Born July 8, 1928, in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  Died on July 24, 2018 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Son of Walter and Marguerite Wetzel of Bixby, Oklahoma, grandson of John J. Wetzel, pioneer Oklahoman, '89er and owner of Oklahoma City's first bakery and confectionary – the Bon Ton and also helped build Oklahoma City's first hotel, The Hotel Weaver.  He was the grandnephew of John Kramer -- owner of the farm and land developed as Tulsa's first suburb, Maple View.  The Wetzel and Kramer families established farms in the Bixby area, where four generations of the Wetzel family occupied the same home built in 1912.

A graduate of Cascia Hall Preparatory School in Tulsa, John attended The University of Oklahoma and received Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Geology from The Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  He was employed by Exxon (The Humble Oil Company) in Billings, Montana as Division Well Log Analyst, as well as in Denver, Colorado; The Oasis Oil Company of Libya in Tripoli; Amoco in New Orleans, La, Amerada Hess in Tulsa, and The Arabian American Oil Company -- ARAMCO-- in Saudi Arabia.  He also was an independent well-log analyst published in The Oil and Gas Journal, a member of Kappa Alpha fraternity, a former member of The American Association of Petroleum Geologists and the MIT Club of Oklahoma.

As a child and young man he fished the high lakes in Rocky Mountain National Park near Grand Lake, Colorado where his family had a cabin.  Those summer expeditions were among his long-lasting and most treasured memories.

His grandfather and name-sake loved travel and adventure.  John followed his example with a peripatetic career path, taking full advantage of the ample opportunities to travel while living abroad.  He sought not only to the usual destinations, but the exotic -- Ladakh and Yemen, and Oman --always carrying his treasured camera.  He often expressed that he and his family had the best of it – when airline services were admirable, and the paths not worn thin .

He is survived by his son Kurt of Tulsa, niece Patty Cason of Oklahoma City, Lee V. Sneed, Jr. Oklahoma City and cousin, Liz Reynolds of New York City.  He was preceded in death by his wife Marlene Reed Wetzel, his sister Joan Wetzel Sneed, and nephew Walter Lee Sneed.

A memorial service will be held at a date to be determined at All Souls Unitarian Church.  In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to The Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma, or The Day Center for the Homeless.