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William Smith Obituary
Service: none. Entombment: private.
Memorials: In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Humane Society of North Texas, 1840 E. Lancaster Ave., Fort Worth, Texas 76103.
Bill was born Oct. 2, 1923, in Kalamazoo, Mich., to Jack Smith and Mildred Matthews Smith.
Bill operated as an independent oil man after he retired as chairman and chief executive officer of Wolverine Exploration Co., Fort Worth. Prior to assuming the leadership at Wolverine in 1987, he was vice chairman and director of New York-based Union Pacific Corp. In 1975, he joined Champlin Petroleum, a Union Pacific subsidiary, as president and chief executive officer and in 1982 he was elected Champlin's chairman. Bill was a member of the corporation's board of directors from 1975 until his retirement in 1987. He previously spent 27 years with Amoco Production Co., where he advanced to executive vice president.
After graduating in 1948 from the University of Michigan with both a B.S. and M.S. in geology, Bill joined Stanolind Oil & Gas Co. (the exploration and production subsidiary of Standard Oil of Indiana) as a geologist. At Stanolind he advanced through a number of exploration and management positions. He was also a graduate of the Harvard Business School of Advanced Management Program.
Bill was a past chairman of the Natural Gas Supply Association, whose members account for almost 90 percent of all domestic natural gas supplies. He was also the national chairman of the 8,500-member Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association and a director of the American Petroleum Institute. Bill served as a member of the API's Committee on Public Issues. He was also the chairman of its Major Issues Task Force on Land Use and a member of its Budget Committee. He was a director of Tandy Corp. and of First Republic Bank Corp.
In addition, Bill served as a member of the Texas Energy Advisory Council, the National Petroleum Council and was a member of the All-American Wildcatters Association. He also served as a director of the Texas Research League and as a member of the Geological Advisory Council at the University of Michigan.
Bill leaves behind many friends in many places.
Survivors: Nieces, Joan Bullock and Carol Smith, both of New Jersey; and a cousin, Diedre Taylor of Michigan.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Memories and Condolences
for William Smith
Bj Zorn
January 21, 2009
I met Bill through my grandfather and I will never forget his wit and charm. Our family shared many dinners with Bill and he will be missed.
Cindy Pursley
January 14, 2009
I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Smith when he visited CPC in Houston, then again after I moved to Fort Worth. When UPR was merging with APc, I was on the team that disposed of some of the surplus items. Mr. Smith took the marble "C" that had been in the reception room for his office in the FT Worth Club. He was a wonderful, kind person, who had the upmost respect for his employees and his company. May he rest in peace knowing that he left behind a lot of people who respected him.
James Sailer
January 13, 2009
God bless a one of a kind individual. Over my lifetime I have had the opportunity to work for a lot of great individuals. Bill was by far the best boss I have ever had the opportunity to work with. He was an oilman's "oilman"
Joe Foster
January 13, 2009
I worked with Bill while he was at Champlin and I was at Tenneco, and while he was at Wolverine and I was at Newfield. We also worked together when he chaired NGSA. Bill Smith was a first class oilman who had no detractors, many admirers, and got a lot of things done, often in cooperation with other people and other companies. He had a strong intellect, a willingness to work, and the ability to see things others did not see, ranging from hydrocarbons in the ground to qualities in his fellow-man.
God bless him,
Joe B. Foster
A fellow Wildcatter
Al Hrubetz
January 13, 2009
Bill was "one of the greatest" and I feel privileged to have known him - a true oil man
Michael Brinkmeyer
January 13, 2009
I remember the time that I showed Bill the log of the discovery well at Anschutz Ranch while I was a staff assistant in Fort Worth. Tears came to Bill's eyes when he saw the magnitude of the discovery. Now that's a true "oil man".
Jonathan Stickland
January 13, 2009
You will be missed and forever remembered as a friend and mentor.
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