AASP Primary Records Program

IN MEMORIAM
RICHARD L. PIERCE
1926-1983

Dr. Richard (Rick) LeRoy Pierce died December 23 following an almost fifteen day effort to survive internal injuries sustained when he was the victim of an armed robbery in Dallas. Rick is survived by his mother, Alice Pierce of Mundelein, brother Robert H. Pierce of Chicago, and sisters Frances Porras of Northbrook, Patricia Robertson of Libertyville, Audrey Sesko of Wildwood and Marian Johnson of Barrington, Illinois.

Born on November 28, 1926 in Chicago, Rick spent his boyhood in and around northeastern Illinois. After completing high school, he served in the U.S.A. A.F. during 1944 and 1945 and remained in the Air Force Active Reserve until 1967, when he retired with the rank of Major. He received his H.S. in Forestry (1949) from the Michigan College of Mining and Technology, and his M.S. (1954) and Ph.D. (1957) in Botany from the University of Minnesota. Rick joined Mobil Oil in July, 1957, as a palynologist and was assigned to the Field Research Laboratory in Dallas. He remained in research from 1957 to 1972, with a brief (1967-1969) assignment in Los Angeles. As a senior research geologist, Rick transferred to the Exploration Services Center, Mobil Exploration and Producing, in Dallas, during 1972, where he headed the oalvnoloaica1 studies effort. From 1972 he steadily advanced to Senior Paleontological Advisor, the position he held at the time of his death.

Rick was a member of numerous professional and scientific organizations. Among them were the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Dallas Geological Society, Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, Botanical Society of America, Ecological Society of America, Arctic Institute of North America, and Fellow in the American Association for the Advancement of Science. His interest and involvement, however, were greatest in the American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists. Rick Joined the Association at its inception in 1967, and later held the positions of Editor (1973-1976), President (1976-1977) and Councilor (1977-1978).

Rick was always friendly, open and sincere -- a person who readily shared his knowledge and experience with others. His interests were varied and he was a true scholar with an incisive, inquisitive and thorough mind. An innovative worker in both palynology and organic geochemistry, his counsel and guidance will be sorely missed by his circle of professional associates and friends.

  -- Lee B. Gibson and Robert T. Clarke, Mobil Research and Development Corporation, Dallas, Texas.