Leo Strom

Leo Strom, 80, of Brenham, Texas, joined his Lord and Savior on October 27, 2008. He was born in his grandmother''s boarding house in Dickinson, Texas, on February 26, 1928, to Fred and Della Strom. He graduated from Dickinson High School in 1945 and was salutatorian of his class. He attended Rice University for three semesters but dropped out because of a lack of funds. Leo roughnecked in the oil fields for about a year and then secured a job at Amoco''s refinery in Texas City, Texas. He met his beloved wife, Mary Ann, while working there, and they married in 1958. Amoco instituted a program to pay tuition for employees wishing to attend college, and Leo took that opportunity, attending night classes at the University of Houston, where he earned a degree in engineering in 1967. A year later, Amoco sent him to Tehran, Iran, where he was maintenance superintendent for Khemco, a joint operation between Amoco and the Iranian government on Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf for seven years. In 1976, Leo became head engineer in Amoco''s office in Cairo, Egypt. He went on to oversee the design of a new gas project in Ras Shukeir, on the Egyptian coast of the Red Sea. He saw that project through start-up. After nine years in Egypt, Leo was transferred to Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, to start up a gas plant there. Finally, after 18 years in the Middle East, Leo retired in 1986, and he and Mary Ann moved to Brenham, Texas, where he raised Santa Gertrudis cattle for several years. Leo is survived by his wife of fifty years, Mary Ann Strom; his son, Steven Ray Strom of Playa del Rey, California, and his daughter, Stephanie Falktoft of New York, New York, His other survivors include his son-in-law, Henrik Falktoft, and his granddaughter, Cecilie Falktoft, both of New York; his sister Dorothy Kotowicz of Houston, Texas; his brother and sister-in-law, Floyd C. and Mary Strom of Dallas, Texas; his sister-in-law, Ella Strom Watson of Dickinson, Texas, and many nieces and nephews. Services for Leo Strom will be held at 10 a.m. October 30, 2008 at the First United Methodist Church of Brenham with Pastor Dale Chance officiating. Burial will take place at 2:00 p.m. in Forest Park East Cemetery in Webster, Texas. Visitation with family and friends will take place at Memorial Oaks Chapel on Wednesday evening from 6:00 until 8:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Leo''s name to the Alzheimer''s Association, the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson''s Research or a charity of the donor''s choice. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Memorial Oaks Chapel, 1306 W. Main, Brenham. To view the obituary online or to post a tribute to the family, visit www.memorialoakschapel.com.