WILLIAM WALTER (BILL) Age 71, of Socorro, New Mexico, passed away Thursday, February 9, 2012, in Albuquerque, NM, surrounded by his loving family. Bill was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on June 14, 1940, to Oscar and Vera (Merck) Weiss. When he was ten, his family moved to Denver, CO. Bill attended Colorado University and later Western State College in Gunnison, CO, where he earned a B.A. in Chemistry. Between attending colleges he met Nancy Flora, originally of Savannah, MO, who he married on October 23, 1965, in Denver, CO. The next day Bill and Nancy drove to Indiana in Nancy's '62 Beetle so Bill could start his first post-college job. Bill had a productive career in the oil and gas business first working for Calgon Corporation between 1965 and 1978 in Evansville, IN; Denver, CO; and Pittsburgh, PA, first as a field engineer and then as an accounts representative. He then worked for Texas Pacific Oil Company and Sun Exploration and Production Company between 1978 and 1985 in Abilene, TX, and Richardson, TX, as a project manager, senior scientist, and reservoir engineer. He then joined the Petroleum Recovery Research Center at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in 1985 and worked as a field petroleum engineer and head of the Reservoir Evaluation and Advanced Computational Technologies Group. Bill stayed at New Mexico Tech until his retirement in 2005. Bill founded Correlations Company in 1995, a firm focused on advanced techniques for reservoir description and stimulation. As part of the company, Bill served as an enhanced oil recovery consultant to the United Nations. A constant in Bill's career was bringing the latest science to industry. Bill served as a member of the New Mexico Oil Conservation Commission from 1989 to 1998, as a director of the Albuquerque Petroleum Association, and as a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, Roswell Geological Society, Sigma Xi Honor Society, and Socorro Rotary Club. His career took him to Libya, Croatia, Germany, Portugal, Italy, and India. Bill published 99 papers, articles, reports, and abstracts; gave numerous technical presentations at national and international conferences; and was awarded a patent on the use of neural networks in imbibition well stimulation. With an easy smile and fun-loving personality, Bill made and kept friends where-ever life carried him, staying in close touch with school buddies from Cleveland and Denver and colleagues from various jobs. He often regaled family and friends with stories of adventures, hijinks, and simulated annealing. Family, food, and fine wine were constants in Bill's life. He actively supported his family, helping them pursue dreams and goals and work through tough times. Where ever Bill was, there was good food, whether made by his own hands or at the table of a high-end or hole-in-wall restaurant. He always seemed to hit every BBQ joint between Socorro and Austin on road trips. If he could wash it all down with fine wine, all the better. And there was nothing he liked more than cutting the rug with Nancy (Bill was, after all, an award-winning bopper in high school). Bill loved reading, learning about history, and visiting historic sites, often taking his Buick places no Buick had gone before. Bill was a strong advocate of education for his immediate and greater family and for others. Combining various interests (wine, friends, family, education) into one, he initiated the Socorro Rotary Club's annual wine-tasting event to fund scholarships for kids at Socorro High School. This leveraging of various interests and contacts into success and fun was a constant theme in Bill's life. His bright personality and hopeful outlook shined until the very end. Bill was preceded in death by his parents; his daughter, Linda Weiss; his sister, Susan Morrison, and brother-in-law, Bob Morrison; his brother, Bobby Weiss; and his father-in-law, Frank Flora. Bill is survived by his wife of 46 years, Nancy (Flora) Weiss; his daughter, Wendy Weiss and her husband Robert (Bubba) Mace; his son, Jason Weiss; his sisters, Sally Renfree and Sandy Delo Santos; and his mother-in-law, Gladys Flora. A Visitation will be held on February 17, 2012, from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm at Daniels Family Funeral Services, 309 Garfield Street, Socorro, NM. Services will be held on Saturday, February 18, 2012, at 1:00 pm at First Presbyterian Church, 304 McCuthcheon Avenue, Socorro, NM. Interment to follow at Luis Lopez Cemetery, Luis Lopez, NM, with a reception afterwards. Pallbearers will be John Flora, Robert Mace, Raleigh Renfree, Phil Vieira, Dick Weber, Jason Weiss, and Wendy Weiss. The El Sombrero Friday Night Bill's Club and the Wheat Ridge High School Class of '58 are honorary pallbearers. Please consider a donation in Bill's memory to First Presbyterian Church of Socorro, American Cancer Society, or Socorro Rotary Club's Scholarship Fund (P.O. Box 972, Socorro, NM 87801). To view information or leave a condolence, please visit: www.danielsfuneral.com Bill's care has been entrusted to: Daniels Family Funeral Services 309 Garfield St Socorro, New Mexico, 87801 575-835-1530
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