My Dad - A Tribute
Joe Keith Heilhecker
Born August 13, 1934 - Died January 18, 2010 Below is Dad's valedictory speech which he spoke to his Chillicothe, Texas high school graduating class of 1951. He lived his life by these principles. His own words make a fitting epitaph. This is my father's legacy. Enjoy. May you also cherish the values that you live by.
Dad's Valedictory Speech - Chillicothe HS, 1951 Tonight, we are closing the door on our high school days. Wonderful days they have been, and days long to be remembered by every member of this class of 1951. However, we are not here tonight to recall all the interesting situations of the past. We are here to look forward from this station which we have now gained and see, if we can, what the future holds for us.
We do know that we are graduating into a world of opportunities. We do not know what place of great renown or prominence that is in store for all of us. However, we know that for every member of this class there is an opportunity to become a good, reliable, self-supporting citizen of the finest land in which a young man or woman has ever been privileged to live.
Whatever the future holds for every member of this class, to some extent, has been determined by the ideals that each member has set up for himself during his high school days. The foundation upon which we stand tonight is more or less the same for all of us. As the winds of chance blow up...on each of us in the years to come, some will turn one way and some another. (It is) not the direction of the wind (which) determines the direction (that) the ship will travel. It is the sincerity and earnestness with which we cling to the high ideals that we have set up for ourselves during our high school days, and not the influences that are thrown about us, that will determine the success or failure of each of us in later life.
This grand old flag of ours has always been kept afloat because our country has always produced leaders capable of meeting any crisis that might arise. This same flag has always guaranteed liberty and freedom for those who were fortunate enough to live under its protecting folds, and so long as it waves above us, no dictator will ever determine our thoughts, or words, or our worship.
We know that our own America stands today at the head of all nations of the world in wealth and power. We know that the use to which we put this wealth and power will determine the situation of war or peace under which the members of this class will live off the next several years. Throughout our land, there are hundreds of thousands of boys and girls graduating from high school tonight.
Our sincere wish is that somewhere within this group will be found the leaders who will have the courage to stand for the right and the ability to use and control this vast power and wealth in such a manner that the blessings of a world at peace may be handed down to those who will follow in our footsteps throughout the years to come.
Thank you,
Joe K. Heilhecker
U.S Navy
July 1, 1953 - May 4, 1955
1961 - Mechanical Engineering
1962 - Masters in Mechanical Engineering
U.S. Marines
Active Duty from May 5, 1955 to September 14, 1958
Reserves September 15,1958 to May 2, 1967
Duties: Fighter Pilot
Ending Rank - Captain
Bob Garrett writes Most of you will remember Joe as Section Supervisor of Drilling Research at EPR during its heyday (at least we who worked there think that it was) of 1960s and 1970s. We will remember Joe as the un-sinkable, hard-driven, Aggie engineer, ex-marine pilot and a wild, optimistic guy - who would never take "can't" from his staff nor "no" from his bosses. He was a doer. Bob G.
Wally writes Your description/characterization of Joe was right on. I will add one more...He was competitive and could figure out creative ways to get the job done. For me, he was fun to be with. Regards, Wally
Bill Maurer writes Joe had a major impact on my life.
He taught me how to be an engineer and to try things in the field as quickly as possible and not worry if they failed or not. This was very important because it allowed me to be successful after leaving EPR and forming Maurer Engineering.
I remember when I came back from vacation one time. Joe said General Electric had been there with a new manmade diamond material they wanted to test in a drill bit. Together, we tested the first drill bit like this one on the King Ranch. It turned out to be the first PDC bit ever run in the world.
PDC bits have revolutionized drilling and now drill over 50% of the footage drilled in oil and gas wells. It would have taken years to develop without Joe's foresight.
He (Joe) worked with Leon on the fine screen shale shakers which were a major breakthrough, with Martin Chenevert on industry changing shale work, with Bob Garrett on the gas train instrument, (another) major breakthrough, on MWDS on LWDS with Leon and others, with Bill Love on jet drilling, with John R. Eckel on his drilling tests, and so many other projects that changed the world.
