John Tierney Dewan

John Tierney Dewan, formerly of Houston, passed away peacefully at his Lakeway home surrounded by his loving family on June 5, 2005. John was born in Kemptville, Ontario, Canada to Olive and P. Michael Dewan. He was raised in Woodstock, Ontario and while at the University of Toronto met The Belle of Kinkora, Donna Murray. John and Donna married in 1947 after he received his M.A.Sc Degree and began a long career in the development, utilization and interpretation of oil well logging techniques. After a few years of nuclear research in Deep River, Ontario, they moved to Houston in 1951 to join Schlumberger as a Development Engineer. From 1951 to 1972 he progressed to Manager of Engineering and was responsible for introducing many of the nuclear and sonic tools of that era and also the development of Schlumberger’s first computer-based surface acquisition system. In 1972, he was appointed technical advisor to top management in drilling, testing and completion services. John founded a consulting firm in 1984, Dewan and Timpko, Inc., specializing in forefront formation, evaluation and log interpretation training. John is the holder of 26 US Patents on logging and interpretation methods. He is the author of 17 technical papers and a textbook Essentials of Modern Open-Hole Log Interpretation published in 1983. He was a Distinguished Lecturer for the Society of Petroleum Engineers and received both the Distinguished and the Gold Technical Achievement Awards for the Society of Professional Well Log Analysts. His talents and interests were diverse. He was a consummate handy man and mechanic, an avid golfer and tennis player and a dedicated little league coach. John was devoted to his wife and family and committed to St. Michael’s Catholic Parrish and a 20-year member of the Diocesan of Serra’s Club also of Houston. After moving to Lakeway in 1998, he participated as a part-time research associate at the University of Texas. John was preceded in death by his son David and David’s wife Marsha. John is survived by his wife Donna of Lakeway; son Michael and wife Cindy of Dallas; daughter Ann Baltruzak and husband Ron of Westlake Village, California; son Stephen and his wife Diane of Austin. Grandchildren; Brian Dewan and wife Lori, Kevin Dewan and wife Colleen of Chicago; Kristin Dewan of Dallas, Tierney Saperstien and husband Josh of Cleveland, Ohio; Moira Dewan of Dallas, Jennifer Baltruzak of Brentwood, California; Jeffrey Baltruzak of Chicago, Brendan, Michael and Kate Dewan of Austin. Great grandchild; Claire Dewan of Austin. John is also survived by his two brothers and four sisters. The family wishes to thank Drs. David Morledge and Tom Hill for their expertise; Vista Oaks Assisted Living in Lakeway for the past two years and Hospice Austin for their loving assistance. A memorial for John and his blessed life will be held at the Emmaus Catholic Church of Lakeway on Saturday, June 11, 2005 at 10:30 a.m. In lieu of flowers, the family wishes contributions to St. Thomas High School, 4500 Memorial Drive, Houston, Texas 77007. Memorials and guestbook online at wcfish.com