Warren L. Franz

Warren eloped with Kyleen Durham on July 23, 1960. They celebrated 54 years of marriage last year.

Warren obtained his BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Tennessee in 1962, followed by an MS (1965) and PhD (1968) from the same institution. He was a practicing geophysicist for 35 years, for such companies as Shell, Monsanto, and BHP Americas.

Warren was always at the forefront of developing technology, especially the use of large-scale computer data to search for oil, and was for a time the supervisor of the Computer Science Section at Shell Oil, as well as eventually becoming the Chief Geophysicist of the Western Hemisphere at BHP Americas. Eventually, Warren started his own company, Argo Exploration Services.

Before his illness made such pursuits impossible, Warren was a man of many activities and talents, including Toastmasters, photography, sailing, birding, archery, and bowling. His interests and work lead him to travel to many countries, including England, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, China, Tibet, Belize, Columbia, Venezuela, Brazil, and many others.

Warren was preceded in death by his parents, LaVada Christine and George Albert Franz.

Warren is survived by his sister Barbara Jean Rossi, his wife Kyleen, his son George William of Dallas, his daughter Kira Teye of Seattle, five grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to:

The Multiple Systems Atrophy Research Fund at:

http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/WarrenLFranz/multiple-system-atrophy-memorials

Or to the Audubon Society at:

http://tinyurl.com/ljly78y

Alternately, donations to those organizations can be forwarded to Warren’s church, First United Methodist Church of Missouri City, 3900 Lexington Blvd, Missouri City, TX 77459. When forwarding to the church, please note which organization you would like to support.