Joseph Jennings Courtney, 88, died Saturday, Feb. 26, 2005, at his home in Roseville, Calif.

He was born Jan. 23, 1917, in Kingston to William Solon and Carrie Elizabeth (Lowrie) Courtney. He attended Cameron College in Lawton for two years, before transferring to Oklahoma A&M, in Stillwater where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering in 1941. Upon graduation Courtney accepted a position with the DuPont Company in Illinois. He returned to Oklahoma to marry his college sweetheart, Jessie Melba Fowler on June 14, 1942, in Cordell. The newlyweds returned to DuPont in Illinois where Courtney soon thereafter was assigned to the super-secret Manhattan Project, participating in the earliest stages of nuclear fission research at the University of Chicago which led to the first sustained nuclear chain reaction. Courtney continued to work with the DuPont Company within the Manhattan Project throughout World War II, transferring with DuPont to the Hanford Atomic Works near Richland, Wash., in 1943 to assist in the production of plutonium for the atomic bomb which was employed in Nagasaki, Japan, in August 1945, effectively ending World War II. After the war, and following a term teaching high school science and math and coaching at the Con-8 School in southwest Kiowa County (one of his fondest memories), he returned to Hanford to work for the General Electric Company which had assumed the government contract for the production of weapons-grade plutonium.

Courtney's career, including many years in the nuclear power generation business, spanned more than 31 years with General Electric until his retirement in 1980. Following his retirement Courtney was able to spend many years playing golf and enjoying his family in California and Oklahoma. His honesty, his humor, and his gentle soul will be missed.

Services will be held at the Baptist Church in Roosevelt, at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, March 12, 2005, with graveside services to follow, with the Rev. Justin Chapman officiating. The family asks that memorials in lieu of flowers be directed to the Alzheimer's Association; 1 North Hudson,

Suite 550, Oklahoma City, OK 73102.

Services are under the direction of the Jack Loftiss Funeral Home in Cordell.