VINITA—Services for Phil H. “Dutch” Abel, 72, who died
Tuesday in a local hospital following a long illness, will
be at 2:30 p.m. Friday in the Burckhalter Memorial chapel.
Abel, who retired in 1947 after 30 years with the Public
Service Co., was the first man to be employed by the firm in
Vinita.
Born in Friendenburg, Russia, he came to the U.S. in 1887
with his parents when he was six years old. The family
settled in Kansas and later moved to a farm near Enid.
He was a member of the First Christian church, Vinita.
Survivors include: his wife, Alice; two sons, Gilbert Lee,
Antioch, Calif.; and Anthony, Concord, Calif.; one stepson,
John Floyd Ferguson, Wichita; three brothers, Sam and Ben,
Victorville, Calif.; seven grandchildren and four
great-grandchildren.
