WorldWide Drilling Resource

67 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® SEPTEMBER 2013 A Tribute to My Brother Walt by Harold White I am attempting to write a story my friend Todd, a teacher of geology at Oregon State University, said I should write. This happened because of a com- bined trip to Independence, Oregon, to see my brother Walt and go on to see Todd. While I was visiting Todd, I talked about my brother and how I would like to write about him, but didn’t think I had enough words. Todd said he thought there were plenty of words and people would like the story - at least he did. I told Todd I couldn’t remember all I said, and he probably liked it because I spoke about Walt’s life as a geologist. Todd said maybe so since he did espe- cially like the part about Walt’s main interest still being geology, and while these days he was unclear because of Alzheimer’s, he was still very clear about geology. [Publisher’s Note: Alzheimer’s is a devastating disease for not only the patient, but also their families and friends. Our hearts go out to Harry and his brother Walt.] Geology was Walt’s life and he loved it; speaking of it is now the only way I can get through to him. This story is about my brother Walter N. White, University of Oregon graduate of geology. When Walt graduated, I thought he would immediately get a job in geology somewhere and be gone forever. Well, he did not get a job for awhile, so he went back to being a millwright welder. One day, I was joking with him and said, “Walt, all that time you spent in college hasn’t done you much good. You are in the same place as you start- ed - same place, same job.” He smiled and said, “Well, I am a smarter welder.” His smile was conta- gious and made me smile too. We knew he would eventually get a job some- place doing what he always wanted to do, and now had the education to do it. He did get a few jobs in geology work, and they all lasted awhile. He eventually went to work for the Corps of Engineers and retired from there. He then went back to well drilling in Oregon, then moved to California, thenAlaska, then back to Oregon. Getting his contracting licenses in all these states was easy for him since his geology edu- cation helped. Walt was also a pilot and enjoyed flying. He was flying our father’s plane at a very young age. He also flew Army planes, and when he retired from geol- ogy, bought his own plane in Alaska. Todd was right, I could talk and will talk about my brother forever. The statements and comments in this article are based on information and references believed to be true and factual. If you have any questions or comments, please forward them to me in care of WWDR . Harold Harold White may be contacted via e-mail at admin@ worldwidedrillingresource.com Tributo a mi Hermano Walt por Harold White Estoy intentando escribir una historia que mi amigo Todd, maestro de geología en la Universidad de Oregón, me dijo que debía escribir. Esto sucedió durante un viaje a Independencia, Oregon para ver a mi hermano Walt y a visitar a Todd. Durante una visita a Todd, le hable acerca de mi hermano y como me gus- taría escribir acerca de él. Pero no creí que no tenía suficientes palabras. Todd dijo que él pensaba que había suficientes palabra y que a la gente le gustaría la historia - por lo menos a él le gustó. Le dije a Todd que no recordaba todo lo que le había dicho, y que a él le había gustado porque había hablado de la vida de Walt como geólogo. Todd me dijo que tal vez, ya que la parte que especialmente le gusto fue que el interés principal de Walt seguía siendo geología, y aun cuando ahora no ha estado muy claro por el Alzheimer, estaba muy claro en cuanto a la geología. [Nota del Editor: Alzheimer es una enfermedad devas- tadora no solo para el paciente, sino tam- bién para la familia y amistades. Nuestros sentimientos están con Harry y su her- mano Walt.] La geología fue la vida de Walt y el la adoraba; hablando de eso, es ahora la única manera que puedo llegar a él. Esta historia es acerca de mi her- mano Walter N. White, graduado de geología en la Universidad de Oregon. Cuando Walt se graduó, pensé que inmediatamente conseguiría un trabajo en geología en alguna parte del mundo y desaparecer para siempre, no consigu- ió trabajo por un rato, así que regreso a ser soldador en construcción de moli- nos. Hector Leos Translator +9 &8 ,&6"4/23 ( ! ( ! !" ( $ " ( !" & )"6& &,&6"4/23 /' ",, 3*:&3 490&3 ".% 7&*()43 ".% $". #5*,% 4/ ".9 30&$*", "00,*$"4*/.3 *,'*&,% "4&2 &,, /.6&.4*/.", ".% &6&23& *2$5,"4*/. 2*,, *0& 15*0-&.4 +9 &8 ,&6"4/23 2& 3&% /2,%7*%& ( & % " ( # ' !" ! 2&8 2&8-$'"%%&. $/- ,&6"4/23 /"% 4&34 $&24*'*$"4&3 "6"*,"#,& ) # !$ ) # ' " ) # !$ ) ! " $ #$ ! ( #! $ $ " ( ! "" % ! $ " ( #" ( & " 777 2&8-$'"%%&. $/- &7 3&% 15*0-&.4 6"*,"#,& Short trans. cont’d on page 78.