Page 9 of 43
July, 1961
9
Deaths
During the past year an unusually great number of deaths of ex-students and associates of the Department of Geology have saddened us. The list includes the following, and there may be others of whom we have received no word :
Robert L. Cannon (BA, MA '22)
Drue D. Christner
Charles Edwin Davis (BA '50)
E.B.Hutson (BA'24)
Henry A. Jacobi (BS '5l)
Millard L. Kelley (Graduate student)
John T. Lonsdale, Director, Bureau of Economic
Geology
Laßue B. McFarland (MA '39)
Junius H. Morrill (BS '4l)
Benjamin Oliver Nixon (BA '42)
Elias H. Sellards, Director Emeritus, Bureau of Eco-
nomic Geology
Charles Edwin Davis died following an accident in which a speeding teenager chased by police crashed into the car in which Davis was riding. He was employed by Pan American in Oklahoma City, where the accident occurred. E. B. Hutson was employed by the Carter Division of the Humble Oil & Refining Company in Shreveport, Louisiana. Henry A. Jacobi died when his truck went off the road and turned over at Comodoro Rivadavia, Argentina, where he was working for the Pan American Argentina Oil Company. Laßue B. McFar land died of a heart attack following an illness of about six months duration. Junius H. Morrill died unexpectedly of a heart attack in his home city of Ft. Worth. Benjamin Oliver Nixon was killed in a plane crash near Houston. He was a broker and dealer for Nixon's Mutual Funds in San Antonio.
The death of Millard L. Kelley, graduate student and Teach ing Assistant in the Department of Geology, shocked his fellow students and teachers strongly. It happened in a Departmental carryall on the way to a geologic field trip on Friday evening, October 14, 1960. Between Abilene and Cisco, where Kelley and his fellow graduate students were planning to join Baylor students, the carryall skidded in the rain on slick pavement. The car reversed ends and struck a culvert, throwing Kelley from the back seat through the back door of the vehicle, which then rolled on top of him. Witnesses verified that the car was not speeding or being driven carelessly. Several other acci dents have been caused by skidding on wet pavement on the same stretch of road. The other occupants of the carryall were hospitalized for minor injuries. Although two thousand ge ology students have traveled several million miles in Depart mental cars, this is the only fatal accident on record. Millard Kelley received his BA degree in 1956 and his MA in 1958 from Texas Christian University. He entered The University of Texas in 1958 and was working on his Ph.D. degree under the supervision of Dr. Bell. He is survived by his wife and by his parents, who live in Ft. Worth.
Memorial to Robert L. Cannon
Charles D. Vertrees
by
Robert Lee (Bob) Cannon, a charter member of the Ge ology Foundation Advisory Council and a distinguished Uni versity of Texas geology alumnus, died in the Shannon Hos pital at San Angelo, Texas on April 23, 1961, after an illness of several months.
He was born August 17, 1899 in Childress County, Texas, in the Tall Community, to Francis Virgil and Annie Ophelia Cannon. He attended Prairie Hill School at Childress and public school at Port O'Connor before moving with his parents to Jacksonville, Texas in 1913. Here he graduated from high school with honors in 1917. In 1918 he started his geological training at The University of Texas. His main interest was in paleontology. In this work he was guided by Professor F. L. Whitney, for whom he developed an abiding admiration. He completed his B. A. and M. A. degrees in four years, receiving both degrees in August 1922.
He first worked with the Mid Kansas Oil and Gas Company as a geologist in San Antonio. In 1923 he joined the Humble Oil & Refining Company. Although he worked under the di rection of the Houston office, his work consisted primarily of a study of the Balcones fault trend. Applying his familiarity with the Cretaceous formations and his uncommon sense of orientation, he is credited with finding several oil fields during the short time he was with Humble. Although his success as a company geologist was unquestionable, his desire to go into business for himself soon became overwhelming. In 1924, he resigned, and the partnership of Adams and Cannon was formed. This partnership lasted only a short time. With his brothers, the partnership of Cannon and Cannon was formed in 1925. The business was first established in Dallas, but in
