Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
Intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text on the opening pages of each chapter.
Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
Do not use for reproduction, copying, pasting, or reading; exclusively for search engines.
OCR for page 206
OCR for page 207
SIDNEY EUGENE SCISSON
191 7-1990
BY CLARENCE E. LARSON
SIDNEY E. SCISSON, who pioneered development of under-
ground storage of petroleum products and gas in the United
States and throughout the world, died November 24, 1990,
following a long illness. He reached the top in an exciting field
into which few others had ventured. His innovative methods in
attacking difficult engineering problems, particularly in con-
struction of underground facilities, made it possible to complete
difficult projects in a timely fashion.
Scisson, born February 4, 1917, in Danville, Arkansas, re-
ceived his B.S. in general engineering from Oklahoma State
University. He then went to work for the U.S. Corps of Engineers
in Tulsa. During World War II he served in the U.S. Naval
Reserve as an engineering officer on the aircraft carrier Intrepid
and an instructor in the engineering department of the U.S.
Naval Academy. Then after working for Pate Engineering Com-
pany in Tulsa for three years, Scisson was cofounder in 1948 of
Fenix and Scisson, Inc., where he became president when the
firm was incorporated in 1951. Fenix and Scisson was respon-
sible for the execution of many engineering and construction
projects located in twenty-three states and eleven foreign coun-
tries when Scisson retired as chairman of the board in 1987.
He designed and supervised construction of the first mined
liquefied-petroleum (LP) gas storage cavern. Under his direc-
tion the firm designed and constructed more than 90 percent of
207
OCR for page 208
208
MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
all mined underground storage for LP-gas projects in the United
States, including the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
In 1963 the firm expanded its services to include solution
mining of salt cavities for storage of petroleum products. Fenix
and Scisson also acted as architect-engineer for the Atomic
Energy Commission (AEC) for underground facilities in the
nuclear testing program at the Nevada Test Site. Also for the
AEC, for a nuclear test on Arnchitka Island in connection with
the Spartan Missile Program, the company developed new drill-
ing and mining techniques that made possible the drilling a 9~
inch diameter hole 6,108 feet deep, and the mining of a cavity
more than 50 feet in diameter at the bottom of the hole. The
company and the AEC were issued more than ten patents in
connection with this work.
Scisson was elected to membership in the National Academy
of Engineering in 1977. He was a member of the American and
Oklahoma Societies of Civil Engineers; the National and Okla-
homa Societies of Professional Engineers; the American Insti-
tute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers; and the
Moles. He held an individual membership in the American Gas
Association and was company representative in the National Gas
Processors Association, the Associated General Contractors of
America, and the Beavers. Scisson held a number of patents on
underground storage methods.
He was a registered professional engineer in Oklahoma,
Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky, and Rhode Island. In 1978 he was
inducted into the Oklahoma State University Engineering Hall
of Fame and in 1979 received that university's Distinguished
Alumnus Award. He was inducted into the Hall of Distinction of
Arkansas State Universit,vand receivedArkansas Tech University's
Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1979.
Scisson was a member of the Atlas Life Insurance Company
board of directors and a past director of the Bank of Oklahoma.
Active in civic and community affairs, Scisson served on the
board of directors of Children's Medical Center in Tulsa, Okla-
homa, and the Tulsa Civic Ballet, Inc., where he also served
terms as president and treasurer. He served on the board of
governors of the Development Foundation of Oklahoma State
OCR for page 209
SIDNEY EUGENE SCISSON
209
University in Stillwater and was an honorary member of the
board of directors of Tulsa Opera, Inc.
He was chairman of the board of Missouri Steel Castings
Company, a steel foundry, and Strescon, Tnc., a prestressed
concrete manufacturing plant, both wholly owned subsidiaries
of Fenix and Scisson. In 1965 he became a partner in Bledsoe
and Scisson Ranches in Oklahoma and Kansas, a more than
6,000-acre ranch with 1,000 to 1,500 head of cattle.
Scisson is survived by two daughters, Mrs. Ray D. planet
Grimshaw of Tulsa and Mrs. Jack ~ Judith) Ferreri of Verona,
Wisconsin, and three granddaughters.
It was my good fortune to view one of his projects being
carried out near the Arctic Circle, a project requiring meeting
"impossible" deadlines involving high-priority defense consider-
ations. I still treasure a gift of a granite core sample from the deep
drilling operation. His operations always typified his dedication
to best engineering practices. Many of his contributions to
underground engineering methods are today in evidence in
projects throughout the world.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
underground storage
