Bernard ‘Bernie’ Joe Ferris ’47, MS ’48 of Abilene, Texas, died September 22, 2011. Bernie was born in 1922 in Denver and grew up in Lakewood. Before attending Mines, he served in the
U.S. Army during World War II as a training officer in the Corps of Engineers. At Mines, Bernie was a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity.
He graduated with professional and master’s degrees in geological engineering, having been awarded Shell Oil’s first graduate fellowship in petroleum geology. He began his career with Shell and held a number of technical and managerial positions with the company, including division exploration manager, manager of geological research, and chief geologist of the international region. After retiring from Shell in Houston, he joined an independent oil company in Denver as senior vice president of exploration.
A member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Bernie published numerous papers in geology and geophysical journals during his career. He enjoyed traveling, skiing, hiking in the mountains, parlor magic, ballroom dancing and ping-pong. His wife of 64 years, Betty, predeceased him. He is survived by his daughter, Susan Johnson; son Randy; and two grandchildren.