LAIRD, JOE ALEX - Rusk County, Texas | JOE ALEX LAIRD - Texas Gravestone Photos

Joe Alex LAIRD

Thompson Cemetery
Rusk County,
Texas

3 Oct 1917-1 Dec 2009
S/O James Ira Laird (1891 - 1968)
Beulah Mulliken Laird (1891 - 1985)
Graveside services for Joe A. Laird, 92, a longtime resident of Houston, will be one p.m., Saturday, December 12, at the Thompson Cemetery, Laird Hill, Texas, near Kilgore.

The Cemetery was established by his great-grandfather, Benjamin Franklin Thompson in about 1845. Mr. Laird died Tuesday, December 1, 2009 in Dallas, Texas. He was born October 3, 1917 at New Willard, in Polk County, Texas, near Livingston.

New Willard was the site of the Thompson Lumber Company mill, then one of the largest lumber mills in Texas, where his father began his life long career in the lumber business. The family later moved to Beaumont and then to Houston in 1919. Since 1952 Joe Laird has been an Independent and Consulting Geologist and Petroleum Engineer.

He attended Houston Schools: Montrose and Woodrow Wilson Elementary '29, Sidney Lanier Junior High, '32, graduating from San Jacinto Senior High School in 1935. He was a graduate of Texas A&M University; Class of 1939, with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Petroleum Engineering, and in 1947 received a Master of Science degree in Geology from the University of Oklahoma.

His entire business career was in the Oil and Gas Business, principally in Oil and Gas Exploration and Production and in the Appraisal of Oil and Gas properties. Prior to becoming an Independent, he served as Associate Professor in the Petroleum Engineering Department at Texas A&M, Geologist and Petroleum Engineer for Mr. George W. Strake, Houston, District Petroleum Engineer for the Texas Railroad Commission in Houston and was a member of a Consulting Engineering firm in Wichita Falls, Texas. During the summers of 1936, 1937, and 1938, while attending Texas A&M, he was employed at Reed Roller Bit Company in Houston. He also served as Vice President of Laird Lumber Company, a family-owned business in Houston. He began his business career in 1931 as a "home distributor" (paper boy) for the Houston Chronicle in the Fairview and Lanier school areas. He was a registered Professional Engineer, No. 5626 in Texas and was a member of a number of technical and scientific societies associated with the Oil and Gas industry. He was the first Chairman of the Aggie Petroleum Engineering Society (APES) of Houston, established in 1956, a Century Club member of Texas A&M's Former Students Association, a member of the Texas Aggie Corps of Cadets Association, a TOP KICK member of the Houston A&M Club, a Life Member of the University of Oklahoma Alumni Association, and member of the O.U. Club of Houston. In October 1995, he was named a Legion of Honor member by the Society of Petroleum Engineers, in recognition of 50 years of continuous membership. In 2002, he was recognized by the Houston Geological Society for 50 years of continuous membership, and in 2006 by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists for 60 years of continuous membership. He and his wife Wanda have endowed two scholarships at Texas A&M, one in the Opportunity Award program and one in the Sul Ross Cadet Corp Program. In 1982 and 1989 he led efforts in establishing Presidents Endowed scholarships at Texas A&M, honoring two former heads of the Department of Petroleum Engineering, Harold Vance and Albert B. Stevens. He and his wife have also endowed Library Support Funds at Kilgore College and the University of Oklahoma. Joe was the last surviving member of Texas A&M's Troop "C" Cavalry, class of 1939. His passions were Texas A&M, World Travel, and Thoroughbred Horse Racing. Other favorite activities were Genealogy research at The Clayton Genealogical Library in Houston, attending classes at Rice University's School of Continuing Studies, and membership at the Looscan Library in Houston. In 1952, he was an unsuccessful candidate for the Texas Railroad Commission, but was proud to have carried Brazos County, home of Texas A&M. He was an Agnostic and a member of Freethinkers. As a Geologist he had studied Historical Geology and Earth History and believed Evolution to be a fact and not just a theory.

He was preceded in death by his parents, James Ira Laird and Beulah Mullikin Laird, both natives of Rusk County, Texas, and by his sisters, Betty Laird Vance (Mrs. A. Dudley Vance), formerly of Missouri City, Texas, and Emily Ruth Laird, formerly of Rockport, Texas.

He is survived by Wanda, his loving wife of 54 years, daughters Lisa Laird Hickok and Claudia M. Sommer of Dallas, Texas, grandson Hunter Laird Hickok of Boston, Massachusetts. He is also survived by nephews Laird Vance and wife Becky, Pat Vance and wife Bernadette, and niece Terry Vance Alton and husband, Jim, all of Lago Vista, Texas and niece Betsy Vance Honeycutt and husband, Skip of Tomball, Texas.

Honorary Fellow Travelers are: James Irl Laird, Harold Vance, Thad Dorsey, Tom Richards '40, Pete Cokinos '38, Arch Greig '39, Ralph Daniel '49, Ken Moredock '49, Charles Grube '60, Harry Westmoreland, APES of Houston, and the San Jacinto High School Lunch Bunch from the Black Angus, Confederate House, and State Grille days. Joe's family celebrates his life with gratefulness and joy and sing-a-long, Hullabaloo,Caneck, Caneck.

For those desiring, contributions may be made to the Harold Vance Scholarship Fund, Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77844. To Texas A&M - "Thanks, I needed that". www. Raderfuneralhome.com
Published in Houston Chronicle on December 6, 2009

Contributed on 9/8/15 by justplaincountryphotography
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Record #: 88949

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Submitted: 9/8/15 • Approved: 9/8/15 • Last Updated: 3/25/18 • R88949-G0-S3

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