John Richard Seiver, 87, of League City, Texas, passed away on Tuesday, April 10th, 2018. He was born in Wadsworth, Ohio on November 2nd, 1930 to Marian Grace (Oplinger) and Marvin Hidy Seiver. He was married to his high school sweetheart, Margie Nell Eaves, for 54 years (June 1951 until her passing in September 2005). She was the love of his life.
John, aka Richard, (or “J.R.”) had a long and distinguished career as an electrical engineer. His career began in May 1951 at Humble (later Exxon) Oil in Baytown and ended with his retirement from the Bechtel Corporation in 2013, some 62 years later. Richard served on active duty in the United States Army from 1955 to 1956 (mostly in Austria and Germany) in the 32nd Signal Battalion, Company D as an Electronic Specialist/Radio Operator, reaching the rank of Sergeant. Prior to his honorable discharge (after 6 years of Individual Ready Reserve) on December 31, 1962, he was awarded the Good Conduct Medal; Army Occupation Medal (Germany); Commendation Ribbon with Medal Pendant; and Letter of Commendation: CPX “Bear Claw”. He also received the Citation: Exemplary Duty (07/09/55 – 08/20/56).
After graduating from the University of Houston with a Bachelor Degree in General Engineering and in Mathematics in May of 1955, and a Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering, in May of 1959, Richard decided to try his hand at Electronics Engineering. He went to work for the logging services company, Welex (now Halliburton), where he co-invented the dip-meter, a dominant tool used in down-hole oil exploration and production. After Welex, Richard joined the Fluor Corporation, and as Department Manager, led over 600 people in the Electrical and Controls Division. From Fluor, he worked a short stint at Stone & Webster Engineering Corporation (where his father worked many years prior), and then moved to the Bechtel Corporation where he worked until his retirement. His insight and electrical knowledge formed the basis for the two books he authored; “Electrical Calculations – The Easy Way” (1993) and “Short Circuit Calculations – The Easy Way” (1999). For many years, Richard held training sessions on these methods for the engineers at Bechtel and for the local professional society chapter of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). In 1974, Richard Seiver earned his Professional Engineering License for Electrical Engineering in the State of Texas (License #37051). From the 1990s until his full retirement in 2013 at the age of 82, Richard loved his career and loved mentoring others as shown by his long-term (60+ years) full-time employment in the profession.
Richard was a devout Christian and long-time (50-year) elder serving in the Worldwide Church of God and later the United Church of God, AIA, and lastly the Church Of God, WA.
Richard’s hobbies included golfing, fly-fishing for trout, and in his later years, reloading ammunition for friends and family.
Richard was preceded in death by his wife, his parents and his younger brother, Lloyd. He is survived by his eldest brother, Marvin and his only sister, Suzanne and by his children and their spouses: Pamela Orsak (Mike), Carolyn Grandy (Scott), John Mark Seiver (Kathy), and David Sean Seiver (Helena). He is also survived by his grandchildren: Jordan Sutton, Vanessa Grandy, Kelly (Seiver) Merta and Stephanie Grandy.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.18