Altay Mehmet Ertugrul Obituary
Altay Mehmet Ertugrul, 77, of the town of Gemikonagi on the Mediterranean isle of Cyprus, passed away with his beloved family by his side on April 20, 2017 at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.
Altay was born to Mehmet and Melek Ertugrul on January 13, 1940. He went to high school in northern Cyprus and went on to earn a B.S./M.S. in Civil Engineering from Istanbul Technical University in 1963. Following political strife between the Greek Cypriot majority and Turkish Cypriot minority populations in the newly formed Republic of Cyprus, intercommunal conflict broke out on the island nation in 1963. In 1964, under the command of a Lieutenant from the Turkish Army, a group of Turkish Cypriots, including 500 or so students attending various universities in Turkey, volunteered to return to the island in small fishing boats in order defend a Turkish Cypriot enclave from an impending attack by Greek and Greek Cypriot armed forces. After receiving word that his middle brother was planning on volunteering for this cause, Altay left his position as an engineer for the Turkish National Waterworks Authority in the Black Sea city of Samsun and travelled over 400 miles to Istanbul to prevent his brother from boarding the bus for the mission. He wanted his brother to complete his degree. Altay ended up volunteering in his brother's place and provided financial support for his brother to resume his university education. After more than a year and following the successful defense of the enclave in Cyprus, Altay moved to North America. He completed an M.S. in Civil Engineering at the University of Toronto in 1967 and moved to Baltimore, Maryland later that year to work for Greiner Engineering. During his time at Greiner, he was a part-time student and eventually earned an M.S. in Environmental Engineering from Johns Hopkins University in 1971. He worked on the design of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and the Washington Metrorail. He was eventually promoted to head the Air Quality Division within the company and was an advisor to the World Health Organization concerning the development of air quality and emission standards, participating in seminars in India, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. During this period, Altay legally adopted his youngest brother, who was only 16 years old at the time and 13 years his junior. Altay moved to Tulsa in 1975 to work for Williams Brothers Engineering Company. In 1984, he co-founded A & M Engineering and Environmental Services. He later recruited his youngest brother to join the company as a partner in the early 1990's, which ultimately resulted in the creation of several additional, affiliated companies they co-founded. Altay remained President of A&M Engineering and was active in the management of all of the companies until his death.
Altay was a loving husband and adored his wife, Gulin, during their 36 years of marriage. He was an amazing husband and formed a bond with his wife that one could only dream of. They had a wonderful life shared with family and close-knit friends. Altay always put the well-being of his family before his own and demonstrated an enormous amount of character along the way. He was a generous man who was the cornerstone of the Ertugrul family instilling strong values including the importance of family, integrity, honesty, hard work, compassion, loyalty, trust, and education. He was very humble, proud and touched the lives of many people, most notably in the way he treated all of his employees. Altay was also blessed with grandchildren that brought him much happiness and joy. They always looked up to him as a role-model and hero. Our family is honored and blessed to have had such an incredible person in our lives. Our lives are forever enriched from the love he shared with each and every one of us. We will miss him dearly.
Altay is survived by his wife, Gulin, daughter, Berna Goetzinger, sons Taylan and Tolga Ertugrul, grandchildren Madeline Mae Spillars, Aspen Marie Ertugrul, Holden Altay Ertugrul, Averie Harper Ertugrul, and Adalee Caroline Ertugrul, and brothers Oktay and Turgay Ertugrul.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to The Children's Hospital Foundation at Saint Francis, notation "Altay Ertugrul", 6161 South Yale, Tulsa, OK 74136.
The family wishes to extend their gratitude to Altay's nephew, Ozan Ertugrul, a Washington D.C. area resident, for the truly remarkable level of selfless and loving support that he provided Gulin and the rest of the family during the 7 weeks that Altay was a patient at Johns Hopkins Hospital. The family also wishes to thank all of their other relatives and close friends for their love and support. The funeral service will be held at Fitzgerald Southwood Colonial Chapel at 2:30pm, Thursday, April 27, 2017, followed by a reception at an off-site location.

Fitzgerald Southwood Colonial Chapel, 918-291-3500