Patrick J.F. Gratton, a past president of AAPG, award-winning geologist and longtime supporter of the AAPG Foundation, died Feb. 11 in Dallas. He was 92.

An AAPG member since 1960 – and an Honorary Member since 2002 – Gratton was elected AAPG president-elect in 2003 and served as president in 2004-05. That was his second stint sitting on the Executive Committee, having served as chair of the House of Delegates in 1996-97.

He had been a AAPG Foundation Trustee Associate since 1996.

Gratton, who played an active role in AAPG’s governance throughout his career, also served as president of AAPG’s Division of Professional Affairs; was a member of the Energy Minerals Division; was a charter member of the Division of Environmental Geosciences; and was a Certified Petroleum Geologist.

In all, he served on nearly 40 committees for AAPG, the HoD and various divisions, often in leadership roles – including a two-year term as chair of the GEO-DC Board of Governors.

Gratton, a native of Denver, attended the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., from 1951-53, then received his bachelor’s (1955) and master’s (1958) degrees in geology from the University of New Mexico.

After spending a summer as a trainee for Magnolia Petroleum, he started his career as a geologist with Utah Construction and Mining in Denver, then joined Shell Oil in Roswell, N.M., in 1958. With Shell he also worked in Houston, Santa Fe, N.M, and Del Rio and Tyler, Texas.

In 1962 he joined Delhi-Taylor Oil Corp. in Dallas, and in 1970, after stints with Dallas-based Capitan Inc. and Nearburg Oil Properties, he became an independent geologist, eventually starting Patrick J.F. Gratton Inc. in 1976.

Gratton, who also was director of the University of New Mexico Foundation Inc. in 1992-2000, received numerous service and civic awards throughout his career, including honorary/life memberships for the Dallas Geological Society and Society of Independent Professional Earth Scientists.

For AAPG, in addition to being an Honorary Member, he received Life Membership from the DPA; an HoD 15 Year Service award; the HoD Honorary Member of the House Award; three Certificates of Merit; and the AAPG Distinguished Service Award.

Capping his career, in 2010 he received the AAPG Michel T. Halbouty Outstanding Leadership Award.