Dr. Howard Dean ”Doc” Kisner - husband, father, scientist and
inventor, 73, of Claremore, Oklahoma passed away surrounded by his
wife and children in his home on September 15, 2014.
A Celebration of Life will be held at MMS-Payne Funeral Home Chapel,
102 W. 5th Street, Claremore, 2:00p.m., Friday, September 19, 2014.
Family and friends are welcome to share tributes. Burial will be at
Holdenville Cemetery in Holdenville, Oklahoma at a later date.
Memorials can be made to, Stand Up to Cancer,
www.standup2cancer.org
,
or Hospice of Green Country, 1120 S. Boston, Suite 200, Tulsa,
Oklahoma 74119. Leave your memories of Howard and view his tribute at
www.mmsfuneralhomes.com
.
Howard D. Kisner, Ph.D. was born June 11, 1941 in Berryville, Arkansas
to Howard Lyndon and Edith Millie (Smith) Kisner. In 1961, he met his
lifelong love, Patsy E. Ratliff. They married on July 29, 1961 in
Tulsa, Oklahoma and spent 53 loving years together. Howard pursued his
ambitions to become a physicist by completing his B.S. at the
University of Little Rock in 1968. He completed his master's Degree in
1972 and his Doctorate of Philosophy in 1976, at the University of
Arkansas in Fayetteville. The then, Dr. Kisner became an associate
professor teaching electronics and mathematics at Midwestern State
University in Wichita Falls, Texas until 1979 when he joined Delphi,
division of General Motors. As Sr. Manufacturing Engineer, he was
awarded three patents for work in design and manufacturing of exhaust
oxygen sensors and two patents for work on lithium ion bio-cells. He
won the illustrious Boss Kettering award in 1984 and the Delphi
Innovation Hall of Fame President's Award in 1995.
Prior to retirement, he worked as chief scientist for Delphi acting as
GM liaison to Valence Technologies in Las Vegas Nevada, after which he
and his wife Patsy moved to Texarkana, Arkansas until 2010 when Howard
and Patsy finally settled in Claremore, Oklahoma.
While a paragraph can't begin to sum up his life, how much he was
loved and respected or how much he will be missed, he will be
remembered by everyone for his love of family, wicked grin, strength
and wisdom, his passion for teaching, pleasure in a great day of golf,
his small carpentry projects like his airplane hanger sized garage,
4000+ sq. foot geodesic dome house and numerous kitchen and house
remodeling projects, being the go-to person on practically every
subject, his fondness of science fiction and Steven King, and as an
avid armchair quarterback for the Arkansas Razorbacks. Howard loved
traveling with his wife and grandsons in his RV, visiting with
friends, gardening, and of course absolutely anything to do with
physics, math and science.
Howard is survived by his wife Patsy Elaine; daughter Sherrie Kisner
Dotson and her husband Glen Dotson of Dallas; son Scott Lyndon Kisner
and his wife Susan Leigh Kisner of Fredrick, OK; four grandsons,
Samuel Beau Banning, Scott Lyndon Kisner Jr. and his wife Bethany
Kisner, Glen Leon Dotson III, and Steven Lee Kisner, and great
grandson Nolyn Kisner. Sister-in-Law Anna Kisner of Huntsville
Alabama, nephew James (Kimo) Kisner and his wife Kim and niece Terri
Beeson and her husband Doug and family; sister-in-law Rose Smith of
Locus Grove and family, sister-in-law Maggie Ferguson of Pryor and
family, bother-in-law Sonny Singley and family, sister-in-law Phylis
Hensley and husband Robert and family; brother-in-law Ronald Ratliff
and wife Billie and family, brother-in-law Richard Ratliff and wife
Kim and family, sister-in-law Jeanetta Titterington and family, as
well as seven cousins and numerous friends.
Howard was preceded in death by his parents and brother, James C. Kisner.