Digital Augusta

Augusta, Kansas

2011-06-18
Collection: No Collection

Title

2011-06-18

2011-07-11

Subject

Morrison, Melvin

Scott, Betty J.

Description

Obituaries published in the Augusta Daily Gazette

Creator

Augusta Daily Gazette [Kansas]

Source

Augusta Historical Museum, Augusta, Kansas

http://augustahistoricalsociety.com

Publisher

Augusta Public Library, Augusta, Kansas, USA

Date

2011-07-12

Rights

In Copyright In Copyright

Published with permission of copyright holder. Further reproduction prohibited.

Format

application/pdf

Language

English

Type

Clippings

Identifier

b17#046 2011



Citation
Augusta Daily Gazette [Kansas], “2011-06-18,” Digital Augusta, accessed November 25, 2024, https://augusta.digitalsckls.info/item/2259.
Text

Morrison, Melvin

processes. In the early 1950’s, at the Socony-Vacuum Company’s (subsequently Mobil Oil’s) Augusta, Kansas, refinery, he lead the dart up of a second ge eration thermo catah lie cracking unit. The now-demolished 300 foot TCC was then the tallest structure in Kansas. Earlier, during World War II, he had become an expert in increasing the production yield of aviation fuel at the Kansas facility, using batch process Houdry and early fluid catalytic cracking units. His service in the armed forces during WWII was rejected as the result of his war-critical role in aviation fuel production, and for many years he held security clearances because of his knowledge of that technology. The United States superiority in the production of aviation fuel is frequently credited as one of the major causes of Allied victory in WWII.
Mel Morrison’s refining process expertise took him and his family to Melbourne, Australia in 1954-1956, where he led the start up of a state-of-the-art joint venture Mobil/Esso refinery at nearby Altona. The family was joined during that assignment in Melbourne by other then-Augusta residents, the Lyle Car-son and Clark Hartman families. The Altona refinery was the first in Australia capable of producing aviation fuel, and its opening drew a visit from then Australian Prime Minister John Menzies.. Mel returned to Melbourne as head of a special task force at the
from a family without substantial means, he was always immensely proud of having learned the very American sport of basketball, and, more importantly, the scholarship that gave him education and opportunity. Mel graduated from Carnegie Tech with a degree in Chemical Engineering in 1936 and was a member of the honorary engineering fraternity, Theta Tau. His career at Mobil Oil stemmed from revisiting Carnegie Tech’s student assistance office after an unchallenging year at a Pittsburgh area refinery. He asked if there were any jobs in which current students, from whom he didn’t want to steal a depression era opportunity, weren’t interested. One of the staff remembered a job posting for Socony-Vacuum in Kansas that hadn’t at-
nis ability to sock a golf ball a long way down the center of the fairway. He was an early, regular, and longtime player at the old sand-green Augusta municipal golf course near the airfield, and, in the early 1960’s, a member of the El Dorado Country Club. In retirement, in Austin, Texas, and later in Silver Spring, Md., he and Kay played competitive bridge, a winning partnership that started in Augusta.
Mr. Morrison is survived by his wife of 70 years, "Kay," nee Anna Catherine Green, originally from Montana, now a resident of the District of Columbia; three children: Kent Morrison and his wife Dale of nearby Bethesda, Md.; Sue Field and her husband Don of Coto De Caza, Calif.; and Bart Morrison and his wife Marguerite of New

Betty J. Scott

Betty J. Scott 67, of Augusta, passe away on Monday, July 11
Service arrangements are pending with Headley Funeral Chapel, Augusta.








Original Format

Newspaper clippings affixed to loose-leaf notebook page