William Joseph LeMay

AIKEN, SC - William J. (Bill) LeMay died on April 5, 2016 at his residence. Born in Chicago, Illinois on July 14, 1934 to Harry and Vera LeMay (both deceased), Bill attended grade school and high school in Chicago before attending Carleton College in Northfield, MN where he received a BA degree in 1955, majoring in geology. Bill received his Masters of Science degree from the University of Michigan in 1956 before embarking on a 50 year career in the oil and gas industry. His first assignment was with Pan American Petroleum Corporation in Roswell, New Mexico. Except for two years in Midland, Texas Bill lived in Roswell and Santa Fe New Mexico before moving to Aiken, SC with his wife Ann in 2007. Bill was appointed Director of the New Mexico Oil Conservation Division in January 1987 and had served three Governors of both political parties until his retirement in 1998. Prior to public service, Bill was President of LeMay Energy Corporation, an oil and gas exploration company. He was an exploration geologist for Pan American (now British Petroleum), Hondo Oil and Gas Company, an independent oil exploration company based in Rosewell, New Mexico and served as a General Partner with Lee Harvard in Harvard and LeMay Exploration Company where he organized and administered privately offered oil and gas partnership drilling programs. He is a member of and has held office in numerous professional and trade organizations and has authored and co-authored over a dozen papers on the geology and oil and gas potential of New Mexico, Alaska and China. His awards include the Southwest Federation of Geological Societies 1960 award for the Outstanding Technical Paper on petroleum geology of the Southwest Region, USA, the Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico Member of the Year award in 1983, the Conservation Service Award for outstanding service to the State of New Mexico from the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, and the E. W. Marland Award from the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission which is awarded annually to the outstanding state regulator who has contributed in furthering the goals of the Compact. Having served 7 years in the US Navy Reserve Bill was honorably Discharged in 1964. He was selected Company 393's Honor Man in Boot camp in 1957 and his company was a Hall of Fame Company, having won more flags than any previous company of recruits at Great Lakes Navy Boot Camp. Bill had many interests but skiing, golf, art and music were his passions. He is survived by his wife Ann, sister Joyce Tone, sons Stephen and Philip, stepson Mark Patrick, stepdaughter Bethe Ogle, their spouses, and all of Bill's grandsons and granddaughters. A memorial service will be held Saturday morning, April 9th at 11 o’clock in the Chapel of St. John’s United Methodist Church with The Rev. Kristin Dollar officiating.  An additional memorial service will be held Friday morning, July 15th at 11 o'clock at Bernardinelli Family Funeral Service followed by interment in the Santa Fe National Cemetery, Santa Fe, NM. Memorials can be made to the charity of choice.SHELLHOUSE – RIVERS FUNERAL HOME, 715 EAST PINE LOG RD, AIKEN, SC   To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of William Joseph LeMay, please visit our flower store.