1950-2019
John Lawrence Boone was born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1950 and died of metastatic prostate cancer* on Wednesday, January 9,2019 at his home in Houston. He earned a BS degree in 1973 and a MA degrees in geology in 1975 from the University of Texas, which led to careers in petroleum geology and hydrogeology. His keen mind led him to constantly read about discoveries and theories about the Earth's formation, its secrets, its resources, and the geology of places beyond Earth.
After graduation, his oil and gas career began at Getty Oil Company in Houston. He relocated to Corpus Christi where he worked for TXO Production Co., Tondu Corporation, and Everest Minerals. In 1986, the price of oil fell from around $30 per barrel to $10 per barrel. At this point, John changed the focus of his career to hydrogeological and environmental assessment at Conoco, Inc. GSI, RMT, ERM and Arcadis U.S., Inc. He was a past member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, the Corpus Christi Geological Society, the Houston Geological Society and the National Groundwater Association. John joined HGS in 1994.
He was passionate about history – from the Greeks and Romans to the Franco Prussian wars to World War II to Vietnam to today's tumultuous climate. He understood history and put it into the context of today's events. John was a man of many talents and interests. He piloted his V-tailed Bonanza, sailed, rode horses, bicycles and motorcycles, played classical guitar, ran, skied, wind-surfed, kayaked, canoed, hiked, worked out, played tennis and was an all-around handy-man. John was a voracious reader of autobiographies, military history and history in general, politics, finance and geology books and publications. For many years, he and his wife, Marta, regularly attended performances presented by Chamber Music Houston, as well as those by the Houston Symphony and Austin Classical Guitar Society.
He is survived by his wife of 33 years, Marta and their daughter and son.
*Marta has a final request:
“Men, please have your PSA level checked regularly, for your and your family's sake.”
This Remembrance was summarized from a very extensive Life Tributes, published in Houston Chronicle on Jan. 27, 2019