Lonnie Carl Weathers

Lonnie Carl Weathers was born September 30, 1957 in Tulsa, Oklahoma to Judy and Carl Weathers on his mother’s birthday because he could not allow someone to have something of their own without his touch from the start. He was named after his great-grandfather Alonzo Harper and his father Carl Lee. He passed away after a long, hard battle with cancer on October 6, 2018 at the age of 61, mere hours before Grandpa Harper’s birthday, yet another testament to the previous statement.

Lonnie, best known in our family to be the Rock, the Leader, the Advisor, the Entertainer, the entrepreneur, but his title for himself was Sir Alonzo, the Knight on a Crusade a Knight’s Templar  who represented  the  moral code to Love all the is good,  ignore  that which is bad, to be good and not criticize, to be pure and compassionate,   gentle, confident, moderate , humble , true in words and deeds, to be helpful and considerate, and finally to Love and protect life- spreading peace and harmony.

Growing up, Lonnie was often told he would not amount to anything, so he set out to prove everyone wrong. His drive and passion for welding was evident. He had over thirty-nine years of documented training, education, and experience to Professional and World Class Quality Standards in Quality, Welding Engineering, Manufacturing and Metallurgy of the Oil and Gas production, Oil Refining and Gas Processing, Energy Food and Pharmaceutical, Chemical, Ammonia and Fertilizer, Pulp and Paper, Environmental, Structural, Bridge and Railroad Industries. He achieved over 13 certifications in the welding field to include: Certified Welding Supervisor, Principles of Failure Analysis, Metallurgy of Welding and Joining, Hazardous Waste Supervisor Training and Waste Operations Training among several others. He also taught welding and metallurgy processes, quality measurements and systems for many, many years.

He taught little league when his son Aaron was young, owned a toy store in downtown Skiatook and was self-employed for several years. In his spare time, he enjoyed building and racing his drag cars. His most recent project, the Maverick, was finished in 2010, taking nearly 20 years to complete.

He often became obsessive about his hobbies from collecting trains to motorcycles, rare or valuable toys to guitars and banjos.  You always knew what was peaking his interest at the time because he’d have a hundred of them.  He always said he collected things to enjoy when he retired.

Lonnie had an affinity for history and enjoyed researching his family history and lineage.  He found distant relations to Richard the Lionheart and the knight, John of Gaunt, whose armor rests in the Tower of London. He relished in dressing in his Templar Regalia and riding the horses in parades or attending Renaissance Fairs because he was proud of his history.

He worked all over the world from Saudi Arabia, Ghana and Nigeria and traveled to multiple locations in Europe. While working overseas he supervised Thai, Nigerian and Ghanaian welders to build the East African Gas Pipeline used for sub-sea pipe lay barge production use.  He attempted to learn the languages of the places he worked.  In Arabic, one of the phrases he tried to learn was “The weather is fine today,” “I’m sorry” and “please be patient with me.” We all know that last phrase is needed for him.

One of the last things he said was “I did the best I could.”

He is survived by his wife of 17 years, Linda, his sons Cliffton and Aaron and his spouse, his stepsons Nicholas and Michael Iott,and their spouses, nine grandchildren, siblings Kelligh, Mark and Jason and several nieces and nephews as well as great nieces and nephews.

He is preceded in death by his mother Judy and father Carl.