John M. Quam

Mr. Quam was born July 11, 1919, the second of seven children, to Walter Quam and Bess Quam, nee Anderson, in Fargo, ND, and graduated from Fargo High School before going to work for meatpacker Armour & Co.

On New Year’s Eve 1941, Mr. Quam joined the Army Air Corps and saw duty in the South Pacific throughout World War II. Mr. Quam liked to tell the story of sailing from the United States to Australia in the cruise liner Queen Mary which had been converted to a troop carrier. He noted his hammock did not include the accommodations of the liner’s luxury cruising days.

Among his various duties during the war, Mr. Quam was assigned to the mess hall, where he developed a life-long love of cooking—especially meat. He was often consulted by friends for the best way to prepare beef, lamb and pork. He did not think highly of chicken. The evening he was struck by his last illness, Mr. Quam had prepared dinner for his special friend, Lois Daniels.

After the war, Tech. Sgt. Quam returned to Armour & Co. and on Aug. 5, 1947, married Dolores Prichard. They were married nearly 55 years, until Mrs. Quam’s death Aug. 3, 2002. Mr. and Mrs. Quam raised three daughters, who survive him. His daughters are Claudia Scribner (Edward), of Oklahoma City; Jonel Dickey (Joe Don) of El Reno and Frederick; and Betsy Martin (Morey Villareal), of Tulsa.

Mr. Quam is also survived by two grandchildren, John Scribner (Adrienne), of Arlington, Va., and Tony Martin of Tulsa, as well as three great-grandchildren.

Mr. Quam is also survived by two brothers, Fred Quam, of Fargo, and Robert Quam, of Horseshoe Bay, TX, and his only sister, Pat Score, of Bloomington, MN.

During his time with Armour & Co., Mr. Quam was posted to locations throughout the United States and learned the cattle business. In 1960, he and his family moved to Frederick, OK, where he and a partner built and operated Coake & Quam Feedyard, a commercial cattle-feeding operation.

He served southwest Oklahoma as a state transportation commissioner, appointed by Gov. Henry Bellmon in 1987 and serving until 1991. He also served as a deacon and elder for the First Presbyterian Church in Frederick, which he and his family joined because the area had no church for Lutherans, the faith in which he was baptized as a child.

After retirement, Mr. and Mrs. Quam moved to Oklahoma City in 1995. They enjoyed playing duplicate bridge, a pursuit Mr. Quam continued after his wife’s death, saying it and crossword puzzles helped keep his mental faculties sharp. The Quams also spent summers enjoying fishing and gardening in Detroit Lakes, MN, about an hour’s drive from his childhood home of Fargo.

A Memorial Service will be conducted at 2 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 3, at the Hahn-Cook/Street & Draper Funeral Directors Chapel, 6600 N. Broadway Extension, Oklahoma City. Inurnment will occur at Riverside Cemetery in Fargo, ND, after the ground thaws from the winter freeze, in the tradition of Mr. Quam’s Scandinavian forebears.

Memorials are not expected, but if anyone would like to make a memorial, the family suggests donations may be made to the charity of the giver’s choice or for stroke research to the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, 825 NE 13th St., Oklahoma City 73104 or omrf.org/gifts.