Memorial to Hugh Neumann Frenzel 1918-1990

A. T. (TOBY) CARLETON,Midland, Texas

The geologic profession lost one of its strongest advocated and most dedicated servants with the passing of Hugh Neumann Frenzel at his Midland, Texas, home in the early morning hours of January 1, 1990. Hugh’s last days were good ones. He didn’t suffer. He had been in communica­tion with his children, including a visit from son, Tom. On New Year’s Eve, he went to church, worked in the yard, tended to his feathered friends, spent the early evening vis­iting with friends at the Midland Country Club’s annual New Year’s Party and watched the New Year in on televi­sion at home with wife and companion, Dorothy. Having attended to those items, he went to sleep forever. No one was more deserving of such a peaceful exit.

Hugh Frenzel was born in Madison, Wisconsin, on April 21, 1918, to Harry and Iva Neumann Frenzel. Both parents were farm raised and college educated. His father was a structural engineer and his mother was a homemaker with a degree in geology. They instilled in Hugh a high regard for math and science and a love for the outdoors. An early interest in rocks was nurtured not only by his mother, but also by two uncles who were geologists. L. Murray Neumann, his mother’s brother, was chief geologist for Carter Oil Company and served AAPG as vice president for one year. Arthur Tarr, Hugh’s other uncle, was a professor of geology at the University of Missouri.

The Frenzel family moved to Western Springs, Illinois, shortly after Hugh’s birth. Here, he spent his early and formative years. He graduated from La Grange, Illinois, high school with honors and subsequently attended Lyons Township Junior College for two years. Next, he enrolled in the University of Wisconsin as a chemistry major. When told he needed to pick another science as an elective, he naturally chose geology because of the early exposure afforded by his family. Hugh’s beginning geology instructors included W. A. Twenhofel, Nor­man Newall, and lab and field trip teacher, Vince McKelvey. The world lost a great chemist when Hugh changed his major to geology at mid-term. He received his Bachelor of Science degree with honors in geology from the University of Wisconsin in 1940. He received his Mas­ter’s degree in geology fro the same institution in the spring of 1941. His master’s thesis was on fusilinids he had found in the Phosphoria Formation in Montana. Hugh’s findings led to a Per­mian Wolfcampian age date for the lower Phosphoria Formation, which had previously been assigned as age no older that Permian Leonardian. Hugh presented a paper on his findings at the AAPG/SEPM meeting in Houston, Texas, in 1941.

World War II interfered with Hugh’s plans to work on a Doctorate degree in geology. He was drafted in the summer of 1941 and sent to a new Army Air Base at Las Vegas, Nevada. He became an instructor in aerial gunnery. Here, he displayed his creative and organizational skills by helping to develop a training program for aerial gunners. For this, he was awarded the Legion of Merit.

Hugh’s assignment to Las Vegas was a fortunate one. It was here that he met Dorothy Chambers, a young Nebraska school teacher, who was to become his wife, companion, and

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28 THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICAcounselor for nearly 45 years. It was here also that he got his first training in “risk taking,” lessons that would serve him well in later years.

Immediately after being honorably discharged from the Army in 1945, Hugh took a job with Standard Oil Company of Texas to do surface geology out of Carlsbad, New Mexico. In New Mexico, he gained his basic knowledge about the Permian rocks of the Permian basin. He mapped structures and did stratigraphic and correlation work on those units in the Guadalupe, Glass, and Sacramento mountains.

In 1948, Hugh was transferred to Midland, Texas, under the supervision of John Emery Adams. Adams was a pioneer Permian basin geologist and later president of AAPG. This was a happy union and resulted in their co-authoring, with others, several very significant papers on their findings. These investigations contributed greatly to both the knowledge and understanding of the Permian basin. Two of these papers are classics on Permian Basin geology: “Capitan Bar­rier Reef, Texas and New Mexico,” published in the Journal o f Geology in 1950 and the “Starved Pennsylvanian Midland Basin,” published in the AAPG Bulletin in 1951. Standard Oil of Texas soon recognized Hugh’s potential. In 1950, two years after transferring to Midland, he was promoted to district geologist. He was at that time the youngest district geologist in the company’s history.

