William Augustus “Bill” Atlee

William Augustus “Bill” Atlee was born on Monday, January 22, 1934, in Georgetown, Texas to Luis Winton and Mabel Edna Atlee, owners of the Atlee Press, and returned to sender on December 4, 2023. Bill was named after an ancestor who was a patriot of the American Revolution and first Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in 1777.

Bill grew up n Arlington, Virginia, and Waco, Texas; and served honorably in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during the Korean Conflict. On June 6, 1958, he married Linda Kathryn Smith on the Baylor University campus. After earning both a BS and a MS degree in geology his career spanned 38 years in the petroleum industry with America’s largest energy company and a large independent oil company.

Bill’s career choice and avocational interests were influenced by visits to the Smithsonian Institution as a youth. He loved the history and evolution of our planet and its inhabitants through time. He was an avocational archeologist with four published papers. A Native American petroglyph site that he recorded in Central Texas has been designated a State Archeological Landmark.

He enjoyed art and in 1959 designed the logo used for decades by the Baylor University Department of Geology, and in a logo design contest in 1980 his design was chosen by the American Institute of Professional Geologists. Bill was an active member of the Houston, Corpus Christi, Midland and Dallas Geological Societies serving his profession in various positions including president of the Corpus Christi Geological Society and president of the Gulf Coast Section, Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists.

Bill was a Certified Petroleum Geologist and an Emeritus member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists for over sixty years, member of the American Institute of Professional Geologists, member of the Texas Archeological Society, Life Member of the Baylor University Alumni Association, American Legion Post 228, Sons of the American Revolution, etc.

Upon retirement Bill and Linda retired to Sun City in Georgetown, Texas, where they enjoyed foreign and domestic travel and many club and neighborhood activities.

Bill is survived by Linda Kathryn, his beloved wife of 65 years, and their three children: Nancy Kathryn Bowman, Boise, Idaho ; John Richard Atlee, McKinney, Texas; Jennifer Elizabeth Unthank, Ormond Beach, Florida; six grandchildren and five great grandchildren.

It was his desire that he be cremated and there be only a family service after his death. Inurnment will be in the Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery south of Killeen. A memorial tombstone is placed near his grandparents Mathews grave site. Donations in his memory may be made to the Department of Geology, Baylor University, One Bear Place #97026, Waco, Texas, 76798-7026.