GRAYDON LESTER BROWN

OKLAHOMA CITY — Graydon Lester Brown died Saturday, Dec. 10, 2005, in Oklahoma City. A memorial service will be held at the Brill Chapel at Epworth Villa, 14901 North Pennsylvania Avenue, Wednesday, Dec. 14 at 2 p.m.
Born Aug. 7, 1924, the son of Ethel Pratt and Simpson Lester Brown in Newkirk, Brown went through grade school and high school there. His college education at Oklahoma A&M, now Oklahoma State University, was interrupted by World War II. He served as a radio technician in the U.S. Navy.
Graydon received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in 1948 and 1952 from Oklahoma State University. After his graduation he worked for the Research Foundation of Oklahoma State University. He participated in the development of a radar beacon missile tracking system from 1948 to 1951. He married Marquetta Griswold in 1951. In 1952, Graydon went to work for Conoco in the Research and Development Department in the development of geophysical instrumentation in Ponca City. He contributed to the development of the "Vibroseis" exploration system, which searches for oil without using dynamite.
Graydon was granted 22 patents by the U.S. Patent Office assigned to Conoco. He retired in 1986 as director of technical and administrative services. He then went to work for Pelton Co., where he taught classes in the use of "Vibroseis." In addition to Ponca City, he taught classes in Canada, Germany and Pakistan.
After he retired from Pelton Co., he served as a consulting engineer. He is a member of the IEEE and the Oklahoma Society of Professional Engineers and a member and Distinguished Lecturer of the Society of Exploration Geophysics.
Active in the Ponca City community, Graydon was chairman of the Community Concert Board for several terms. He was also Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the First United Methodist Church for several terms. He was a Boy Scout leader and took a troop on a tour of Europe. He enjoyed back packing and helped Don Miller sponsor church back packing trips.
On his travels in the United States Graydon would stop at court houses and do genealogical research. He was active in the Ponca Genealogy Society, serving as president. He gave many programs. His favorite presentations were "Researching in England" and "Land Records."
The family hosted two foreign exchange students from Australia and Brazil. When visiting the Australian student, Graydon scuba dived in the Great Barrier Reef. He also dived in the Cayman Islands and the Caribbean.
He became interested in the Antarctic as a youth when listening to the radio broadcasts of polar explorer Admiral Richard Byrd. He realized his dream of cruising around Antarctica in 1997. He made several wet landings taking photos of he penguins and seals.
Another pastime was snow skiing in Colorado. He did ski the slopes of Inssbruck, Austria, once, just to say he had, but he liked Colorado better.
He is survived by his wife and their children, Gracelyn Brown, Los Angeles; G. Wesley and Kelly Brown, Erin and Madeline Rose, Tulsa; Anitra and Christopher Rowley, New York; and Jolly and Greg Pugh, Michael, Allison and Tyler, Norman; Helen Brennan, Australia, and Lu Machado D'Oliveria, Brazil, and a host of friends and relatives.
In lieu of flowers, send contributions to First United Methodist Church, 200 South Sixth street, Ponca City, Okla. 74601, or Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, 825 NE 13th Street, Oklahoma City, Okla. 73104.
Friends may pay their respects to the family from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 15 at the Goldenstern home.