Memorial to William S. Pike, Jr.1907-1985

HOM ER F. SIM M ONS. JR.P.O. Box 546. M om eagle. Tennessee 37356

Bill Pike was born September 27. 1907. in the Catons- ville section of Baltimore. M aryland. His parents were William S. and May Henry Pike; they had met at Friends School in Baltimore where they were both teachers. Bill’s father taught chemistry and physics in the high school and was Headm aster of the school du r­ing the approxim ately ten years prior to his retirement.

Bill lived in the Baltimore area until graduation from college. His pre-college schooling was at Friends School where he graduated in 1925. He then attended Johns Hopkins University, receiving his Ph.D. in Geol­ogy in 1933. For four summers during college, he worked with the USGS in M ontana and New Mexico. It was this work which provided the inspiration for a thesis subject.

During his high school days. Bill met Elizabeth Bridener. also a student at Friends. Their first date was the Junior-Senior Prom in 1924. Betty graduated from Friends in1927 and attended Peabody Conservatory of Music. She received a piano teacher’s certif­icate in 1931 and soon acquired a num ber of pupils. W ith Betty’s pupils and Bill’s sum­mer job. they took a financial gamble in April 1932—they eloped. With a little family assist­ance from both sides in the first year or so, the gamble paid off for nearly fifty-three years.

Bill’s thesis work was centered in northwestern New Mexico. He was studying the relationship of the marine M ancos and nonm arine Mesa Verde form ations. This work provided the basis for the Geological Society of America M emoir 24. In tertonguing M arine and Nonm arine Upper Cretaceous Deposits o f New M exico. A rizona, and Southwestern Colorado, published in 1947. From the acknowledgments the following is excerpted: “Finally, the writer is indebted to his wife. Elizabeth Bridener Pike, who beside serving as camp cook and cheerfully sharing the inconveniences of camp life, as­sisted very materially in the search for fossils.” Bill was elected a Fellow of GSA in 1950.

Bill’s employment with Shell Oil Com pany began in 1934. consisting in the early years of field work in west Texas and Louisiana. Bill and Betty’s son. William S. Pike III. was born August 27. 1936. in Ham lin. Texas. Subsequently. Bill worked in Shell’s offices in Shreveport. H ouston, and New Orleans. Commencing about 1952. Bill headed the Special Studies Section in the New Orleans area. He remained there, making many worthwhile contributions, until his retirement in April 1967.

1 first met Bill at a company technical meeting in the early fifties; his paper is the only one I recall from that meeting. His work with paleostructure analysis revealed the significance of early structure in petroleum entrapm ent. Moreover, he also realized the im portance of paleostructural maps in the localization of more favorable porosity in reservoir rocks, due to the higher energy associated with shallower water deposition.

Under Bill’s direction, one of the first operational palynology sections of Shell Oil was instituted in New Orleans. He was prim arily responsible for using com puters to han­dle and process various micropaleontologic data. This paid off as Shell Oil moved into

THF CiFOI OGICAI SOCIFTY OF AMFRICA

d e e p e r a n d d e e p e r w a t e r a n d t h e y o u n g e r s e d i m e n t s o f t h e G u l f o f M e x i c o . T h e f i rs t b a s i c p a l v n o l o p y f r a m e w o r k w a s g r a d u a l l y e x p a n d e d t o t h e c u r r e n t “ s t a t e o f t h e a r t ” w i t h f o r a m i n i f c r a l i n f o r m a t i o n a c c u m u l a t e d o v e r a p e r i o d o f n e a r l y f ive y e a r s . B i l l ’s e f f o r t s r e s u l t e d in c o m p u t e r s y s t e m s t h a t g r e a t l y e x p e d i t e d t h e p r o c e s s i n g a n d i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f al l t h e s e d a t a . T h e c o m p u t e r w o r k h e d id f o r S h e l l is s t i ll t h e b a s i s o f m a n y oil i n d u s t r y s t a n d a r d s f o r c o m p i l i n g a n d s t o r i n g d a t a .

A few c o m m e n t s f r o m t h e m e n w h o w o r k e d f o r Bill in S h e l l ’s N e w O r l e a n s o f f i c e fo l lo w :

I r eme mb er him as being a gent le m a n a nd a bri l l iant geologist . I d o n ’t recall him ever losing his t empe r o r saying anything crit ical ab o u t anyone.Wor k i n g c los dv with a ma n so out s t andingly creat ive in his t hinking and r igorously t ho r ou g h in his studies was a mos t va lued exper ience. His act ive mind and zest for life weren' t conf ined to geology.He was a t op-notch geologist wi th a penchan t f o r accuracy, and he was my first boss in New Or l eans If I had to single out one l as t ing impress ion of Bill Pike, it would be consi s t ency He was a lways the same. Bill c ame across as a very pleasant , yet no- nonsense guy. w h o knew what he wa n t ed and h o w to go ou t a nd get it. In my book, that makes him a winner . All wh o k ne w hi m c an n o t help but feel that s ome th i ng very good has gone out of o u r lives.

