Hi Williamson Staten, Jr.

Hi Williamson Staten, Jr., a resident of Bartlesville for more than 70 years, passed away on January 1, 2025. 

Hi was born on August 10, 1927 in Shawnee, Oklahoma, the son of Hi W. Staten (senior) and Anna Wertman Staten. Hi’s father was a professor of agronomy at Oklahoma State University (at the time, Oklahoma A&M). Hi graduated from Stillwater High School in 1945, served in the U.S. Navy during 1946-47, and received BS and MS degrees in Electrical Engineering from Oklahoma State. At OSU he met a Bartlesville girl, Margie Ann Lausten, and they were married on September 2, 1950. Together they spent 56 wonderful years of marriage until Margie’s passing in 2006. 

Hi’s first job upon graduation was with Phillips Petroleum Company in Bartlesville, the company with which he spent his entire career before retiring in 1988. His passion for international travel was stoked by his business trips to Venezuela, England, Norway (and the North Sea), Japan and China. London was his favorite city, and the first international destination to which he took his wife Margie after his retirement. 

In addition to golf (he had three holes in one), Big Band swing music (especially the dancing), and rooting for the Oklahoma State University Cowboys/Cowgirls (all sports), Hi was an avid supporter of youth competitive swimming, as evidenced by his 20+ years of community service through the Phillips 66 Splash Club. Beginning in 1964, in the wake of the Tokyo Summer Olympics and the acceptance of his two sons (Mike and Jim, aged 8 and 10) onto the Splash Club swim team, Hi embarked on the ultimate “swimming parent” journey. His third son, Bob,was nearly born and certainly raised in the “swim meet” environment. For two decades, as a swim meet “starter,” head official, volunteer club board president and Splash Club representative to Oklahoma AAU swimming, Hi was a fixture in Bartlesville and Oklahoma swimming. All three sons went on to swim competitively and on scholarships at the University of Texas–Arlington, Tulane and the United States Naval Academy, respectively. 

Hi is survived by three sons, Mike Staten and wife Martha of Oro Valley, Arizona; Jim Staten and wife Elaine of Pinehurst, North Carolina; and Bob Staten and wife Grace of Jacksonville, Florida. Hi was blessed with five grandchildren (Erin, Christopher, Ian, Andrew and Kate), and two great grandchildren (Olivia and Holden). 

A graveside service will be held Saturday, January 11, 2025 at the Memorial Park Cemetery, 4200 Nowata Road, Bartlesville, Oklahoma. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in support of the Ralph Matlock/Hi W. Staten Memorial Scholarship at the OSU Foundation. Checks should be made payable to the OSU Foundation and mailed to PO Box 1749 – Stillwater, OK 74076-1749 or gifts can be made online at https://secure.osugiving.com/s/giving/annual?dsgt=21-32900. Please note your donation is in memory of Hi Staten Jr.