Arthur Norman Schmitt, 87, of Broken Arrow, Okla. Tuesday, October 10, 2023 at home. Born in Lansing, Michigan June 5, 1936, Art was the son of Grant and Marie Bera Schmitt. They preceded him in death.
In 1940 the family moved to California where Art grew up. At the age of 17 he enlisted in the United States Army and served three years at Fort Lewis, Washington as a helicopter mechanic. In 1956 he returned to Southern California where he met and married Marilyn Keely in 1958. He entered college on the GI Bill going to school part time while working at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California. He graduated in 1963 from California State College at Los Angeles with a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering.
After working a short time at Aerojet General Corporation in Azusa, California Art went to work for Redcor Corporation in Canoga Park, California where he designed the first digital data processing system used in the seismic industry. He was soon hired away from Redcor by Western Geophysical Corporation and the family moved to Shreveport, Louisiana, where he worked as a field service engineer to repair equipment being used in seismic exploration. He was soon transferred back to Los Angeles at the request of the company’s president to begin designing new digital data processing systems for Western Geophysical. In 1968 Western Geophysical moved their Los Angeles operations to Houston, Texas, and the family relocated once more. During the years with Western Geophysical Art visited Western crews around the world as well as the United States to work on data recording systems, traveling mostly to the middle east countries of Iran, Pakistan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Egypt, and several South American countries.
In 1972 Art went to work for Seismograph Service Corporation in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He continued to travel doing field service work and he designed the first digital correlator to be used in the field by vibroseis crews in oil exploration.
In 1973 the family moved to rural Columbus, where Art started his own business, Schmitt Consulting. He worked as a consultant to the seismic industry and designed and built “Schmitt Correlators,” which were in use for several years by seismic crews around the world. Each of his four children worked for their dad while attending school at Columbus, Pittsburg State University and University of Texas in Austin,Texas which led to three of them graduating from college with bachelor of science degrees in engineering and one teacher.
In December of 2020, Art’s failing health made it necessary for him and Marilyn to move to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma to live with their daughter, Teri and husband, Kevin Ward.
Arthur is survived by his wife, Marilyn and children, Vicki Schmillen (Phil), of Venice, Florida; Rena Kilgore (Jeff), of Ozawkie; David Schmitt (Cindy), of Joplin, Mo.; and Teri Ward (Kevin), of Broken Arrow, Okla., ten grandchildren, fourteen great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, four brothers and three sisters.
Art will be cremated. No services are planned at this time. A family memorial service will be held at a later date.