From staff reports OKLAHOMA CITY – A Celebration of Life Service will be held for famed Oklahoma meteorologist Gary A. England on Friday, June 20, at 1 p.m.
at the Crossings Community Church in Oklahoma City.
He was born Oct. 3, 1939, to Hazel and Leslie England and graduated from Seiling High School in 1957. After serving close to three years in the U.S.
Navy, he returned home and graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1965 with a degree in mathematics and meteorology.
England began his career in New Orleans in 1967 as a meteorologist and oceanographer and moved to Oklahoma City to join KTOK radio in the world of television meteorology. He influenced countless weather forecasters in radio, television and government service with his cutting-edge technological advancements.
In 1982, England was the world’s first television meteorologist to broadcast a tornado warning using a commercial Doppler radar. In 1990, he developed First Warning, a map in the corner of the television screen which alerts viewers of severe weather.
He also helped create Storm Tracker, the computer program that predicts the time a severe storm will arrive in a particular community.
He was known throughout North America as a pioneering television meteorologist, the creator of life-saving severe weather warning systems, and the most trusted voice during severe weather for two generations of Oklahomans. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 2013.
England has been recognized with the highest awards for his coverage of severe weather events, including recognition from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters (OAB) and the OAB Associated Press Broadcast awards and also received an Emmy Award.
He also received the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award for best in the nation in Breaking News/Weather Coverage and appeared in more than 50 national and international severe weather programs and made a cameo appearance in the hit 1996 movie “Twister,” which was filmed in Oklahoma.
England authored four books, including his autobiography titled “Weathering the Storm: Tornados, Television, and Turmoil.” He was a keynote speaker for the 2006 dedication of the National Weather Center in Norman.
In 2008, England was named an OU Outstanding Alumnus and in 2014 received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters.
He retired in 2013 and became the Vice President for Corporate Relations and Weather Development at Griffin Communications. The late OU President David L. Boren announced England in March 2015 as OU’s Consulting Meteorologist- in-Residence.
England is survived by his wife of 63 years, Mary, and their daughter Molly England Lutosky and husband, Mike; two granddaughters, Chloe England Lutosky and Cassidy Lutosky Meyer and her husband, Mitch; and a brother, Phil England and his wife, Susan.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Hazel and Lesley England; a brother, Richard England; and a sister, Darla Chain.