Granville O Dutton's Obituary
Granville Orr Dutton. Oct 23, 1924 to Jan 3, 2016. Granville has gone to be with the Lord! He led a pretty remarkable 91-year life with his equally-remarkable wife Carol who survives him. Granville was born a poor, city-boy in Dallas, and grew up during the Great Depression with his older brother Elmer and older sister Lelia Pearl (Sissy). His mother, Pearl O’Brien Dutton, and father Roy Dutton moved to Houston when Granville was very young after their house was foreclosed in Oak Cliff. Although Granville grew up during hard times, the love of his mother, sister, brother, and Uncle Getty Austin provided a warm and nurturing environment for Granville to excel in school. His friends Gilbert Hayes and Ed Jonas encouraged him as well. Graduating first in his class at Austin High School and then excelling at Rice University ROTC, he won a Competitive Acceptance to the Naval Academy in 1942 at the age of 17. Miracle 1. During WWII the Annapolis program was shortened to 3 years and Granville graduated cum laude with degrees in Military Science and Mechanical Engineering. In the summer of 1945 he was aboard his ship, headed to Japan to support the invasion of Honshu, when fireballs from Heaven saved him and thousands of other American troops from certain death. Miracle 2. He completed his commission with the Navy as Lieutenant JG and during this time received a degree in Accounting from military correspondence school. After leaving the Navy, he went back to Rice University to get a degree in Petroleum Engineering. Following this, he began his career with Sun Oil Company in 1950 as a roughneck and roustabout, then mud engineer and completion engineer. During this time, he met his wife-to-be, Carol Augusta Sullivan, at her sister’s wedding to Granville’s childhood friend Ed Jonas, PhD. He was only able to attend the wedding in Navasota, Texas due to a delayed shipment of casing to the rig that he was working on in the swamps near Beaumont. Miracle 3. They were married later that year in May. They had two boys: Robert (Robin) and Richard (Rick) in 1952 and 1953 respectively. They moved to Dallas where Granville was working for Sunoco on one of the first analog computers that simulated Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) by salt-water-injection into producing formations. His fleet was called up for active duty for the Korean War, but Sunoco was able to convince the Navy that he was worth more to the US in his current role…a good thing since his prospective ship was nearly sunk in battle. Miracle 4. During his full-time engineering work at Sunoco, Granville went to Law School at SMU, and received his JD in 1957, again cum laude, like all of his other degrees. Also, during this time, Charles Dutton was born on Granville’s birthday in 1957. Granville worked as a Petroleum Attorney for many years, and advanced to VP of Unitization and Joint Operations, where he was instrumental in early tar-sands and oil-shale developments, and the initial formation of Suncor Energy. He left Sunoco in 1981 and joined Sabine Oil & Gas as VP of Engineering and Planning where he worked until 1985. During the Oil Bust of 1986, Granville and some partners formed Sabio Minerals JV where he has used all of his experience and degrees as an independent producer. Their timing was perfect since the Bust allowed Sabio to acquire many distressed properties at bargain prices. Miracle 5. He worked this Golden Goose right up to his transfer to Heaven. During this time, he and Carol travelled all over the world, visiting friends and relatives, wining and dining, and enjoying life. Granville and Carol knew their charmed life was not luck, and returned thanks to the Lord in their daily lives by visiting hundreds of old, sick, and dying people all over Dallas and abroad. Granville was an Elder at Casa Linda Presbyterian and later at New Covenant Presbyterian Church. In the mid-60s Granville and some other conservative Presbyterians created the Reformed Theological Seminary. They grew it to an eight-campus seminary that has trained thousands of Christians to be ministers and missionaries all over the world. Miracle 6. Granville is now in Heaven with the Lord, probably planning his next trip with the help of the Apostle Paul, another world traveler. Husband, father, brother, uncle, grandfather, great-grandfather, veteran, patriot, philanthropist, helper of many, tireless traveler, generous entertainer, and devout Christian all describe this outstanding officer and gentleman from the Greatest Generation. We will miss him, but look forward to the next trip he has planned for the family in Paradise. He is preceded in death by his sister Sissy Reed, his brother Elmer Musgrave, and his son Charles Dutton. He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Carol Dutton, his son Robin and wife Nancy Dutton, his son Rick and wife Toni Dutton, his nephew David and wife Ann Austin, his nephew Charles Austin, his grandson Aaron and wife Rachael Dutton, and great-grand children Joseph, Jacob, and Mason, and his granddaughter Denise and her husband Doug Brown. Other survivors include the Florida Duttons: Bunny Dutton, Bruce and his wife Denise Dutton, Jill Dutton, and Teresa Dutton Crawford. Wally Dutton III is currently working with Granville on the next family reunion in the Afterlife. Services will be held Saturday the 9th of January at New Covenant Presbyterian Church at 2525 N Buckner Blvd, at 1 pm with a reception following the service. Graveside services are at Restland at 4 pm. A Visitation will be held at Restland Funeral Home from 5 to 7 pm on Friday. A Celebration of Granville’s Life will follow ~7 pm at a location to be announced. Donations in lieu of flowers, memorials should be given to the New Covenant Church www.ncpcdallas.org or to the Alzheimer’s Association www.alz.org for the sake of Carol. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Restland Funeral Home and Memorial Park, 13005 Greenville Avenue, Dallas, TX 75243.
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