Richard Curtis Day

Richard’s education came from public schools in Blackwell and Oklahoma City and a BS Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Oklahoma University in 1957; Tau Beta Pi and Pi Tau Sigma Scholastic Societies, Beta Theta Pi Social Fraternity. Immediately following graduation he was an instructor in the School of Mechanical Engineering for one semester. During the early summer of 1957 he was briefly in process development at Union Carbide Corporation in Port Lavaca, TX.

From late August of 1957 through December of 1959 Richard was on active duty as a Lieutenant Air Force Special Weapons Center, Kirtland AFB New Mexico. His assignment dealt with the preparation of technical manuals on the loading and delivery of thermonuclear weapons from winged aircraft, primarily the B-47 and B-52. Our sole objective was to make certain “Ivan” behaved himself in a confrontation now known as the Cold War.

From 1960 through 1992 Richard was with Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co., an electric utility based in Oklahoma City. His responsibilities dealt with rate, customer service, and regulatory issues. The career fell within the ongoing spasm of social disorder where the ritual bashing of electric utilities is held to be the ultimate expression of societal justice. His relation to this political wallow was contentious and continuous. In 1987 a heart attack brought a long overdue occasion to re-examine his priorities and he elected to take early retirement at the close of 1992. At the time he held the positions of Vice President, Marketing Division and Chairman of the Revenue Requirements Committee.

From January 1993 to the present Richard had been fulfilling a long suppressed urge to try his hand at fine art photography. His early color images appeared in Oklahoma Today, a publication of the State. In 1995 he rediscovered his old friend black and white and expanded my subject horizon to include the entire American West. His prints are done in an in -home darkroom using traditional chemical processing. In 2005 sepia toned a number of images for a self-published book titled THE EXPANSE.

Richard was deeply grateful for the later chapters in my life. He viewed all of it as an underserved gift from the One who made us all. He was a former elder at Messiah Lutheran Church in Oklahoma City.

Richard was preceded in death by his wife, Gloria Sadler Day.

He was survived by his three children, Kathryn Day Vaught and her husband Tom, Jenny Day Kirby and her husband Rich, and Richard B Day, his grandchildren, Caleb Kirby and his wife Laura, Thomas Vaught and his wife Lauren, Joshua Kirby and his wife Hope, Ben Kirby, Abby Kirby, Andy Kirby, Winston Kirby, Uriah Kirby, Gus Kirby, Iris Kirby, Asa Kirby, Flora Kirby, Blythe Kirby, and Vander Vaught.

A visitation for Richard will be held Thursday, August 26, 2021 from 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM at Memorial Park Funeral Home, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. A graveside service will occur Friday, August 27, 2021 at 10:00 AM at Memorial Park Cemetery, 13313 North Kelley, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Serving as pallbearers are Richard B Day, Caleb Kirby, Thomas Vaught, Joshua Kirby, Ben Kirby and Andy Kirby.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.MemorialParkOKC.com for the Day family.