Otto J. Seidl's Obituary
Otto Seidl, 95, passed away peacefully on April 10, 2016 at Brookdale Memory Care Center in Broken Arrow, OK. Born May 15, 1920 in Gailsbach, Germany, Otto immigrated to the United States with his mother and two sisters, arriving at Ellis Island in 1924 and joining his father in Chicago. He spent his formative years in Chicago, graduating from Kelvyn Park High School in 1938. He served in the US Army Air Corps from 1939 to 1945, as a radio operator on a B-17 bomber serving in the Pacific Theater of World War II. Otto participated in the first non-stop flight of a B-17 squadron flying from California to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in 1941, for which he received an air medal. In 1945, Otto married Flora Fitzpatrick of Chicago. Under the GI Bill, he earned his degree as a mechanical engineer from the Illinois Institute of Technology. He joined Combustion Engineering in 1949, and worked with the company, moving to eight states in various management capacities, until his retirement in 1985 in Broken Arrow. Leisure time included his love of flying his own airplane, hitting a little white ball around the golf course, playing bridge, playing violin and singing in a barbershop quartet, which led to his serving on the board of the Chattanooga (Tenn.) Symphony Orchestra. Otto is survived by his wife Flora with whom he shared 70 years of marriage, his daughter Pat and husband Joe Staggs, daughter Marilyn Sobwick, daughter Carol and husband Mickey Maus, grandson Bob and wife Tara Bennett, grandson Jim and wife Gina Bennett, grandsons Stuart and Gregory Maus, and five great-grandchildren Marissa Bennett, Caroline Bennett, Ryan Bennett, Jack Bennett, and Patrick Bennett. Otto’s optimistic positive attitude carried him to living a loving, happy and fruitful life. Funeral Service 12:30 p.m., Friday April 15, 2016 at Floral Haven Funeral Home Chapel.
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