This was a long time ago and I cannot remember all of the things we did in that group. Possiblly some of you can tell about your projects that you worked on in Joe's group.
I remember how everyone laughed about Joe's new "Mud Of The Month" each month and the time he decided urea mud would be good for drilling permafrost, so he had the technicians mix up two 400 barrel tanks of urea mud at Friendswood. What he forgot was that the heat deteriorates the urea mud turning it into 400 barrels of urine. It stunk so bad that he eventually had the technicians let it all run out over the location at Friendswood. The good thing is that the grass on the location never looked so good or so well fertilized.
I also remember the time that Joe fell into the mud pit on one of our high pressure drilling tests and Bill Love pulled him out. If there had been gas in the pit, he might not have made it.
The world is a better place because of Joe and these technical developments will live on for many years to come. None of us will ever forget him.
God broke the mold when he made Joe and there will never be anyone else like him.
Mike Montgomery and Others
Mike Montgomery writes It's a sad day, my friends, to think of the passing of our friend and colleague, Joe Keith Heilhecker, but only for a short span. I was very lucky -- I got a double batch of Joe --first, through my Dad when Pop was with Brown Oil Tools, and then again through Bill Love and the rest.
Joe was a great mentor (as was WWL) -- always stood up for us in the back at Midvale; even when we suggested eating at Mario's, or found just how high the mud would squirt when we fired up that diesel-engined pump at full throttle one day, or took out a row of chain link fence with a Bobcat, or all the other times when service hands/research technicians needed a little bit of cover.
I remember Joe having the infinite patience to teach this ol' Aggie marketeer some engineering so I would have a better understanding of HOW Brandt equipment worked and WHY. And then doing it all over again at Gal-Hou. (Never knew how cold it could get in Oklahoma at Christmas until we were testing the G-H disc brake.) There are still some folks in the oil patch who think I am a degreed engineer -- nope, just trained by one of the best practical engineers around.
When it came to reading, Joe was blind as a bat without his glasses. On time in Wyoming, we were eating dinner at the Ramada Inn and celebrating the conclusion of yet another field test of some sort. Joe wanted a bottle of wine, but didn't want to go to the room for his glasses. He didn't trust me with the wine list (surprisingly extensive and well-stocked), so he just pointed at one he thought he had ordered before. It came, he sampled it, and found it so good, he ordered two bottles. At check-out, we learned we were drinking $300/bottle stuff -- Joe hadn't been able to read the label or the price. At least it was better than the Corsicana motel where the wine list was written on a napkin and said "red", white", and "pink" (which was just the red and the white mixed together into a rose of sorts).
Well, I can't read without my glasses either, and my kids still look at a picture from the modular mud system test at EPRCo in Friendswood and wonder where all their Dad's muscles went. Just nature's way of slowing us down.
See you guys in the funny papers, "Mouse"-gomery, OUT.
Regards,
Mike Montgomery
Dad's Final Honors : Fitting Last Farewell : Silver Taps Dad loved the Bagpipes
Dad gets the last laugh
Dad was a staunch Republican, patriot, and Texas A&M faithful. Teasing others especially those from Univerity of Texas brought him great pleasure.
We sang Spirit of Aggieland and the Aggie War Hymn to conclude the celebration of Dad's life. Most of us joined in, even Teasips and Razorbacks. Our brother-in-law, Rick, a staunch Texas alumni, said Dad got the last laugh. He finally got Rick to join in on the Aggie Fight Song, swaying and all.
Rick Smith and Family
Daughter Brittany left graduated early; Dec 18, 2010
Bill and daughter, Amy, Love
Bill Love speaks Joe Keith and I met in 1968; he, with Bill Maurer, were conducting a test on their fledgling High Pressure Drilling Project for EPRCo. I was with Dowell, who was providing pumping services for the test.The testing was being done at the Gearhart Owens facility in Ft. Worth, they had a test well with an old standard derrick, over the hole. The driller was a bit absent minded and would forget when we were pulling pipe, as to whether we were coming out of the hole or going in. Wayne Howard made a sign to set in front of him with arrows and "OUT" on one side and "IN" on the other side.
