Finis Lavell Chisum was an Oklahoma inventor best known for the Chisum EZ Liner, a frame machine for straightening collision-damaged vehicles that Chief Industries went on to produce. He developed his collision repair skills while homesteading in Alaska in the 1950s and also invented the Chisum Log Mill for log home construction. He held more than 20 patents, and the Oklahoma Bar Association named him Inventor of the Year in 1982. He founded Prodigy Advance Repair Technology in 1993 and moved it to McAlester, Okla., in 1995. A native of Mangum, Okla., he served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He died May 7, 2025, at 98.
Lavell Chisum
Class of 1991