VOL. 25. NO. 10 (OCTOBER. 1941). PP. 1962-1963
The American Association of Petroleum Geologists and the scientific world mourn the·passing of Henry Hart Pratley at Glendale, California, July 23, 1941. His death occurred following a short illness after a major abdominal operation.
Mr. Pratley was born in Chicago, Illinois, forty-eight years ago. He graduated from the Colorado School of Mines in 1922 after his education had been interrupted by service in the United States Navy during the World War. After graduation he followed the mining game, first in Butte, Montana, and later as a very successful mine operator in the Park City-Bingham Canyon districts of Utah. He became interested in the new field of seismic prospecting and geophysics, and in 1928 returned to his alma mater to take additional educational work in this branch of science. After several years of magnetometer work in the Mid-Continent and Texas oil fields as an independent operator, Mr.
Pratley. went to California in 1930 to do geophysical work for the Ohio Oil Company. He was one of the first to see the possibilities of applying this type of prospecting to the California oil fields.
III 1936, he became associated with Herbert Hoover, Jr., as vice-president of the United Geophysical and Engineering Company of Pasadena. He remained in this position until November, 1940.
At this time he decided to study the application of seismic prospecting to underground mine work. As a pioneer in this field, he was greatly encouraged by phenomenal success in several test runs in Utah mines.
Mr. Pratley is survived by a brother, Fred, and four sons, Henry Hart Pratley, Jr., Fred Cooper Pratley, Brent McGee Pratley, and Bruce McGregor Pratley. He was a member of Beta Theta Pi and Theta Tau fraternities and of El Kalah Shrine Temple, Salt Lake City. He was active in the Society of Exploration Geophysicists, the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, and the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers.
1.331 NORTH PACIFIC BOULEVARD
GLENDALE, CALIFORNIA
FRED PRATLEY
1962
AAPG Bulletin,
