Granville Jefferson Laird

Granvilleâ€Red†Jefferson Laird was born on May 24, 1926 in Chandler Oklahoma. He was the son of Jefferson and Willie Lyons Laird.

Red had a very adventurous life. His dad was pretty upset with him when he was about 14 years old. He asked him where he had been all day. He had gotten a job working as a rough-neck for a guy that just didn't have any hands. He made 5 dollars for that day! Grandpa Jeff was pretty upset with him working for that guy who couldn't even keep his hands. He made him not rough-neck again... for at least 2 years. At the age of 17 he enlisted into the Navy during WWII serving as a Bosun's Mate First-Class on the minesweeper YMS 125 in the Aleutian Islands. After VE Day, his discharge came through on his 20th birthday. He returned to work in the oil fields. Even though several companies tried to get him to work overseas he always said “No. I promised the Old Man upstairs that... If he got me through this, I would never leave the US again unless I could walk back home.†For specific debate purposes... home was Oklahoma. He never broke that pact.

While working in Anadarko area he noticed a picture of a pretty girl in a photographer's window and thought to himself I'm going to find her and marry her. It was several weeks after they were dating, that he realized Yvonne was that pretty girl in the window. He married Yvonne Spradlin on Easter Sunday April 5, 1953 at the First Christian Church in Anadarko, Oklahoma. They enjoyed 42 years of marriage and traveling before her passing in 1995.

Red worked in the oil fields for for over 50 years, the last 20 years of his career he worked as a sight manager for numerous deep well injection sites for nuclear storage. Also... he supervised portions of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. At one point, he held the world record for the deepest man made structure in human history. The Russians finally broke that record a few years later.

He finally retired when he just decided that doing anything for 50 years was long enough. A few years later, he received his high school diploma on his 80th birthday. He did not get it when he was 17 because of his enlistment. (His principal hated him too because he looked so sharp in his dress blues.)

Red NEVER met a stranger. He talked to you as if he had known you forever. Red had several joys in his life...his family, his work, and his love of story telling and more story telling.

He is survived by his 5 children Karen (Ed) Cole of Gladstone,Illinois, Jana Donald of Oklahoma City, Margie (George) Grounds of Palestine TX, Lydia(Greg) Barron of Franklin TN, and Jefferson (Paula) Laird of Pearland TX. He was Grandpa Red to thirteen grandchildren: Miranda (Andy) Webster, Tanner (Courtney) Cole, Jacob Cole, Katie Cole, Chad (Renee) Donald, Crystal (Bryan) Wells, GW (Heather) Grounds and Cooper Grounds, Archer, Ezra, and Amelia Laird and Tim and John Barron. He was Great Grandpa to eleven great-grandchildren Axel, Carson, Collin, Morgan, Lexie, Josie, Destiny, Chance,Trey, Elijah, and Naomi.
He is also survived by “The Best Brother and Sisters in Law a man could ask for†Neil and Shasta Spradlin of Anadarko, OK and Janet Spradlin Wheeler of Oklahoma City.
And his nieces and nephew Steve (Lori)Spradlin, Vickie (Kirk) Wickersheim….Mary Ann Wilber, Sally (Jon) Bye,Pauline Wilber,Tony and Monica Spradlin, Anna Stehle.

He went home to be with our Lord on Monday November 24, 2014.

He was greeted when he got there by his wife, mother, father, sister, Margie, Bob, Mother and Father in law Newt and Marie Spradlin Carl Miller and great grandson Collin Cole.

Services will be held on November 29, 2014 at 2pm at the First Christian Church in Anadarko, OK.

Red will be laid to rest at Anadarko Memory Lane Cemetery.