We also had had a quite large fellow. Bo McDaniel, who was working derricks. One day Bo was in the derrick, as we were running pipe, and simply walked off the end of the monkey board. Fortunately, he had his safety belt on, but it was quite exciting, seeing a 300 lbs. plus whale flondering around in the derrick at the end of a belt. It took a lot of effort to get him back on the board, unhurt, and back to work.
After a series of tests in Ft. Worth, the components for the demanding requirements were developing and the testing was moved to actual drilling wells. Joe, Bill and I continued to refine the operation and found that we worked well together and a true friendship developed.
Continued testing was conducted in West Texas, south of Ft. Stockton, and in East Texas, near Gladewater and Palestine. At a point in late 1969, I was spending almost full time working with EPRCo, from Dowell's side, both with this project and another new innovative well fracturing technique called "Super Frac". Joe's project was greatly expanding and I joined EPRCo, as a Drilling esearch Engineer, and became, with Joe and Bill Maurer, a Joint Project Leader, for High Pressure Drilling.
In the course of the next five years, with Joe's guidance and drive, we built a test facility with complete drilling rig, at Friendswood and ran extensive field tests on Exxon wells in the Jay Field in Florida and Alabama, Rusk, Texas, on Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela and on the King Ranch in South Texas.
Some of these tests would last several weeks and Joe determined that our families should not have to be apart for such long periods, so we packed up children and pets and away we went. A lot of hard work and long hours went into these tests, and many amusing events occurred (as we worked together as a team.
During the development of the allied equipment, we designed and perfected a new high pressure fluid end for mud pumps and ultimately a fluid intensifier to reach the required test pressures more easily, and recognized the need for extremely fine screen separators to clean the
drilling fluids. We had very small nozzles in the drilling bits and they would plug with cuttings. This initiated another project that Joe assigned to Leon Robinson, and he developed it into a very successful and profitable solids control devise, called the mud cleaner and eventually mud conditioner. This development would affect both Joe's and my future.
By 1975, the program had reached the stage where it was no longer a research project and was ready for entry into industry. Several innovative equipment designs were spawned from this effort; new drill pipe tool joints, mud pump fluid ends for high pressure applications, kelly hose design, drilling bit nozzles and configuration, remote monitoring equipment and finer screening solids control equipment. All of this was an outgrowth of Joe's vision and inventive mind.
While testing auxiliary equipment at our Friendswood facility, Louis Brandt asked to test his version of the Mud Cleaner. We readily agreed and though this testing, both Joe and I became acquainted with Louis. His tests, along with a competing company, Sweco, were quite successful and this machine development was off and running.
The High Pressure Drilling Project was now completed and we were being assigned to other research projects. I was asked to help design ice islands in the Arctic for drilling platforms. This was not high on my interest level and fortunately, Louis Brandt asked me to join his solids control company.
This opened a new opportunity for me and as The Brandt Company expanded, we needed a research and development director. Joe joined us and among other advancements, designed, tested and brought to market a vacuum degasser that ultimately became the standard machine, used on
drilling rigs worldwide, for control of formation gasses.
Joe left us and joined Galveston Houston Company, a major oilfield holding company that owned several drilling equipment companies, all in need of new products and refinement of existing equipment. He built a research and testing facility and immediately began making an impact on several of their products.
I, in turn, later joined Galveston Houston. Part of my responsibilities were to help Joe select equipment that needed refinement or identify drilling operations that could use new design.
One big problem that was hampering deep drilling operations; as the rigs drilled deeper and hoisted heavier loads, was that the draw works braking capacities were being pushed to the limits. We began work on a disc brake, similar to those used on automobiles. As the brake design progressed, a UK drilling company offered us the use of one of its rigs and much of our field testing took place there.
This new brake was patented and is now related to all of the drilling rig disc brakes being used throughout the world.
