Ralph R. Kirchner

February 27, 1893 – December 26, 1990

Services for Ralph R. “Brick” Kirchner, founder of Unit Drilling Co. in Tulsa, will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Bristow Cemetery. Kirchner, 97, died Wednesday. The funeral will be directed by Schumacher Funeral Home in Bristow.

A Stillwater native, Kirchner attended Perry High School. After graduating from Oklahoma A&M College, he worked in the production department of Gypsy Oil Co. in Tulsa and later was employed by J.C. Board of Collinsville. He was in the oil business for 65 years. In 1944, Kirchner won the Republican nomination in the Fourth District congressional race, but lost to Democrat Lyle Boren.

A veteran of World War I, he was director of the Independent Petroleum Association of America and the Oklahoma Stripper Well association. He was a past governor of district 611 for Rotary International, and past president of Bristow Rotary Club. He was a 32nd degree Mason and a charter member of the Bristow Elks Lodge. He was a member and former deacon of the Presbyterian church.

Survivors include two daughters, Jean Cohen of Topeka, Kan., and Nancy Thomas of Tulsa; one granddaughter; and two great-grandchildren.