Tulsa World: Radiologist yearned for life on the wing

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Radiologist yearned for life on the wing

Norman Bartlett spent 30 years in radiology at St. John Medical Center, 20 years as the department's director. Courtesy

By TIM STANLEY World Staff Writer
Published: 12/1/2009 2:23 AM
Last Modified: 12/1/2009 5:39 AM

Norman Bartlett saw the insides of countless Tulsans over his career, but it wasn't until later that he revealed what was always inside him: an aviator itching to get out.

As he neared retirement, the longtime director of radiology at St. John Medical Center turned loose his inner pilot, building his own plane from a kit and taking to the air.

Norman Lukken Bartlett, who died Wednesday at age 79, had flown often when he was younger but gave up the hobby as his career and family began to consume his time.

If Bartlett entertained any flights of fancy, however, they never interfered with his radiology, family members say.

He spent his nearly 30-year career with St. John, 20 of those as director of the radiology department, where he was the first radiologist in the state to do cardiac angiography and angioplasty.

While at St. John, Bartlett also invented and patented a camera that could photograph X-rays, alleviating the X-ray storage problems that were common in the predigital era.

Bartlett's son Eric Bart- lett, a neuroradiologist at the University of Toronto, said he didn't originally plan to follow in his dad's footsteps.

"But I couldn't decide what to go into after medical school," he said.

"I remember coming home one day and saying to Dad, 'OK, tell me about radiology.' He was very happy to, and I think he was proud how it turned out."

Norman Bartlett, an Army veteran, eventually renewed his pilot's license.

He spent four years building a Glasair kit plane and flew it around the country before vision problems forced him to quit.

The plane was a small two-seater, but Bartlett's wife, Sleeta Bartlett, never accompanied him.

"I was always too scared," she said.

Bartlett is survived by his wife; his children, Paul, Leslie and Eric Bartlett; and four grandchildren. A funeral service was held Monday under the direction of Leonard and Marker Funeral Home in Bixby.

Tim Stanley 581-8385
tim.stanley@tulsaworld.com By TIM STANLEY World Staff Writer

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