Charles W. Tandy, III died on January 1, 2011 at Montereau where he and his wife Frances Tandy live. He died of complications stemming from cancer.

Tandy was born in Provo, Utah in October, 1924. His father, Charles W. Tandy, II, was a bridge designer who moved his family frequently within the Far West. Young Tandy was given a lot of independence and he took responsibility for himself by his early teenage years, backpacking in the mountains, running a business selling scrap mining tailings, as well as other ventures.

Tandy served in the U. S. Naval Reserve from 1942 to 1946 as a Quartermaster Second Class and saw intense fighting in the Pacific Theater during World War II. His ship provided logistics support to fighting vessels in Okinawa, the Philippines, and Iwo Jima. He issued the flag that went up on Iwo Jima.

His higher education began at the College of the Pacific in 1943, continued with a B.S. in mining engineering from Wisconsin Institute of Technology in 1949, and concluded with a B.S. in mining geology in 1950 from the University of Arizona. During his time in Wisconsin he met Corrine Culligan, who was born and raised in Milwaukee. After a short courtship, they eloped. Their first child, Charles was born in 1950 in Tucson, Arizona, and their second child, Cathryn was born in 1956.

Tandy spent four years working for three federal geological agencies, rising to the rank of Geologist. During the next 3½ years, he worked for Vinegar Hill Zinc Co., focusing on mining engineering.

In 1954, Tandy entered a program that would radically change his career trajectory; he went to work for Shell Oil as a petroleum engineer. During the next two years, the Tandy family would move a dozen times to support his career development. In 1956, he joined Ozark – Mahoning Company and was asked to develop an oil division for the company. Tandy chose Amarillo as the home base for the oil division. The model he developed was to treat the Ozark – Mahoning oil division as if it were a wildcat enterprise, developing the case for a major exploration venture to sell to several of the largest oil companies, with a minority interest to be held by Ozark – Mahoning. Using this model, Tandy led a consortium of oil companies that drilled an oil well more than three miles deep, the first time that a well had been drilled to that depth ever before. This well was near Wheeler, Texas and marked the discovery of a major field.

The oil division moved to Tulsa in 1968 and continued to flourish. In 1983, Tandy became the Executive Vice President of Ozark – Mahoning Company, responsible for chemical, mining, and special chemicals divisions while continuing to run the oil division. The next year, he was promoted to President of Ozark – Mahoning, which had become a subsidiary of Pennwalt Corporation several years before. He retired from the Presidency in 1989 and had a happy and productive retirement with Corrine. Tandy provided exceptionally devoted care to Corrine during her battle with cancer. She died in January, 2004

Tandy moved to Montereau, a Continuing Care Retirement Community in Tulsa in Fall, 2004. There he met Frances Treacy, and in October, 2005, they were married. They were very happy and exceptionally busy during the next five years, a period during which Tandy took up landscape painting.

Tandy is survived by his wife Fran Tandy, his children, Charles Tandy IV of Baltimore, MD and Cathryn Pankau of Idaho Falls, ID and his stepsons, Paul Treacy of Vail, CO and Stuart and Brian Treacy of Denver, CO, six grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

The funeral ceremony will take place at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, January 6 at the chapel of the Church of St. Mary, 1347 East 49th Place, Tulsa, OK. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be given to Doctors Without Borders USA, PO Box 5030, Hagerstown, MD 21741 or http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/donate/tributes/?ref=main-menu . Fitzgerald Southwood Colonial Chapel, 918-291-3500. www.fitzgeraldsouthwoodchapel.com