John David Pigula Jr.

John David “Sonny” Pigula, Jr., 73, of Spring, TX passed away on May 1st, 2025. He was born in Clay, NY on October 1st, 1951 as the middle of five children. Sonny earned his B.S. in Geology from the University of Rochester in 1973, and his M.S. in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 1975. Sonny met his wife Lynda on May 1st, 1970 when she consoled him after a tough defeat as lacrosse team captain. They were married on her family farm in Weedsport, NY on June 23rd, 1973.

Sonny was preceded in death by his mother Elizabeth “Betty” Pigula, father John David Pigula Sr., and sister Connie Ross. He is survived by his wife Lynda Pigula; daughter Adrianne Pigula and son-in-law Cooper Quintin; grandchildren River (5) and Hazel (4); sister Patricia Holmes; brother Frank Pigula and sister-in-law Diane Pigula; and brother Chris Pigula. He is also survived by nieces Kim Timmerman and Rachel Pigula, and nephews Thomas Ross Jr., Sam Holmes, Peter Holmes, Michael Pigula, and Benjamin Pigula.

Sonny had a storied career as a Petroleum Geologist. Originally relocating to Houston, TX to work for Marathon Oil in 1977, he went on to work as a consultant in Wellsite and Operations Geology at several companies including BP, ExxonMobil/Esso, and BHP. He traveled extensively for onshore and offshore jobs in the Gulf of Mexico, Nigeria, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, and so many other countries that he had to have pages added to his passport multiple times. In his semi-retirement, he worked on lithium capture wells in Arkansas and carbon dioxide sequestration wells in East Texas. As a colleague, Sonny was respected for his expertise and was generous with his time and mentorship. Sonny was a life-long friend: many of his former colleagues grew into close family friends over the years, and he still kept in touch with his Theta Chi fraternity brothers he met over 50 years ago.

Outside of work, Sonny enjoyed traveling and entertaining with Lynda - he was the guru of homemade pizza and Texas BBQ. In his free time he enjoyed rooting for the Astros, although he had little free time as there was no DIY home improvement job too big to tackle, and few that were completed without a new tool and several trips to the hardware store. He loved visiting with his grandkids and bonding over rocks with his grandson, a budding geologist.

We will be holding a gathering to remember Sonny and celebrate his life:

June 14th

2-4 pm

Benders Landing Estates Clubhouse

6111 N. Ossineke Dr.

Spring, TX 77386

A reception at the family home will follow (it’s very close).

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to one of the following non-profits:

Conquering CHD (conqueringCHD.org)

National Center for Science Education (ncse.ngo)