James (Jim) Marion Hewgley, former Tulsa Mayor and prominent oilman, passed from this world on Tuesday, May 17, 2011, to be with his Lord and his loved ones. Jim was known to possess many talents and interests, and had a positive and lasting impact on his family, friends, countless individuals, churches, educational institutions, and community are immeasurable, and documenting this could fill many, many pages.

Jim was born on November 7, 1916 in Gallatin, TN. His father was an oil field operations manager, and the family moved to Oklahoma with the discovery of oil in the twenties. Jim graduated from Classen High School in Oklahoma City and graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1938.

Soon after college, he enlisted in the Army < http://www.legacy.com/memorial-sites/army/?personid=151170217&affiliateID=293 > to join the war effort. During the war his family moved to Tulsa, so Jim returned there after the war, where he met his future bride, Jocelyn Moser. While on duty in Midland, Texas, managing oil drilling activities in the Permian Basin for his father, Jim and Jocie started their family, where two of their three children were born. There they made lifelong friends with many of the legendary pioneers of oil exploration.

After moving back to Tulsa in 1954, Jim and Jocie became very involved in raising their boys and in civic activities. They were strong supporters of Holland Hall School and St. John's Episcopal Church. Shortly after Jocie's passing in 1965, Jim was persuaded by his friends to run for Mayor of Tulsa -- his passion for the city's well being and his leadership skills were widely recognized.

As Mayor Jim led the city in a number of landmark initiatives to confront the effects of Tulsa's growing pains -- new City Hall, Model Cities program, Port of Catoosa. He was extremely well liked as mayor, and until the end, he was greeted by passersby affectionately as "Mayor." In 1967, during Jim's first term as Mayor, he married Eileen Rooney Warren. They campaigned together for his second term and his unsuccessful bid for U.S. Congress in 1972.

Their marriage lasted until Eileen's passing early in 2011. Jim was devoted to his family first and foremost. His children fondly remember that he was always present at their athletic events, took them on numerous "guy trips," and was always there through the good times and the challenges. Eileen's children appreciate Jim's willingness to embrace them in his family as his own. He connected personally and was "larger than life" to his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

As a civic leader, Jim Hewgley served and led organizations for which he felt he could make a difference. Among others (see list below), Jim was Mayor of Tulsa for two terms from 1966 through 1970; a member of the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, the Tulsa Hall of Fame, and the Hall of Fame for the Arkansas River Historical Society. Other civic and volunteer affiliations: for 30 years a member and past chair/president of the Holland Hall School Board, St. Simeon's Episcopal Home Board, and the City of Tulsa/Rogers County Port Authority, member of the St. John's Episcopal Church Vestry, Oklahoma Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, Tulsa Childrens' Medical Center Board, Oklahoma College of Liberal Arts Board of Regents, Tulsa Red Cross Board, and the Oklahoma Crime Commission.

Jim was a proud member of Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity. He served honorably in the United States Army during World War II in the Pacific Theater. Jim Hewgley is survived by his three sons: Jim Hewgley III and his wife Anne (Tulsa), Robert Hewgley and his wife Bobette (Austin, Texas), Fred Hewgley (Tulsa); Eileen Hewgley's children: Mary Warren Bashow (Tulsa), Joan Warren Yoakam and husband Coler Yoakam, Jr. (Oklahoma City), Thomas Warren III and his wife Lynn (Tulsa); 11 grandchildren: Audra Hewgley Gallegos and her husband Jered (Seattle), Michelle Hewgley Swierz and her husband Chris (Seattle), Abe Hewgley and his wife Shannon (Austin), Travis Hewgley and his wife Ana (Austin), Cathy Bashaw (Tulsa), George Bashaw and his wife Tara (Tulsa), Amy Bashaw Buchner and her husband Preston (Little Rock), Anne Yoakam (New York City), Sara Yoakam Burger and husband David (Oklahoma City), Coler Yoakam III and wife Erin (Dallas), and Paul Warren and wife TJ (Tulsa). Jim also had 11 great-grandchildren. Jim was preceded in death by his first wife, Jocelyn Moser Hewgley, in 1965; his second wife, Eileen Rooney Hewgley, in January 2011; his father and mother, James Hewgley Jr. and Margaret Corbett Hewgley; and his sisters, Mary Elizabeth Hewgley Dunn and Margaret Hewgley James .The family wants to acknowledge and thank the personal staff who worked for the family for many years in their ongoing love and support for Jim. Thanks also to the people at St. Simeon's Home, First Call, and St. Francis Hospice Care for their devotion to Jim to make sure his last days were comfortable and that his dignity was always intact.

Donations in memory of Jim may be made to St. Simeon's Home, Tulsa, OK.

Friends may visit Saturday from 9am to 8pm and Sunday from 3pm to 5pm at Moore's Rosewood Chapel, 2570 S. Harvard, Tulsa, OK 74114, (918) 744-1202.

Funeral Service is scheduled for Monday at 11:00 at St. John's Episcopal Church, Tulsa.