As the oilfield equipment industry suffered through the collapse in 1987, we both went different ways. Joe, along with Bill Marshall, an associate from Brandt days, and a couple of former EPRCo engineers, went on to design, develop and patent a process to extract drilled solids from drilling fluids that was purchased by Conoco.
Throughout these years of close association in work, our families continued to stay very close and supported each other in joy and sadness.
My daughter Amy and Kathy, Brad, Wes, Bonnie Susan and Michael, all remain good friends. Our lives have been greatly enriched by the agile mind, wit and humor, that Joe Keith Heilhecker gave to us.
Thank you,
Joe Keith
Leon Robinson and Others
Doc Leon Robinson speaks Thank you very much for allowing me to honor Joe yesterday. My talk inadequately expressed the great esteem that I felt for him. I sincerely appreciate the priviledge of sharing my deep emotional feelings for a great leader. Leon
Here is his eulogy:
Kathy sent me the Valedictorian speech which Joe gave to his 1951 high school graduating class. The speech itself was special and very patriotic. It embodied many of the characteristics that made him a great man. His speech caused me to start thinking about Joe's early life and what molded him into the great person that he was.
First, obviously he was intelligent. Only the top academics are nominated 'VALEDICTORIANS' of a high school graduating class. His speech expressed many characteristics of the man himself. I would like to talk a little about those characteristics that he revealed in his professional life.
If he graduated in 1951, then he was in grammar school when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Probably most of you cannot remember World War II. Let me bore you with a little history of that time. In the '30's we were in a great depression - far worse than this one today. Very few people were obese - not much money for food. The heavy linemen on my high school football team weighed around 165 to 170 lbs. Roosevelt had been trying to create jobs through government programs to bring the country out of the depression. There was limited success (sound familiar?)
The country was also very isolationist - few people wanted us to get involved in the German/Italian -Great Britain war. And no one was really interested in what the Japanese were doing in far off Asia. The bombing of Pearl Harbor awakened such patriotism that it is difficult to describe now. Almost all of the boys in my high school graduating class volunteered for the Armed Forces - Army, Navy, Marines. Joe was in elementary school during these formative years. We were proud of our nation. We won the war and came of our recession. Of course, then Truman did something stupid like start another war in Korea - and created the new concept that we will not fight a war to win. But with this back ground of patriotism, Joe became a Marine Fighter Pilot and developed many outstanding traits. I'll try to enumerate some of them with events from his past.
He came to work at Humble Production Research where he demonstrated a great self confidence as you would expect from a Marine Captain. He was an MS mechanical engineer. Research assigned him to the Drafting Group. The drafting group did the detail drawings for the various pieces of equipment needed for our research. He said he was an engineer not a draftsman and made them give him another assignment. Now that takes self-confidence for a newly employed engineer coming to work for a big company. He got his professional engineering research job and demonstrated clearly an ability to solve practical problems. He has his name on many patents for variety of innovations. For example, in the past forty years, only one new piece of solids removal equipment is used routinely in drilling operations around the world: the mud cleaner. His name is on that patent.
Dr. Bill Maurer moved to Houston with the merger of Jersey Production Research and Humble Production Research. He had performed some experiments on novel drilling methods. His latest one was the ability to create cavities with electric sparks. The problem was that the capacitor needed down hole had to be too long to allow enough current for the spark. He then tried High Pressure Drilling. He used a cement pump truck to squirt drilling fluid through very small openings in a two inch plug. He could not drop the pipe fast enough to keep up with the hole that was generated. He wrote a report and was ready to move on to another spectacular method of drilling. The Section Supervisor, Harold Graham, told him to develop this method and he moved Joe over to the project. Joe had the qualities of creating practical solutions. With Joe in the group, much new equipment was designed, built and field tested.
About that time I was involved with trying to drill with explosives. We were pumping shaped charges down drill pipe and make hole without using a drill bit. I was using a rig at Gearhart-Owens in Ft. Worth for my tests and Joe needed some full scale testing for high pressure project. So we worked together on that rig for a while.
