Manchester Cemetery Grant County Oklahoma

Gifford “Mac” McClaflin passed away at his home in Hawkins, Texas, January 25, 2012, with his wife, Julia, by his side. He was 87.

Born September 17, 1924, near Manchester, Oklahoma, to McKinley and Edna McClaflin, Mac grew up in Grant and Alfalfa counties and attended school in Manchester and Cherokee before enlisting in the U.S. Army Air Corps, December 5, 1942. After training at Fort Carson, Colorado, he was assigned as a meat and dairy inspector in south Texas, where he attained the rank of Private First Class. He was discharged from the military Feb. 17, 1946.

He married Adelene “Addie” Marie Chipman on August 18, 1945, in Anthony, Kansas. The couple lived in Alva, Oklahoma, where Mac was a student at Northwestern State College. He received his bachelor of science degree in chemistry there in 1952, and shortly thereafter moved to Ponca City, where he began a lifelong career with Conoco as a research scientist. The couple had two daughters, Jerrie Sue Crummett and Mary Ann Talbot, both of whom reside in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

McClaflin continued his education with numerous graduate chemistry courses at Oklahoma State University and retired from Conoco in 1985. His career generated numerous chemical patents, one of which became Conoco Drag Reducer, a compound used to improve flow in oil pipelines. Mac was particularly proud CDR was used in the Alaska pipeline, allowing that project to pump more crude oil at reduced costs over its lifetime.

He was a longtime member of First Baptist Church, Ponca City, and an avid golfer and he enjoyed fishing, hunting, playing checkers and visiting his immediate and extended family.

After Addie’s death in 1995, McClaflin married Julia Clark October 15, 2007. They traveled extensively between Ponca City, Hawkins, Texas, and the Phoenix, Arizona, areas, where they enjoyed the warmer weather and abundant opportunities to golf and visit with friends. The couple settled in Hawkins several years ago to be near Julia’s daughter, Vicky Maxson. Another daughter, Marty Walorski, lives near Houston, and Julia’s son, Stan Bledsoe, lives in Oklahoma.

Mac is survived by his wife, Julia, of the home; daughters, Jerrie and Mary; a brother, Lloyd of Snohomish, Washington; four grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; and extended family of nine grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his first wife, Addie, his parents, two brothers and five sisters.

Visitation will be 5-8 p.m. Saturday, January 28th at Trout Funeral Home. A graveside service will be 2 p.m. Sunday, January 29, 2012, at Manchester Cemetery in Manchester, Oklahoma.

Memorial contributions may be made to the American Heart Association, P.O. Box 841125, Dallas, TX. 75284.

Submitted by family

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