Carl S. Carnes

Carl S. Carnes was born August 22, 1907 in the back of a buggy under a big oak tree, in Benton County, Arkansas. He was the son of John and McCaulie Carnes. Carl was one of eight children whose mother passed away when he was young. He completed his education through the eighth grade at 12 Corner School near Pea Ridge, Arkansas.

Carl remained in Pea Ridge, assisting his father in the farming business and raising his brothers and sisters until 1930. He then hitchhiked to Oklahoma to continue his farming career, with the western Oklahoma wheat fields as his destination. Stopping in Cleveland, Oklahoma to visit friends, Carl secured a job as a roustabout in the oil fields of northeastern Oklahoma in the area known as Dixie, working for an independent oil producer known as Burns & Wallace.

Carl was married to a Cleveland girl, Jewell Norwood on December 24, 1933 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. After working as a roughneck for nearly two years, Carl accepted employment in the old Harry Sinclair No. 1 gasoline plant. He was laid off from the gasoline plant in 1935 and within seven weeks opened the Carnes Exchange, a downtown grocery in Cleveland. Carl and Jewell operated the store together with one employee, which featured cream, eggs, chickens, feed and other items. He sold the grocery in 1937 to concentrate on his dairy with his herd of registered Jerseys. Later he turned to beef cattle; all the time, however, keeping up with the latest developments in the oil industry.

In September of 1947, at the age of 40, Carl formed the Carnes Tank Cleaning Company. Carl was induced by friends to use his farm truck and one of Johnson Oil Refinery's portable tank and pump units to clean tank bottom oil and haul it to the refinery for a new oil reclaiming process. Though ecology was not stressed as it is today, the Carnes Tank Cleaning Company was one of the first to be born of ecological pursuits. Carl continued to develop his company to meet the needs of the oil fields of the Cleveland area and Osage County as the need arose. Through his innovative and adaptive leadership, the company prospered assisting those searching for oil in the area. In 1956, Carl began to integrate his company by building his own oil reclaiming plant in Wynona and was the leading reclaimer of tank bottom oil in the state of Oklahoma at one time.

In 1960 a long-time competitor was purchased, Osage Oil and Transportation Company. Later in 1961, the two companies were consolidated into a new company, Osage Oil & Transportation, Inc., with Carl Carnes as its president. The company continued to prosper under Carl's leadership as it entered into refined product transporting and marketing segment of the oil industry. Later a crude oil purchasing division was inaugurated to buy crude oil from producers in northeastern Oklahoma. Crude oil purchasing terminals where added in Drumright, Morris and Ada, Oklahoma in the next few years. Carl's firm, operated in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri and Kansas was among the first to push self-serve gasoline stations. Its trademarks of Gas-N-Go and Serv-Ur-Self were registered in 43 states and were well known in the Tulsa and Oklahoma City areas. The company continued to expand upon the marriage of the self-service gasoline station with the convenience store operating stores all over the central United States from the Gulf of Mexico to North Dakota.

Before disposing of the family farm, to make way for the Keystone Lake, Carl entered into the oil production business by drilling three wells on his property. Upon his retirement, his son, Dwain took over the family operation as President of the company. Additionally, Carl passed on his passion and knowledge of oil production to his grandson, David; who continues to follow in his grandfather's footsteps of the oil business, today. Carl always remained faithful to his motto -- I furnish service to the oil industry from exploration to service station.

Carl's faith in Jesus Christ as his personal savior was evident in his daily life. He was reared in the Baptist faith as a youngster and remained active his entire life. Carl joined the First Baptist Church of Cleveland by letter on April 20, 1947 and served in numerous capacities during his life including Sunday school teacher and on many committees and boards. For many years he served as a member of the Oklahoma Baptist Foundation and was ordained as a deacon in the church on October 13, 1968. He was ordained as a deacon emeritus in the First Baptist Church on October 13, 1996. Additionally, Carl was a member of Gideons International, assisting in raising of funds for the distribution of bibles throughout the area and the world. Throughout his illness after suffering a stroke in 1995, Carl always remained a faithful servant. His wife and companion of nearly sixty-nine years, Jewell preceded him in death on November 27, 2002.

Carl passed away on Thursday, February 9, 2006 at the Cleveland Area Hospital at the age of ninety-eight years, five months and seventeen days. In addition to his wife, Carl was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers, Cloe Carnes and Denny Carnes; three sisters, Ina Dent, Gladys Newlin and Clarista Carnes; and a half brother, J. C. Carnes.

He is survived by a son and his wife, Dwain and Sharon Carnes of Cleveland, Oklahoma; granddaughter and her husband, Kim and Jerry Brady of Cleveland, Oklahoma; grandson, David Carnes of Hallett, Oklahoma; great-grandson, Ryan Brady of Cleveland, Oklahoma; two great-great grandchildren, Kayden and Kylar Brady of Cleveland, Oklahoma; brother, Bill Carnes of Springdale, Arkansas; three sisters, Virginia Preddy of Cassville, Missouri, Ona Thrasher of Anderson, Missouri and Margaret Sutherland of Rogers, Arkansas; four half brothers, Lonnie Carnes of Monett, Missouri, Ray Dean Carnes of Purdy, Missouri, Johnny Carnes of Monett, Missouri and Melvin Carnes of Pineville, Missouri; and two half sisters, Rachel Banks of Noel, Missouri and Patsy Ellis of Silver City, New Mexico.

Funeral services will be held at 2:30 pm, Monday, February 13, 2006 at the First Baptist Church in Cleveland with Dr. Larry Wilson and Rev. George Boston officiating. Musical selections will be provide by Robert Annett and Linda Carnes.

Serving as pallbearers will be Darrel Lindon, Dan Whitten, Ed Callison, John Fechner, Bailey Hickson and Gail Dilley. Burial will be at the Woodland Cemetery under the direction of the Chapman-Black Funeral Home.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the First Baptist Church Building Fund, P. O. Box 656, Cleveland, Oklahoma or Gideons International. Post Office Box 140800, Nashville, TN 37214-0800.

Visit an online obituary and guestbook for Carl S. Carnes at www.chapman-black.com.