Our group also had other projects working and we frequently assisted each other on field tests. Joe, even with his great mental capacity was down-to-earth and fun to be around. For example, I never did get even with Joe for one event in West Texas. We were part of a team to make some drilling measurements to evaluate some new drilling equations that John R Ecol wanted to publish. We had one afternoon off, so the group decided to take a dip in the motel pool. As I walked by, Joe pushed me into the water. Never did get even for that.
Harold Graham, our section head, was transferred from our group and made a suggestion for his replacement. He recommended Joe. Harold was not the typical supervisor. He saw some things in Joe's character that we did not see as colleagues. Joe was made section supervisor. Many of the promotions in big companies come because of sycophancy - not because of ability. One guy was promoted to supervisor after he rented a trailer and brought his big boss a load of azaleas from Louisiana. The boss had mentioned he wished that he had some of those special azaleas - so he got them. Joe earned his promotion with ability not with that method.
The section had many people much older that Joe and many PhD researchers. Normally, in a large corporation, when people are promoted, they are moved from their section so that there will be no resentment among the former workers. Joe made the transition with spectacular ease. Why? Integrity - that is always listed as a desirable trait - and few people actually have it. Joe did.
He recognized that his section was filled with researchers who were eager to explore all types of developments because he had been one of us. He felt his job was to protect us from all of the trivial nonsense which frequently flows down from inept management. For example, in September of one year, the industry had one of our regular downturns. The division Manager called all five of his supervisors in and told them to cut 25% of the money budgeted for the remainder of the year by eliminating the unessential projects. Joe came back to the section and went through all of the plans for our group. He could not find any "unessential projects" so he told us to keep working our plans - but save money if we could. The other supervisors cut 25% or more from their budgets. At the beginning of the following year, the division manager told each section that their budget was the amount they had spent the previous year. Joe understood the system. He also had the integrity to back his words and feelings with action. Of course, it was a dirty thing to do to a bunch of overachieving employees - we worked twice as hard!
He also understood that 'theory' can only go so far before it has to be reduced to something practical. We were running some tests at the Geophysical Research Facility at Friendswood because we needed more space than we could find in the parking lot at the Research Center. Joe had a vision of being able to do some testing at that facility. So he talked the Geophysical group into letting us have some space in the field behind their building at Friendswood. We built a drilling rig on an expense budget. Loffland brothers gave us a substructure if we would haul it off their location in West Texas. That gave us a very large rig floor to lay out research tools. Maxie Herring sold us a small little draw works, Bill Love bought a standard derrick in East Texas and some other stuff at auctions. We even had our own power generation plant. Joe went to Brown Oil Tools and had them design and build a drill pipe pick-up and lay-down system so we did not have to go up on the Monkey Boards to trip pipe in and out of the hole. The High Pressure group bought a PZ 9 mud pump. We could run all kinds of full scale experiments - and it was four or five years before the President of the Company found out he owned a drilling rig. Probably the only drilling rig in the world that ever had 5 PhD's working on the rig floor.
Joe's group was so practical and field oriented that when we drilled our research well, half of his section was at the Friendswood site and the other half was with Joe and Bill Maurer on a high pressure field test in the Florida Panhandle. The only one in the office was the secretary. Fortunately, Joe did let us hire a rig crew from Goldrus to drill the well instead of letting us do the drilling.
The mark of a good supervisor is not necessarily how good he is with reports and paper work but how he inspires the people in his section. Joe's Leadership qualities can be captured in an event that happened in 2008. Dr. Bill Maurer, Dr. Martin Chenevert , and I were all in Joe's section. We were among the first five people designated by SPE as drilling legends. Joe was THE drilling legend - he created us [three out of the first five] and is responsible for many of our accomplishments by being the best supervisor that I ever had.
Summary: Intelligent; patriotic, self-confident, practical, good engineering instincts, innovative, integrity; humor, a Marine Captain, and a great leader - that was Joe.