Memorial to Vemer Everett Jones 1905-1977 WALTON SUMNER 5005 Crestway Drive, Austin, Texas 78731

Verner Everett Jones was born September 11, 1905, in Radnor, Ohio, the second son of Hosea Henderson Jones and Cora Adeline Jones. After receiving his early education in the public schools of Radnor, he entered Ohio Wesleyan Uni­ versity in 1924, graduating with an A.B. in geology in 1927. He chose Cornell University for his postgrad­ uate studies, receiving his M.A. in economic geology in 1930, a Ph.D. in 1933, and being elected to Sigma Xi and Sigma Gamma Epsilon. During his years at Cornell, the vacation periods in 1928 and 1929 were spent in work as a mining geologist in both surface and subsurface surveys for the Utah Apex Mining Company in the Bingham Can­ yon area. He also worked briefly for the Boston Montana Mining Company in Coolidge, Montana. In 1930 and 1931 he was employed by affiliates of Standard Oil of New Jersey in mapping surface structures in New York and Pennsylvania in search of potential natural gas reservoirs. From 1930 to 1934 he was an instructor at Cornell, teaching engineering and eco­ nomic geology to classes from sophomore through first-year graduate level. These in­ cluded U.S. Army Corps of Engineers graduates from West Point. In June 1934 he accepted employment with the Standard Oil Company of Argentina as field geological party chief and conducted extensive reconnaissance mapping in the provinces of Mendoza, Neuquen, Salta and Jujuy—a very responsible position for a young man just reaching thirty. After his return to the United States in the spring of 1937, he was appointed Dis­ trict Geologist, Illinois, for the old Magnolia Petroleum Company. Here he supervised large surface and subsurface mapping programs in the Illinois basin area that resulted in very successful wildcat drilling. In 1942 he took a leave of absence to volunteer for military service in World War II and rose from first lieutenant to lieutenant colonel before his discharge in 1946. During the war years he was Assistant Director (1943-1944) of the Arctic, Desert, and Tropic Information Center at Eglin Field, Florida, and then saw overseas service as Executive Officer of Engineer Planning and Supply in the India-China Theatre from 1944 to 1946. After his discharge he went to Spain as representative of the Producing Manage­ ment of the Socony-Vacuum Oil Company where he supervised geological mapping programs and dealings with foreign partners in this venture. During this period he met and married Elisabeth Braak, who survives him. On his return to the United States in late 1947, he was appointed Exploration 2 THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA

Manager of Socony-Vacuum Oil Company of Venezuela (with headquarters in Caracas) and became vice-president of that company in 1949. For seven years he was respon­ sible for the planning and supervision of a greatly expanded exploration effort in both eastern and western Venezuela. This resulted in a very successful wildcat drilling cam­ paign and greatly increased production. In early 1955 he was called to New York and appointed Manager of Foreign Ex­ ploration for the parent company, then known as Socony Mobil Oil Company. Here his genius for organization enabled him to assemble a staff of geologists and geophysi­ cists who would work as a team in the guidance of foreign exploration programs; these included the programs in countries where Socony Mobil had operating responsibility as well as others where nonoperating interests were concerned. It was at this time that I first became acquainted with Verner, and during the years that I was part of his team, I had many opportunities to note the esteem in which he was held by his foreign colleagues and the attention they gave to his recommendations. In 1959 he was moved to the newly created position of Exploration Manager, Cor­ porate Exploration and Production, where a special assignment took him to Libya for almost a year to reorganize Mobil’s Exploration Department there. This met the needs of Mobil’s position in the rapidly developing Sirte basin area. In 1962 he was appointed Exploration Manager for Latin America and remained in that post until his retirement January 1, 1969. Here again he demonstrated his talent for selection of young and promising geologists and may have welcomed the return to a more active role in decision making and supervision of large area of the company’s activities. After settling in Marion, Ohio, he was able to devote more time to his favorite sport of trout fishing, including trips to Ireland and the Western United States. Although he had little time at his disposal during his professional career, he was always ready to help with the activities of the societies in which he held membership, as well as with the schools of geology. He was a member of the advisory councils to the departments of geology at Princeton, New York, and Columbia Universities and took a prominent part in the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and the Society of Economic Geologists, holding a life membership in both. Those who knew Verner well will remember him as a loyal friend, a devoted hus­ band and father, and a distinguished member of his profession.

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