Ray H. Siegfried II

Tulsa industrialist Ray H. Siegfried II dies
By Staff Reports
10/7/2005

A business and civic leader, he is credited with raising The Nordam Group's profile globally. Tulsa industrialist Ray H. Siegfried II, who took The Nordam Group from a struggling operation to an international competitor in the aviation industry, died Thursday. He was 62.
A Rosary will be recited at 8 p.m. Sunday at Cascia Hall's St. Rita's Chapel, and a funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Monday at Holy Family Cathedral. Private burial services will be held on the University of Notre Dame campus, and a memorial service will be held in Tulsa in about two weeks.
Local services are under the direction of Fitzgerald's Ivy Chapel Funeral Home.
"Ray Siegfried was a wonderful, generous human being who taught us all how to live and how to die courageously," said former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating. "He was a robustly successful businessman who, even when faced with illness, was always cheerful and spiritual. Oklahoma has lost a splendid man."
In 1969, Siegfried started his re-creation of Nordam.
R.H. Siegfried Co., the family insurance company, had as one of its clients a failing business, Northern Oklahoma Research Development and Manufacturing. Siegfried acquired it out of bankruptcy.
With little staff and about $1.2 million in debt, the company started producing helicopter components during the Vietnam War.
Siegfried eventually turned the company into an international leader in aerospace manufacturing, repair and overhaul.
The company grew from eight employees to about 2,300 today, mainly in Tulsa. It has seven divisions operating on three continents. The company's estimated annual revenue is more than $500 million.
After Siegfried was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a nerve disorder also called ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease, he ceded the position of chief executive officer and became chairman in October 2001.
"I believe there are no coincidences," Siegfried said in 2002. "There is a God-developed plan for me and everyone else."
Using a wheelchair and later an Eyegaze computer when he could no longer speak, Siegfried spent the last years of his life completing the succession planning, leadership and governance structure necessary to achieve his dream of growing Nordam into a $1 billion company.
Siegfried was born in Tulsa and graduated from Cascia Hall in 1961. He received his bachelor's degree in business from the University of Notre Dame in 1965.
After college, Siegfried joined the U.S. Army as a lieutenant, serving at Fort Benning, Ga., and in the Demilitarized Zone on the Korean peninsula.
He returned to Tulsa in 1967 and completed his military service in the Army Reserve while joining the family business.
Siegfried held leadership positions in his industry, in education and in the community.
His aviation career was distinguished by his chairmanship of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association in 2002.
In 2003, Siegfried was honored by the National Business Aviation Association with its "First Century of Flight Award," in recognition of his lifelong contributions to aviation.
Outside of aeronautics, Siegfried may be best known for his association with the University of Notre Dame, where he served on the board of trustees from 1987.
He and his father dedicated Siegfried Hall dormitory on the Notre Dame campus in 1988, and the Ray and Milann Siegfried family and The Nordam Group donated the MBA wing of the College of Business Administration in 1995.
In 1997, the Ray and Milann Siegfried family funded the Chair for Entrepreneurial Studies.
Last year, the International Astronomical Union named an asteroid the Asteroid Siegfried at the suggestion of Notre Dame physics Professor Terrence Rettig.
The Notre Dame Club of Tulsa named Siegfried its Man of the Year in 1980.
Siegfried was named an Augustinian affiliate, Cascia Hall's highest honor, for his work with the Tulsa school.
Three generations of Siegfrieds have been Cascia Hall graduates.
Siegfried served as chairman for many of the school's fundraisers, including campaigns that built a wing onto the middle school in 1999 and helped the school adapt to a co-ed policy in 1986. He also served as president of the athletic board for many years.
Siegfried also served on the boards of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the University of Portland and the University of Tulsa.
He received an honorary Doctor of Law degree from Notre Dame in 1992 and an honorary Doctorate from the University of Portland in 2002.
Siegfried was a civic leader in a variety of other ways.
When he served as chairman of the Tulsa Area United Way in 1987, the campaign set a new record for contributions.
He was president of The Tulsa Club and served as treasurer of St. John Medical Center.
He was a director of the Tulsa Day Center for the Homeless, leading its 1991 capital campaign, and director of the Tulsa Community Foundation.
He served as director of the U.S. American Boxing Federation and was a founder and director of Tulsa Charity Fight Night Inc.
He was a past chairman of the Institute of Nautical Archeology, director of the Oklahoma Aquarium foundation and a founding director of the Tulsa Aquarium.
Siegfried was the recipient of countless awards, including induction into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1990.
He received the Brotherhood Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews in 1989.
In 1991, Siegfried was received as an affiliate of the St. Augustine Order of the Catholic Church, and in 1992 he was invested as a Knight in the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.
In 2000, he received the Humanitarian Award from the National Jewish Medical Research Center.
In 1987, he was inducted into the Headliners Club by the Tulsa Press Club.
He received the Gold Knight of Management Award from the National Management Association's Eastern Oklahoma Council in 1988.
Siegfried was named Tulsa's "Number One Corporate Citizen" by Oklahoma Magazine in 2002.
Survivors include his wife, Milann; and six children, Tray, Hastings, Terrell, Bailey, Milannie and Meredith. He also is survived by four grandchildren.

Siegfried remembered
Leaders from education, religion and government were saddened Thursday by the death of Tulsa businessman Ray Siegfried:
“The Notre Dame family today lost one of its most cherished members, a man whose wisdom, leadership and generosity will be felt on this campus for all time. We will miss his warm friendship and will be inspired by the courage he showed while tested by medical challenges in the past few years.”
— The Rev. John I. Jenkins, president, University of Notre Dame
“He was a very good practicing Catholic. . . . I wrote to him and told him I was praying for him, and he wrote back immediately, a short, spontaneous note, that this (disease) is in God’s plan, so it must be for the good.
“I never heard him complain. . . . He never showed one bit of anger, ever, about the disease.”
— Bishop Edward Slattery, Catholic Diocese of Tulsa
“He was a great man of faith and a great friend to Cascia Hall.’’
— The Rev. Bernard Scianna, headmaster, Cascia Hall
‘‘Ray Siegfried was a wonderful, generous human being who taught us all how to live and how to die courageously. He was a robustly successful businessman who, even when faced with illness, illness, was always cheerful and spiritual. Oklahoma has lost a splendid man.’’
— Former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating
‘‘Ray Siegfried was a committed philanthropist and true visionary of industry, and he will be deeply missed.’’
— Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry
“Tulsa was so blessed to have someone like Ray Siegfried in our community. He gave of himself to the business community, to the nonprofit community, to the people of need in the community. I can’t think of a greater leader.’’
— Tulsa Mayor Bill LaFortune
‘‘Ray was a true friend and one of the finest gentlemen I have ever known. Whatever he touched was better because of his involvement.’’
— Robert E. Lorton, chairman, World Publishing Co.
‘‘Ray Siegfried was a remarkable man. He was only 26 years old when he left his family’s insurance business to take over the Northern Oklahoma Research, Development and Manufacturing Co., called Nordam. It was bankrupt and lacked direction. Ray — with absolutely no aviation experience — had the rare ability to seek out innovators in the new field of honeycomb bonding, hire them, and learn from them. Through the years he grew Nordam into a $500 million global leader in aerospace manufacturing, repair and overhaul. Now that’s what I call visionary leadership.’’
— Ken Lackey, vice chairman and chief executive officer, The Nordam Group.