James Alva Embry Jr.

James A. Embry, Jr. was born in Chandler, Oklahoma, on the 30th of April 1916, and died on Wednesday, the 20th of July 2011, in Oklahoma City. He was the son of the late James A. Embry and Ivy Boatwright Embry. He attended Chandler public schools and graduated from Chandler High School in 1933.

He enlisted in the Oklahoma National Guard while still in high school in Chandler’s Battery C, 160th Field Artillery Battalion. He attended the University of Oklahoma 1934 to 1937 and enrolled in the Reserve Officers Training Corps rising to the rank of Cadet Colonel.

Upon graduation from University of Oklahoma, Embry was called to active duty and served at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, with Battery A, 1st Field Artillery, as a reconnaissance officer. In August of 1937, he was reassigned to the US Marine Corps as a Second Lieutenant.

By 1943, Embry was assigned as commanding officer of Marine Fighting Squadron VMF 225 flying Corsair fighters. In May of 1944, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and assigned as operations officer in Marine Air Group Twenty One. He served on active duty until October of 1947, when he was transferred to the Marine Corps Reserve as a Lieutenant Colonel, retiring in 1960 at the rank of Colonel.

In 1949 he moved to Houston, Texas, to work with Hercules Engine Co. as manager of its oil field division and was later granted the Hercules franchise forming Embry Engine & Equipment Co. In 1986 Embry was awarded an Isuzu commercial truck dealership.

In August of 1942, Embry married Betty Lou Clark of Ponca City, Oklahoma. The Embrys had two children, Susan Embry, of Taos, New Mexico, and James Embry III, who lives in Houston, Texas with his wife Jennifer.

The Embrys were married 47 years when Betty Lou died in 1989 after a long battle with cancer. He married Hester Day Billups Day in 1990 and moved to Oklahoma City. He had known both Betty Lou and Hester when they were students at OU. Hester died in May 2011.

As an active supporter of charitable and civic organizations, he established a permanent fund with the Oklahoma City Community Foundation for the Lincoln County Historical Society and a fund for the American Legion’s Children’s Home, Ponca City, Oklahoma. Col. Embry served on the board of the Marine Military Academy for 10 years and, with Betty Lou, established a scholarship for deserving young men to attend the academy.

He was a member of the Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club, Oklahoma City Men’s Dinner Club, a life member of the Houston Club, a past member of the Houston Chamber of Commerce and the Oklahoma City Petroleum Club.

Colonel Embry said he never forgot the kindness and help from folks in Chandler, Oklahoma where he grew up.

In addition to his two children and daughter-in-law, Col. Embry is also survived by his grandchildren, Kim Morehead, Jimbo Embry (Brooke), Jennifer Whitman (Will) and Lauren Embry; Hester’s daughter, Linda Pollack, son William Billups (Jane), grandchildren Tracy Pollack (Jason Berk), Carrie Pollack, Laura Lester (Jim), Lisa Trail (Brian), Alyson Simms, Spencer Simms and Barrett Simms; and great grandchildren, Mycha, Houston, Hazel, Luke, Brennan, Morgan and Tyler.

The funeral service is to be conducted at two o’clock in the afternoon on Monday, the 25th of July, in the Jasek Chapel of Geo. H. Lewis & Sons, 1010 Bering Drive in Houston, where the Rev. Richard H. Elwood, Assisting Priest for Pastoral Care and Outreach at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, is to officiate. At the conclusion of the service, an honor guard from the U.S. Marine Corps is to render military honors.

The entombment is to follow, via an escorted cortege, at Forest Park Westheimer Cemetery in Houston.

In lieu of customary remembrances, Col. Embry suggested that donations be directed to the Marine Military Academy, 320 Iwo Jima Blvd., Harlingen, TX, 78550.

Arrangements under the direction of Hahn-Cook/Street & Draper Funeral Directors, Oklahoma City, OK.