Funeral for Orrin William ""Bill'' Skirvin, 84, whose father founded the two Oklahoma City hotels that bore the family name, will be at 10:30 a.m. Thursday in Gaskill Funeral Home Chapel in Shawnee. Burial will be at noon in Oklahoma City Fairlawn Cemetery .
The long-time oil man, rancher and investor died late Monday in a Shawnee hospital. He had been in failing health for several weeks.
He was born April 1, 1897, in Galveston, Texas, where his father, the late William B. Skirvin, was a pioneer in oil exploration.
The elder Skirvin amassed a fortune in oil and gas operations throughout Texas and Oklahoma and the family settled in Oklahoma City at the turn of the century. Enamored with the bustling territorial capital, W.B. Skirvin acquired land along the main Oklahoma City railroad tracks to build what he called the state's finest hotel, which was several years in the design and construction.
The Skirvin opened in 1911 and its founder spent most of the rest of his life expanding it, adding to its grandeur, building its sister inn, the Skirvin Tower, across Broadway and connecting the two with a tunnel.
Bill Skirvin was 14 when the family moved into the newly completed hotel, where his menagerie and boyhood attempts to fly from its roof became a local legend.
The hotel passed from family ownership in the late 1940s after W.B. Skirvin's death in 1944. Bill Skirvin participated in its management for a time after his father was struck by a car between the two Broadway hotels and died two weeks later.
Skirvin managed the family's oil holdings and engaged in several business ventures, including ranching.
Business partners usually included one or both of his sisters, the late Marguerite Skirvin Tyson and the late Perle Skirvin Mesta, one-time U.S. minister to Luxembourg and celebrated party hostess in Washington, D.C., for nearly half a century.
After a broken hip crippled the famous social leader in 1973, Skirvin bought an Oklahoma City home and moved Mrs. Mesta here, caring for her until her death in March 1975.
He resettled in Shawnee the following year.
Survivors include a nephew, William Skirvin Tyson, Tecopa, Calif.; a niece, Mrs. Harriett Elizabeth Ellis, Sumner, Md., and five great nieces.
(The Daily Oklahoman - Wednesday, December 2, 1981 )
The long-time oil man, rancher and investor died late Monday in a Shawnee hospital. He had been in failing health for several weeks.
He was born April 1, 1897, in Galveston, Texas, where his father, the late William B. Skirvin, was a pioneer in oil exploration.
The elder Skirvin amassed a fortune in oil and gas operations throughout Texas and Oklahoma and the family settled in Oklahoma City at the turn of the century. Enamored with the bustling territorial capital, W.B. Skirvin acquired land along the main Oklahoma City railroad tracks to build what he called the state's finest hotel, which was several years in the design and construction.
The Skirvin opened in 1911 and its founder spent most of the rest of his life expanding it, adding to its grandeur, building its sister inn, the Skirvin Tower, across Broadway and connecting the two with a tunnel.
Bill Skirvin was 14 when the family moved into the newly completed hotel, where his menagerie and boyhood attempts to fly from its roof became a local legend.
The hotel passed from family ownership in the late 1940s after W.B. Skirvin's death in 1944. Bill Skirvin participated in its management for a time after his father was struck by a car between the two Broadway hotels and died two weeks later.
Skirvin managed the family's oil holdings and engaged in several business ventures, including ranching.
Business partners usually included one or both of his sisters, the late Marguerite Skirvin Tyson and the late Perle Skirvin Mesta, one-time U.S. minister to Luxembourg and celebrated party hostess in Washington, D.C., for nearly half a century.
After a broken hip crippled the famous social leader in 1973, Skirvin bought an Oklahoma City home and moved Mrs. Mesta here, caring for her until her death in March 1975.
He resettled in Shawnee the following year.
Survivors include a nephew, William Skirvin Tyson, Tecopa, Calif.; a niece, Mrs. Harriett Elizabeth Ellis, Sumner, Md., and five great nieces.
