Edward John Voorhees

Edward John Voorhees Sr., 84, died Tuesday evening, June 18, 2019 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Ed was born June 23, 1934 in Tulsa, Oklahoma to his parents, Theodore and Marie (Williams) Voorhees. He was a member of the Will Rogers High School graduating class of 1952. Later that year, Ed enrolled at Oklahoma A&M and was awarded a Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1956. While at A&M, he became a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity and continued to be an active alumnus until 2013. Ed served in the Army from 1958 to 1960. Upon his honorable discharge, Ed began his extensive career in the oil industry, holding a number of engineering positions with increasing responsibilities. Ed started his career with Continental Oil Company working in Maryland, Wyoming, Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas. He worked for four years for Whiteshield Oil and Gas in Oklahoma and West Virginia. After leaving Whiteshield, Ed spent the next seventeen years with Fenix & Scisson in Oklahoma, Nevada, and Wyoming. While at Fenix & Scission, he was responsible for aiding in the construction of underground storage facilities for products. The company was also engaged in solution and hard rock mining and down-hole exploratory drilling. Ed finished his career working for Bechtel Corporation for thirteen years in California; where he received the 1994 Federal Energy and Water Management Award for sustained exemplary service for the efficient use of water in the federal sector.

After retirement, Ed returned to Tulsa and rejoined his church home, Asbury United Methodist Church, where he and his family had attended in previous years. He married Geri on June 23, 2001, and together they continued to love and serve the Lord and others.

Throughout his life, Ed demonstrated that loving and serving the Lord and others was a priority, and his focus was always on his family, church, and the communities in which he lived. As a boy, he was involved in the YMCA and Boy Scouts. Ed learned the value of hard work at a young age, while having various paper routes and working at a root beer stand for 50 cents/hour. As an adult, he spent countless hours involved in the numerous activities his children participated in; as well as serving in various roles at the churches in which he attended. One of Ed’s joys in his later years was organizing and helping lead trips for the Asbury Senior Sunday School members.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Theodore and Marie Voorhees, and his late wife, Sandra Shaw Voorhees.

Ed leaves many loving memories with his family; wife of 18 years, Geraldine; daughter, Pam Bransford (Dale); son, Edward John Voorhees, Jr. (Tracy); daughter, Valerie Terrell (Matt); daughter, Shawna Blocker (Gordon); step-son, Mike Broderick; sister, Donna Atkinson; first wife Barbara; and 12 grandchildren and 1 great grandson.

Family requests memorials to be made in Ed’s memory to St. Francis Hospice, 6600 S Yale Ave # 350, Tulsa, OK 74136. 918-494-6465.

Celebration of Life Service will be 2:00 PM Saturday, June 22, 2019 at Schaudt Tulsa Funeral Service with Pastor David Thomas officiating.

Arrangements were entrusted to Schaudt Tulsa Funeral Service. Family and friends may send memories and condolences to the family online at www.schaudtfuneralservice.com.