In 1952, Hugh left Standard of Texas to join Ryan, Hayes and Burke, a once-active inde­pendent, which discontinued operations in 1954. He then made another good move when he went to work for Ralph Lowe, an unabashed and successful wildcatter. He spent 20 years with Lowe, the last 12 of which were as chief geologist. During this exciting time, the wildcatter and the gambler from Las Vegas collaborated for some significant discoveries, including the Gladi- ola Devonian oil field of Lea County, New Mexico, and the giant Indian basin gas field of Eddy County, New Mexico. They also drilled what was then the deepest well in the world. The well was successfully drilled to 28,500 ft. in 1971 in Pecos County, Texas. Problems developed dur­ing completion, but the experiment taught scientists a great deal about handling temperature and pressure problems. Many felt that the well was capable of production.

After Lowe’s death in 1974, Hugh joined Flag-Redfern Oil Company as chief geologist and vice president. After a successful career with Flag-Redfern, he retired in 1981. Subse­quently, he joined Bison Exploration as vice president. In 1983, he became an independent and consulting geologist.

For over 40 years, Hugh was continuously active in the affairs of local, regional, and national geological societies. He not only was a member of these organizations, he was, at vari­ous times, a worker, an officer, a leader, an organizer, a founder, and an innovator. His mark is indelibly stamped on these organizations, some of which owe not only their character but their very existence to him.

Hugh was a past-president, Honorary Life Member, and Dedicated Service Award recipi­ent of the West Texas Geological Society (WTGS). Among other accomplishments for the WTGS, he helped write and expedite the enactment of a major revision of the West Texas Geo­logical Society’s constitution and bylaws which enlarged the Executive Committee and changed the Society year to a fiscal year. He was largely responsible for establishing a permanent Soci­ety office. He was a charter member of and helped write the constitution and bylaws for the Per­mian Basin Section of SEPM. He also served that organization as president and was awarded its Honorary Member Award. The first joint publication of the Permian Basin Section of SEPM and the West Texas Geological Society was Marathon Thrust Belt—Structure, Stratigraphy, and Hydrocarbon Potential. This volume is fittingly dedicated to Hugh Frenzel.

Not long ago, Hugh conceived the idea for and organized an informal monthly structural geology symposium group. This was typical of Hugh and his tireless search for knowledge and desire to exchange ideas and concepts with colleagues of similar bent. He was active in this

MEMORIAL TO HUGH NEUMANN FRENZEL 29group at the time of his death. He had been a member of a local luncheon group of independent company exploration managers. Upon becoming an independent geologist, he organized a simi­lar group for independent geologists.

The Midland Energy Library was, if not his crowning achievement, certainly the most time consuming, self-sacrificing involvement of Hugh’s career. In 1983, at the time in the oil business of consolidations, mergers, and closing and/or moving of west Texas offices, he became con­cerned that much valuable and sometimes irreplaceable geologic information might be forever lost to industry. It was his hope that this information could be preserved and that it could be made available to potential users on an at-cost basis. He also saw this as a public need and as a valuable resource for the economic development and future of the Permian basin. Hugh’s dedication to this task is legendary in west Texas. He sought and received support from the WTGS, numerous public-spirited donors and foundations, volunteer workers, and oil companies willing to donate some or all of their geological files for this cause. He set about selling memberships, accumulat­ing information, negotiating and obtaining low-cost library space, soliciting and buying furniture, organizing the material, and obtaining personnel—both paid and volunteer—to staff the library. Thus, the Midland Energy Library was bom. He was its father and he nurtured it during its grow­ing years. This was especially difficult in view of the still-continuing oil-industry depression. Hugh was its first president and was so until the end. He was actively involved on a daily basis in seeking ways to improve it. The only compensation that he got was the satisfaction of knowing that he had saved a valuable resource for our industry and the Permian basin, and made it possi­ble for others to benefit by access to that resource. Ultimately, many additional units of energy will be at least an indirect result of Hugh’s efforts. This was vintage Hugh Frenzel.

Hugh was instrumental in the formation of the West Texas Geology Foundation, a perma­nent entity created to conduct educational, charitable, and scientific activities related to or allied with the field of geology in west Texas and the adjacent areas. Hugh helped draft the bylaws, which were patterned after those of the AAPG Foundation. He also did much of the necessary leg and paper work to attain a tax-free designation under the Internal Revenue Service code. He was a director of and a driving force in this foundation at the time of his death.

The Southwest Section of the AAPG was formed out of the old Southwest Association of Geological Societies. Hugh was a leader in this effort. He was also president of the Southwest Section in 1971-1972, and helped with a major revision of the Section’s bylaws. He established the Section’s first newsletter and was its editor for several years. In addition, he was the sec­tion’s representative on the AAPG Advisory Council. In recognition of his many contributions to the Southwest Section of AAPG, he was awarded the Section’s first John Emery Adams Memorial Award in 1985. This award, fittingly named for his old mentor, was for distinguished service to the Southwest Section and to the profession of petroleum geology.

