Edward "Ed" R. Sturm

 Ed was born September 14, 1935, and died December 10, 2023.   He was Born to Martha Jo Russell and George Nicholas Sturm in Oklahoma City, OK.  Ed attended Rosary Elementary School, then Taft Junior High and graduated Classen High School in 1953.  While at Classen High School he was a member of the National and State Honor Societies and received the Mathematic Award.

Over the next six years he attended 5 universities – OU, MIT, Oklahoma A&M, OCU and OSU.  He received Bachelor Degrees in both Architecture and Architectural Engineering in 1958 and a Master Degree in Civil Engineering in 1959, all from OSU.

While in college, he fell in love and in 1956 Ed married Virginia Lee (Ginger) Parker and they established residences first in Stillwater, then Oklahoma City, Henryetta, back to Oklahoma City and finally in Edmond.  

Ed began his professional career in 1959 as a structural engineer in Oklahoma City where he designed bridges for the Broadway Extension, the Crosstown Expressway, the rerouting of several highways around the Keystone Reservoir and the Indian Nation Turnpike.  The latter was his first experience in prestressed concrete design.  Then, in 1963, he was appointed the engineer-in-charge for the design of the State Fair Monorail, and it became his second experience in prestressed concrete design.  Tom Thomas, Jr., president of Thomas Concrete Products Co., was so impressed with his designs that he soon hired Ed to be the company’s Chief Engineer and later promoted him to Vice President.  Ed became one of the pioneers of the prestressed concrete industry – nationally recognized for his innovative ideas.  He developed and patented a system of stacking precast concrete members on top of each other to form multi-story buildings.  More than 40 of these buildings were built in Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas and Texas – Including 2000 Classen, The Oil Center, Atrium Towers, Central Park and several others in the Oklahoma City area. 

After helping Thomas Concrete grow from the production of 80 cubic yards of concrete per week to more than 350 cubic yards per day, he resigned as VP of Thomas Concrete in 1982 to start up his own business, Sturm Engineering Co.

Ed was a licensed Professional Engineer in 26 states. Ed remained active in the International Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute, where he served on several committees, chaired one and spent two years on the Board of Directors.  At their International Convention in 2000, his design of the structure for the Hopi Health Care Center in Polacca, AZ, received the P/PCI Awards for Best Institutional Building and Best All-Precast Structure.  In 1998, he designed a 137-ft high, precast/prestressed concrete cross alongside I-35 at Edmond’s Metro Church.  He received the Excellence in Structural Engineering Award from the National Council of Structural Engineering Associations in 1999.

In 2004, he sold Sturm Engineering to three of his employees, but remained active as structural engineering consultant.

Ed enjoyed singing – performing with the St Mary’s Choir for 47 years and several years at Episcopal Church of the Resurrection, he also sang for 5 years with the Canterbury Choral Society. He joined the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America in 1986 and sung for 33 years with the OK Chorale and Music Central chapters of the Society. When these two choruses merged in 2017, he continued his membership with the combined group – The Vocal Sounds of Oklahoma. In 1991 he became a charter member of the Okie Dokes Barbershop Quartet.

Ed is preceded in death by his parents George and Martha Jo Sturm, wife Ginger (Parker) Sturm, and wife Kay Lynn (Fellers) Sturm, brother George Nicholas Sturm, Jr.  and stepson James (Jimmy) Pellow.

He is survived by a sister Susan (Sturm) Burnett, brother J. Christopher Sturm and children Rusty and Cindy Sturm, of Edmond;  Marti Sturm-Sawyer and Greg Sawyer of Edmond; Jimmy and Marnie Sturm, Oklahoma City, 8 grandchildren, Erin (Nick) Griffin of Pittsburg, TX;  Drew (Madeline) Sawyer of Edmond, OK;  Ryan (Apryl) Sturm, Edmond, OK;  Shaylyn Sawyer, Edmond, OK;  Parker (Emily) Sturm of Fort Collins, CO; Kimberlee (James) Hughes of Kansas City, MO; Lee Ann (Kenya) Sturm-Guidry, of Bethany, OK, Jennifer Sturm, McAlester, OK; and  7 great-grand-children. He is also survived by his step-children, John (Sandi) Pellow, Joe Pellow, Jennifer (Don) Ford.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Choir Fund at Episcopal Church of the Resurrection, 13112 N Rockwell Ave. Oklahoma City, OK 73142, or the Ed Sturm Memorial Fund for the Vocal Sounds of Oklahoma at the Oklahoma City Community Foundation.