Robert Wattenbarger

July 13, 1935 – May 9, 2014

Robert Allen Wattenbarger, 78, of College Station, Texas, died on May 9, 2014 after a brief battle with cancer. A memorial service will be held at 11am on Saturday, May 17, 2014 at First Presbyterian Church, 1100 Carter Creek, Bryan, TX.

Bob was born on July 13, 1935 to LeRoy and Doris (Hurst) Wattenbarger in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Bob spent the remainder of his youth in Tulsa, graduated from Central High School in 1953, and earned a BS in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Tulsa in 1958. After graduating, he married fellow Tulsan and the love of his life, Julie Chick.

The next two decades were a whirlwind of activity as Bob worked hard to succeed professionally and build a life with Julie. In 1959, Bob and Julie moved to Colombia, South America. Bob worked for Mobil Oil, the couple made lifelong friends, and they had their first son, Mike. In 1961, Bob and Julie returned to Tulsa, where Bob worked for the Oil Recovery Corporation and Sinclair Oil, and they had their second son, Chick. The couple then moved to California, where Bob earned a Doctorate degree from Stanford University and began his work in petroleum reservoir modeling. In 1967, the couple moved to Dallas, Bob joined Mobil Research, Bob developed industry's first practical compositional reservoir simulator, and the couple had their third son, Phil. In 1969, the couple moved to Denver. Bob became Vice President of Scientific Software Corporation and helped drive the company's leadership in reservoir simulation technology for the next decade. In 1979, Bob and Julie moved to Houston, and Bob started his own engineering consulting firm. In 1983, he joined the faculty of Texas A&M as a professor in petroleum engineering, where he had the honor of teaching Aggies for over 30 years.

Bob was a naturally gifted engineer and mathematician. He loved to solve challenging problems, teach, and work with students. In addition to his pioneering work in reservoir simulation, Bob conducted research in a variety of areas, including natural gas engineering and well test analysis. He authored over 140 publications, numerous book chapters, and co-authored a book on Gas Reservoir Engineering. Bob was a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) for fifty three years, was inducted into the SPE Legion of Honor in 2000, and received the SPE Reservoir Description and Dynamics Award in 2012. He was awarded the John E. & Deborah F. Bethancourt Professorship in 2013.

Bob always enjoyed the chance to spend time outdoors with family and friends. He loved to play tennis, golf, fish, and sail. In the early 1960s, Bob and Julie placed 4th in the Flying Junior national sailing championship. In addition to sailing his Flying Dutchman, Bob enjoyed numerous adventures with family and friends bare boating in the Virgin Islands and Bahamas.

Bob had a love for music that began at an early age. In college, he sang in a fraternity quartet and was a member of the University of Tulsa Choir. He was a member of the Brazos Valley Chorale and the FPC Chancel choir. Bob was past president of the Society for the Preservation of Barbershop Quartets and sang bass for the popular quartet, Sounds OK.

He was also a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity and Pi Epsilon Tau honorary fraternity.

Bob was a kind natured man, a warm friend, and a loving husband and father. Those who knew him well were inspired by his intellect, curiosity and most importantly, his kind and moral nature. He will be dearly missed.

He is preceded in death by his mother and father.

Bob leaves behind his loving wife of 55 years, Julie Wattenbarger; his sons and their wives, Mike and Debbie, Chick and Diane, and Phil and Rita; his siblings, Donna Miller, and Mary June Pryor; and his grandchildren, John, Laura, Julia, Robert Nicholas, Evelyn, Victor and Tommy.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial contributions may be sent to First Presbyterian Church of Bryan, Texas or another deserving charity.

Please share memories and tributes to Bob at www.hillierfuneralhome.com.