Patrick J. Back

Patrick J. Back, 86, passed away on Monday, May 28th. He was born on June 19, 1931 in Seminole, Oklahoma to Silas Murphy and Anna Margaret Back. Patrick attended Parsons Junior College in Kansas on a football scholarship. He enlisted in the U.S. Army on March 28, 1951 and served in the 31st Regimental Combat Team assigned to the 7th Infantry Division from July 1951 until August 1952 as a combat infantryman in the Korean War. He subsequently attended the U.S. Army Guided Missile School at Fort Bliss, Texas where he met and fell in love with Carmen Macias whom he married in Las Cruces, New Mexico on January 3, 1953.

Following discharge from the Army, he attended Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering. He worked in the Engineering profession for many years at General Dynamics Corporation, Ceramic Cooling Tower Company and Haliburton Brown and Root where he eventually retired.

Patrick is preceded in death by his parents, wife of 55 years Carmen Back, his brother Milton J Back and sisters Jessie Vincent, Dorothy Helen Baker and Viola Jeanette “Skeet” Walker. He is survived by daughter Patricia Howell and Terrence Glen, daughter Martha Ward and husband Randy Ward, granddaughter Paula Heather Aguilar, grandson Ryan Howell and wife Lesley Brown, grandson Garrett Ward and Kimberly Bellah, great-grandchildren Riley and Tavienne Aguilar.

Visitation will be held Wednesday, June 6, 2018 from 10:00am with a funeral service held at 12:00pm at American Heritage Funeral Home, 10710 Veterans memorial Drive, Houston, Texas 77038. A committal service will be held Wednesday, June 6, 2018 at 1:00pm at Houston National Cemetery, 10410 Veterans Memorial Drive, Houston, Texas 77038.

In lieu of flowers, it is requested that donations be given to one of the charities near and dear to his heart: St. Joseph’s Indian School (Lakota Sioux) – www.stjo.org , St. Labre Indian School (Northern Cheyenne and Crow) - www.stlabre.org or Cheyenne River Indian Outreach for Children - www.crioutreach.org .