(The Daily Oklahoman - Wednesday, December 2, 1981 )
Funeral for Orrin William ""Bill'' Skirvin, 84, whose father founded the two Oklahoma City hotels that bore the family name, will be at 10:30 a.m. Thursday in Gaskill Funeral Home Chapel in Shawnee. Burial will be at noon in Oklahoma City Fairlawn Cemetery .
The long-time oil man, rancher and investor died late Monday in a Shawnee hospital. He had been in failing health for several weeks.
He was born April 1, 1897, in Galveston, Texas, where his father, the late William B. Skirvin, was a pioneer in oil exploration.
The elder Skirvin amassed a fortune in oil and gas operations throughout Texas and Oklahoma and the family settled in Oklahoma City at the turn of the century. Enamored with the bustling territorial capital, W.B. Skirvin acquired land along the main Oklahoma City railroad tracks to build what he called the state's finest hotel, which was several years in the design and construction.
The Skirvin opened in 1911 and its founder spent most of the rest of his life expanding it, adding to its grandeur, building its sister inn, the Skirvin Tower, across Broadway and connecting the two with a tunnel.
Bill Skirvin was 14 when the family moved into the newly completed hotel, where his menagerie and boyhood attempts to fly from its roof became a local legend.
The hotel passed from family ownership in the late 1940s after W.B. Skirvin's death in 1944. Bill Skirvin participated in its management for a time after his father was struck by a car between the two Broadway hotels and died two weeks later.
Skirvin managed the family's oil holdings and engaged in several business ventures, including ranching.
Business partners usually included one or both of his sisters, the late Marguerite Skirvin Tyson and the late Perle Skirvin Mesta, one-time U.S. minister to Luxembourg and celebrated party hostess in Washington, D.C., for nearly half a century.
After a broken hip crippled the famous social leader in 1973, Skirvin bought an Oklahoma City home and moved Mrs. Mesta here, caring for her until her death in March 1975.
He resettled in Shawnee the following year.
Survivors include a nephew, William Skirvin Tyson, Tecopa, Calif.; a niece, Mrs. Harriett Elizabeth Ellis, Sumner, Md., and five great nieces.
(The Daily Oklahoman - Wednesday, December 2, 1981 )
The long-time oil man, rancher and investor died late Monday in a Shawnee hospital. He had been in failing health for several weeks.
He was born April 1, 1897, in Galveston, Texas, where his father, the late William B. Skirvin, was a pioneer in oil exploration.
The elder Skirvin amassed a fortune in oil and gas operations throughout Texas and Oklahoma and the family settled in Oklahoma City at the turn of the century. Enamored with the bustling territorial capital, W.B. Skirvin acquired land along the main Oklahoma City railroad tracks to build what he called the state's finest hotel, which was several years in the design and construction.
The Skirvin opened in 1911 and its founder spent most of the rest of his life expanding it, adding to its grandeur, building its sister inn, the Skirvin Tower, across Broadway and connecting the two with a tunnel.
Bill Skirvin was 14 when the family moved into the newly completed hotel, where his menagerie and boyhood attempts to fly from its roof became a local legend.
The hotel passed from family ownership in the late 1940s after W.B. Skirvin's death in 1944. Bill Skirvin participated in its management for a time after his father was struck by a car between the two Broadway hotels and died two weeks later.
Skirvin managed the family's oil holdings and engaged in several business ventures, including ranching.
Business partners usually included one or both of his sisters, the late Marguerite Skirvin Tyson and the late Perle Skirvin Mesta, one-time U.S. minister to Luxembourg and celebrated party hostess in Washington, D.C., for nearly half a century.
After a broken hip crippled the famous social leader in 1973, Skirvin bought an Oklahoma City home and moved Mrs. Mesta here, caring for her until her death in March 1975.
He resettled in Shawnee the following year.
Survivors include a nephew, William Skirvin Tyson, Tecopa, Calif.; a niece, Mrs. Harriett Elizabeth Ellis, Sumner, Md., and five great nieces.
(The Daily Oklahoman - Wednesday, December 2, 1981 )
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