Ernest Blondeau

Ernest Blondeau

Membership	Charter Member
BSc university	BA at Rice

Ernest Eugene Blondeau (1904-1939) was a Charter Member of SEG and is known for creating a method for determining vertical time to a predetermined depth based on first break data.

Memorial

by B. B. Weatherby

Ernest Eugene died on December 5, 1939 from complications following an operation for acute appendicitis. Because of a particularly rugged constitution he responded magnificently after the operation and appeared to have the situation well in hand when the complications developed which ended his life.

He was born in St. Joseph, Missouri on August 27, 1904, and moved to Houston, Texas, at an early age. He attended Rice Institute and, majoring in physics and mathematics, obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1926 and his Masters of Arts degree in 1927. he was granted a fellowship in Physics at Rice and working on his Doctors degree in 1929 when he accepted employment with the Geophysical Research Corporation as chief of an electrical field party. His progress was rapid from that point and he occupied the position of technical advisor to this company at the time of his death.

He is survived by his widow, Maude Bryan Blondeau and three boys, Ernest Eugene Jr., Robert Wayne and John Pierre. His other survivors are his father, Mr. Eugene Pierre Blondeau of Goose Creek, Texas, and his sister, Mrs. W. H. Calkins of Houston, Texas.

Early in life Ernest suffered a sever attack of infantile paralysis which left him crippled. It was typical of his character that he neither allowed this affliction to retard his progress professionally nor did he permit it to interfere with his participation of outside activities. he was enthusiastic about sports and in recent years had made sailing a hobby.

He was endowed with an active mind and a fertile imagination and as a result made a number of contributions to his chosen field of geophysics. All phases of this subject interested him and he was constantly trying to improve the technique and interpretation involved in the different branches.

Blondeau's genial personality, pleasant disposition and sense of humor won him the sincere admiration of a large group of friends and his early death means a great loss to his family, friends and business associates.