Bill h a d m a n y i n t e r e s t s a n d h o b b i e s : h e w a s a n e n t h u s i a s t i c p h o t o g r a p h e r a n d p h i ­l a t e l i s t . D u r i n g h is y e a r s in N e w O r l e a n s , h e a c q u i r e d a 1958 M e r c e d e s I 9 0 S I . a n d b e c a m e a n a r d e n t s p o r t s c a r b u f f . H e w a s p r e s i d e n t o f t h e N e w O r l e a n s S p o r t s C a r C l u b f o r s e v e r a l y e a r s a n d e d i t e d t h e i r m o n t h l y p a p e r . H e p a r t i c i p a t e d in b o t h l o c a l a n d s t a t e ra l l i e s , m o s t t i m e s w i t h B e t t y a s n a v i g a t o r . T h e c a r w a s p u t in s t o r a g e f o r e l e v e n y e a r s , b u t w a s l a t e r t o w e d t o F l o r i d a w h e r e B ill r e s t o r e d it. d o i n g m u c h o f t h e w o r k h im s e l f . W h e n t h e c a r w a s s o ld in 1984. it w a s l ik e l o s i n g o n e o f t h e f a m i ly .

A f t e r h e r e t i r e d . Bill f u l f i l l ed a l i f e l o n g d r e a m t o l iv e o n a b o a t . H e a n d B e t t y t r a v e l l e d t o F l o r i d a a n d p u r c h a s e d a 4 5 - f o o t , t w i n - e n g i n e c r u i s e r w h i c h w a s in g o o d c o n d i t i o n a n d c o m f o r t a b l e f o r l iv in g a b o a r d . W i t h a C o a s t G u a r d p i l o t i n g c o u r s e u n d e r t h e i r b e l t s , t h e y h e a d e d n o r t h , u p t h e i n t e r c o a s t a l w a t e r w a y , w i t h v i s i o n s o f a t t e n d i n g E x p o 67. T h e s e c o n d d a y o u t f r o m t h e i r h e a d q u a r t e r s a t L i g h t h o u s e P o i n t , F l o r i d a , t h e y w e n t a g r o u n d . A f t e r r e p a i r s , t h e y g o t a s f a r n o r t h a s J a c k s o n v i l l e , w h e r e t h e y f o u n d a g o o d v a c a t i o n s p o t o n t h e S t . J o h n s R i v e r . T h e r e t h e y w e r e j o i n e d b y t h e i r s o n B i l ly a n d h is f a m i l y f o r a n e n j o y a b l e s t a y . T h e s e c o n d s u m m e r t h e y h e a d e d n o r t h f o r C h e s a p e a k e B ay . In s p i t e o f h u r r i c a n e s n e a r b y , b o t h c o m i n g a n d g o i n g , t h e y h a d a w o n d e r f u l t r ip .

In 1971 t h e y s o l d t h e b o a t a n d p u r c h a s e d a 3 1 - f o o t A v i o n t r a i l e r . W i t h h e a d q u a r t e r s ( p r i m a r i l y in t h e w i n t e r ) a t t h e B r e e z y H i l l T r a i l e r P a r k in P o m p a n o B e a c h , t h e y t r a v e l l e d f o r t h e n e x t e i g h t y e a r s , c o v e r i n g m o s t o f t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s a n d C a n a d a . T w o t r i p s w e r e a l s o m a d e t o M e x i c o in 3 0 - t r a i l e r c a r a v a n s . I n 1977 t h e P i k e s b o u g h t a m o b i l e h o m e , b u t k e p t t h e t r a i l e r u n t i l 1982.

In 1978 Bill d e v e l o p e d l y m p h o n a ( c a n c e r o f t h e l y m p h g l a n d s ) . H o w e v e r , h e r e s p o n d e d w e l l t o c h e m o t h e r a p y a n d h a d a f i v e - y e a r r e m i s s i o n . In F e b r u a r y 1984 h e s u f f e r e d a r e l a p s e , b u t r e c o v e r e d s u f f i c i e n t l y t o m o v e n o r t h t o S i g n a l M o u n t a i n . T e n n e s ­see . T h e r e h e e n j o y e d s ix m o n t h s in o n e o f t h e m o s t b e a u t i f u l p a r t s o f T e n n e s s e e . A s e v e r e h e a r t a t t a c k c a u s e d B i l l ’s d e a t h o n F e b r u a r y 1. 1985.

Bill is s u r v i v e d b y h i s w i fe B e t t y , o f S i g n a l M o u n t a i n : h i s s o n B i l l , d a u g h t e r - i n - l a w M a r y , a n d g r a n d s o n B a r r y , a l l o f K a l a m a z o o . M i c h i g a n ; a n d h is g r a n d a u g h t e r D e b o r a h G o e t t e . o f Y p s i l a n t e . M i c h i g a n . A g r e a t g r a n d s o n . D e n n i s G o e t t e . J r . . w a s b o r n in l a t e 1985.

W e w a l k b u t a s h o r t p a t h o n t h i s p l a n e t . I t w a s a g e n u i n e p r i v i l e g e t o s h a r e a p o r t i o n o f t h a t s t r o l l w i th Bill. Printed in U.S .A. 6 ; 86