Elmer P. Alvis Jr.

Funeral services for Elmer P. Alvis Jr., were held Tuesday at the Putnam Christian Church with interment in Mound Cemetery at Taloga.

Alvis died while working on his family farm at Putnam, on Aug. 29, 2014. He was born June 13, 1932 ,at home near Thomas, the son of Ruth and Elmer Alvis, and attended Putnam schools, graduating in 1950.

The next year he started college in Weatherford at Southwestern Oklahoma State University.

In 1953 he married Pauline Laird, and the young couple moved to Norman where he graduated in 1955 from the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering.

After graduation, Alvis worked on many projects. In 1957 he designed the ground support equipment for the Titan I, an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). He also worked on the Titan II rocket that was used on the Gemini program.

One of his jobs was to design the cooling system on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral. Later, he designed the heat resistant nose cone that was used on the space shuttles of yesterday and today.

His work also contributed to the designs of the cooling systems of several space vehicles, the space suit, and the backpack for the Apollo missions.

His work on this program earned him the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Apollo Achievement Award.

In 1970, Alvis became the manager of quality at Carrier Air Conditioning.

In 1984, he went to work for LTV and worked on the B-2 stealth bomber, the most technically advanced aircraft in the world today.

His name appears on a plaque at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Virginia.

He also had several leadership roles in the Methodist denomination. Upon retirement, he returned to his home in Putnam to spend his days farming.

Survivors include his wife of 61 years, Pauline Alvis; a brother, Robert Alvis and his wife, Dorothy, of Albuquerque, N.M.; and a sister, Carol Reimer, of Springfield, Mo.; his children, Pamela Hill and her husband, Pete, Cynthia Edwards and her husband, Ralph, Debra Gilbert and her husband, David, and Ruth Ellen Pierson and her husband, Rick; nine grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews. .

Preceding him in death was a sister, Nellie Jackson.

The family suggests memorial contributions in his honor be made to the Thomas P. Stafford Air and Space Museum, 3000 E. Logan Rd., Weatherford, OK  73096.

Funeral arrangements were under the direction of Shaw Funeral Home of Taloga.