents. In 1971, while working as a roustabout with Husky Oil Company, he was promoted to the chemical engineering division. Fred was instrumental in helping the company build a 6 million dollar gas plant that separated hydrogen from sulfur to satisfy the EPA requirements. Later he worked for Major Controls in Tulsa where he was a manufacturing purchasing agent and the head of the assembly department. His office was decorated with corporate ball caps given to him over the years by sales representatives. After the owner of Major Controls retired, the company was acquired by several larger companies. Fred was the only original employee of Major Controls to survive after the last merger with Wellmark. During his tenure at Wellmark, Fred led the company in obtaining a significant international quality control UL rating within a record six month period. He retired in 2009. Fred was an avid storm chaser, enjoyed riding motorcycles and driving fast cars, was an antique aircraft and aviation mechanics enthusiast and a ham radio operator with the call sign KB5BQA. His love of music helped him through life and he was one of Jehovah's Witnesses. He is survived by his wife, Lurene Ockerman of Glenwood; two daughters and one son-in-law, Julie Reel of Atascadero, California, and Crystal and Gary Massengill of Hattiesburg, Mississippi; his adopted daughter and her husband, Susan and John Bush of Dallas, Texas; and his three adopted granddaughters, Elizabeth, Katherine and Jessica. Memorial services will be held at 2:00 PM, Saturday, November 26, 2016, in the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses in Glenwood with William Rutherford officiating. Honorary pallbearers will be the doctors, nurses and staff of Arkansas Hospice. Guest registry is at www.davis-smith.com.