After joining the AAPG in 1946, Hugh was an active participant in and contributor to the Association. He served on many committees, including the Executive Committee. He was a member of the House of Delegates and served as its chairman in 1974-1975. He was on the Advisory Council and was a candidate for vice president in 1981-1982. In 1982, he received the Honorary Membership Award, and in 1989, he received AAPG’s highest honor, the Sidney Powers Memorial Award.

While in the House of Delegates, he wrote and successfully sponsored the seventh constitu­tional purpose in the AAPG constitution. Its purpose is “to advance the professional well-being of its members” and is the basis of much of the professional activities of the Association.

As a member of the Executive Committee by virtue of his position as chairman of the House of Delegates, he successfully pushed a compromise with AIGP on certification. He also advocated and saw passed a significant bylaws change and oversaw a complete rewrite of the Rules and Regulations of the House of Delegates.

30 THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICAWhile a member of the Advisory Council, he was on the Constitutional Review Commit­

tee. A study was made by this committee that indicated unbalanced representation in the House of Delegates. As a result of this study, a bylaws revision to achieve fairer representation was prepared and passed in the House of Delegates in 1979.

Hugh was active in deed and spirit in AAPG until the last. In 1989, he wrote and submitted to the Advisory Council a position paper on The Future o f AAPG. In 1988, he joined the AAPG Foundation. In addition, he was still working on a major paper to be included in the AAPG Treatise o f Petroleum Geology. “The Indian Basin Field, Eddy County, New Mexico.”

As a long-time Fellow of the Geological Society of America, he made many contributions to that organization. He spent five years as area editor for “The Permian Basin Region” for the1988 GSA publication: The Geology o f North America, Volume D-2, Sedimentary Cover— North American Craton.

Hugh Frenzel authored and co-authored many landmark papers on geology, some of which have been mentioned. He also made many important contributions to the science and profession of geology, some of which have been mentioned. There is still more to the story. In addition to being a dedicated and creative scientist, he was a wise and trusted counselor. He was eager to learn and share his knowledge and ideas with others. He was not overbearing and was willing to listen. He was generous with his time, to the extent of sacrificing his own needs to help his associates, his sci­ence, and his profession.

Although Hugh’s main calling was geology, he was a very well-rounded individual with many interests. Despite his quiet demeanor, he had a great zest for life and was eager to sample all that it had to offer. He was a devoted family man and was supportive of and active in his community and his church. He was an avid sports fan, a fisherman (of sorts), an outdoorsman, a bird watcher and fancier, a gardener, a stamp and coin collector, and involved in many other areas of interests. In later years, he and Dorothy also traveled extensively both in the United States and in many foreign countries on several continents. On these trips, he was always eager to learn and took every advantage afforded him to do so. Hugh could talk intelligently on more subjects than anyone I have ever known. He was not, however, a know-it-all. If he didn’t know something, he was quick to say so and anxious to be informed on that matter.

Hugh Frenzel is survived by his wife and companion, Dorothy, and by four grown children of whom he was justifiably proud: Arthur of Hot Springs, Arkansas; Robert of Arlington, Texas; Thomas of Dallas, Texas; and Ann Frenzel Clinton of Houston, Texas. In addition, he leaves four fine grandchildren.

Despite all his accomplishments, Hugh was a terrible whistler. He couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket. Yet, on his telephone answering machine, after identifying himself, he would invite the caller to leave a message “after you hear the whistle.” Then he would whistle a few bars from a topical or seasonal song in keeping with the occasion. For Christmas, it might be Jingle Bells. It was Song o f the Volga Boatmen before and during their trip to Russia. Hugh left us in the wee hours of New Year’s Day 1990. After the initial shock of his going had sunk in, I decided to call and hear his finale. It was appropriately the most beautiful rendition oiAuld Lang Syne that I have ever heard. I will never hear that song again without thinking of Hugh Frenzel. I will think of what he meant to our association, our science, our profession and those in it, his family and friends, our community, and our area. Most of all, however, I think about him fondly—and about “the good old days long since past.”

ACKNOWLEDGMENTThrough the generosity of A. T. Carleton and the American Association of Petroleum

Geologists, we are able to reprint this memorial to a distinguished Fellow of GSA.Printed in U.S.A. on Recycled Paper 8/91