The Bartlesville Community Foundation’s 2014 inductees to the Legacy Hall of Fame exemplify the many ways people can pursue and achieve the American dream. On May 17th the Foundation will honor the Garrison and Vasudevan families for their outstanding contributions to Bartlesville and beyond. “These two families offer amazing stories of hard work and success,” says Shawn Crawford, Executive Director of the Foundation. “Their commitment to community and service make them obvious choices for the Legacy Hall of Fame.”
Garrison Family
Denzil “Denny” Garrison and Barbara Lee Hopper married in 1954, and the Garrisons have called Bartlesville home since then. Denny followed a distinguished family tradition of military service by enlisting in the U.S. Army in 1944 and serving in Europe. He would return to active duty in 1950 as a commander of the “B” Battery of the 171st Field Artillery Battalion in the Korean War. He remained active in the Reserve Corps until his retirement in 1966 with the rank of Major.
Denny’s public service would continue throughout his life, first as the County Attorney of Washington County then as an Oklahoma State Representative and an Oklahoma State Senator. He served a total of sixteen years in the Oklahoma Legislature and filled the role of Minority Leader in both houses during his tenure. He also worked as Governor David Boren’s Chief Legislative Aid from 1976-78.
Both Denny and Barbara have a great love of history and have been instrumental in the growth and development of the Washington County Historical Society and Bartlesville Area History Museum. Barbara has served as trustee of the Bartlesville Area History Museum Trust Authority, and Denny had two terms as President of the Oklahoma Historical Society from 1984-87 and 2002-05.
Their interest in history has also led them to author books. Denny wrote about his Korean War experience in Remembrances of a Redleg: The story of a Korean War Artilleryman of the 45th Thunderbird Division, and Honor Restored: A true story of a Vietnam Courts Martial, chronicling his successful defense of an Oklahoma Marine during the Vietnam War. Denny received awards and commendations from the Oklahoma Bar Association, Disabled American Veterans, and the Oklahoma State Senate for his work on the case. Barbara recently co-authored, with Vicki Stewart and Debbie Neece, If Bartlesville Walls Could Talk, documenting the stories of the famous homes and architecture in the community.
The Garrisons have one son (Charles) and four daughters (Ellen, Kathryn, Elizabeth, and Martha), and the family legacy of military service continues with Charles achieving the rank of Lt. Col in the US Army (Retired). Their son-in-law Lt. Col Scott Collins attended West Point, as did Scott and Martha’s son David, and another son-in-law, Colonel Craig Flowers (Retired), husband of Elizabeth, received his ROTC commission from Texas Christian University and was Assistant Professor of French and later Director of Cadet Affairs at West Point. In addition, several grandchildren have served or currently serve in the military.
Vasudevan Family
The Vasudevans’ amazing journey begins in southern India. Karappurath “Vasu” Vasudevan was born and raised in Engandiyur in the Indian state of Kerala. In the early 1960’s Vasu traveled to the United States and earned an electrical engineering degree from the University of Arkansas. While working for various U.S. companies, including businesses in Pittsburg, Kansas and Bartlesville, Vasu, his wife Lalitha, and children Gopi and Sujatha became naturalized U.S. citizens in 1976.
In 1986 Vasu decided to strike out on his own and founded Service and Technology Corporation, an engineering consulting firm. To provide even more options for his customers, in 1993 Service and Manufacturing Company was created to offer custom fabrication and manufacturing. Vasu and his companies have been involved in a wide variety of industries including hydroelectric power generation, steel production, coal preparation, bulk material handling, cement manufacturing, stone crushing and grinding, crude oil refining, potable and waste water facilities, and gas and fluid pipelines. In 2013, The Bartlesville Chamber of Commerce named Service and Technology Corporation the Business of the Year.
To house the Service and Technology Corporation, Vasu purchased the Bartlesville Lincoln Elementary School. Built in 1914, the school required a major renovation. To honor the students and staff that had called the school home, Vasu created the B.L.E.S.S. Fund—Bartlesville Lincoln Elementary School Scholarship—to help students who otherwise might not be able to attend college, especially in engineering and the sciences. To date, the scholarship has assisted 78 Students.
Lalitha Vasudevan was a strong presence in the community and a lifelong supporter of the family business and charitable work. Lalitha had outstanding skills in music and dance, was fluent in six languages, and enjoyed preparing the cuisines of several Indian regions as well as Asian and American specialties. The Bartlesville community suffered a great loss when Lalitha passed away in 2013. Vasu has established a fine arts center and two teachers’ chairs in his childhood home in India to honor Lalitha’s talents in music and dance.
The entire Vasudevan family continues to enrich and support Bartlesville. Vasu has received the Silver Beaver Award for his work with the Boy Scouts; with his then teenage daughter Sujatha, he helped build the first incubator for the Sutton Avian Center Bald Eagle rehabilitation program; Vasu is a long-time member of the Bartlesville Rotary Club and a Paul Harris Fellow of the Rotary Foundation; he has supported the Bartlesville Public Schools, Public Library, Police Station, Rogers State University-Bartlesville Campus, OK Mozart, Woolaroc, and other community organizations. In 2010 the Examiner-Enterprise named him Bartlesville’s Most Progressive Citizen.
Dr. Gopi and Mini Vasudevan are also active in the community. Gopi is a gastroenterologist and has served on the boards of OK Mozart and the Bartlesville Symphony Orchestra. As part of the Washington-Nowata County Medical Board he has supported outstanding students and teachers at the Bartlesville District Science Fair as well helping to purchase math and science equipment for the high school. He is a member of the Daybreak Rotary Club and also a Paul Harris Fellow, assisting with the Fantasy Land of Lights project and the judging of the 4-Way Rotary Speech Contest at Bartlesville High School. Mini has served on the boards of the Girl Scouts and ARC Employability and volunteers at the schools and for the Boy Scouts. They have three children, Janaki, Shiva, and Vishnu.
Sujatha and Kumar Krishnan attended Wichita State University where he received a degree in mechanical engineering and she completed her MBA. They moved to Bartlesville in 1992 and Kumar worked with AAON in Tulsa as a Senior Mechanical Egineer and Sujatha worked for BDM Oklahoma in Bartlesville as a Human Resource Specialist. Kumar became President of both Service and Technology (STC) and Service and Manufacturing (SMC) in 2008 with Vasu serving as Chairman. He was named Engineer of the Year by the Oklahoma Society of Professional Engineers in 2003.
Sujatha has served on the boards of the of the B.L.E.S.S. Fund, YWCA, Bartlesville Civic Ballet, and Public Library as well as serving as a reading tutor at Oak Park and Wayside Elementary Schools. Kumar has served as President of Daybreak Rotary and is a Paul Harris Fellow, and is on the boards of the Boy Scouts of America Cherokee Are Council, Richard Kane YMCA, and the Tri-County Technology Center Engineering Advisory Committee. Kumar also judged and facilitated awards for the Bartlesville District Science Fair for many years. Sujatha and Kumar have three children, Sreeram, Ambika, and Priyanka.
The Bartlesville Community Foundation Legacy Hall of Fame recognizes families that have made a lasting contribution to Bartlesville. The Foundation will induct the Garrison and Vasudevan families into the Legacy Hall of Fame on Saturday, May 17th at the Hilton Garden Inn. The evening includes dinner, video retrospectives of the families, and the award presentation. Sponsorship and ticket information is available from the Foundation at 918.337.2287. You can also purchase tickets online for the event.
