Robert M See

Robert M. See, Ponca City resident, died Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2007, at home. He was 82.
A service will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 29, in the chapel of Trout Funeral Home with Major Don Harris, Salvation Army, officiating. Burial will follow in Odd Fellows Cemetery.
Robert M. See was born March 5, 1925, at Oil Valley in Butler Co., Kan. He was the son of Earl and Loyce See. He received his early education at Garber. He attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. Before receiving his BS and MS degrees in electrical engineering from Oklahoma State University.
See spent three years in the U.S. Navy during World War II in the South Pacific engaged in the island war zone, amphibious operations. He was a radioman 1/c with Gropac 7, Comm 11, supplying communications for ground and air Pacific forces. Bob loved to tell the story of how his 19th birthday was only two hours long! His ship crossed the international date line at 2 a.m. on his 19th birthday en route to the Marshall Islands. But happily, two years later he was discharged in California on his 21st birthday.
In early 1946, See turned down an offer to work as an actor in the movie industry in Hollywood, Calif. He wanted to continue his education in the electrical engineering field. See was awarded his BS and MS degrees in electrical engineering from the Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State University).
On Nov. 28, 1946, he married Leota J. Hyer of Garber. They lived in Stillwater and Evansville, Ind., before moving to Ponca City. He was a research engineer for the Electronics Research Dept. in Evansville, Ind., for three years before joining Conoco in the Geophysical and Engineering Departments, where he retired in 1984 after 31 years. He was the author of several magazine articles and patents in the field of electrical engineering.
His hobbies were golf, ham radio, genealogy and gardening. He had held a ham radio license since 1946 and was awarded many radio operating certificates including high speed Morse code and confirmed two-way contacts with more than 300 countries, all the countries of the world. Many times during major foreign disasters, See was contacted by strangers from surrounding states, asking him for help in determining the health and welfare of their relatives in the disaster area. His FCC assigned call sign was N5PC. He has also held W5LTD and W9OCL.
Survivors include his wife, Leota; three sons, Dan See of Wichita, Kan., Bill See and his wife Sandy of Norman and Delbert See of Lawrence, Kan.; grandchildren, Alison See and Ben See; one brother, Richard "Dick" See; and one sister, Betty Tepper.
He was preceded in death by his parents; one son, James "Jim" Richard See on Jan. 10, 1970; and two sisters.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Kay County Amateur Radio Society, P.O. Box 2750, Ponca City, Okla. 74602 or to the Disabled American Veterans, P.O. Box 2181, Ponca City, Okla. 74602