Lindell Howard Van Dyke – Captain, United States Army

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12 March 2004:

Dear Michael,

Here is my submittal for my father who will be interred in the columbarium at Arlington National Cemetery on March 19, 2004. As there were no specific guidelines I winged it. I believe that the emphasis on most of the others I read were military but dad was so much more I had to include other verbage. Please let me know if this will be suitable.

Thank you.
Nancey A Baker

Lindell Howard Van Dyke

Sergeant, World War II and Captain, Korean War

Lindell Howard Van Dyke, Sr (Van) was born at home in Hord, Illinois, on July 24, 1922 and died peacefully after a long illness at home in Aptos, California, on January 21, 2004.

Van was in the Havana, Illinois, High School class of 1940. He played clarinet in the school band and was the lead in the senior play. He then went to the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, where he joined the ROTC. In his freshman year Cadet Second Lieutenant Van Dyke received the Grand Army memorial award as the outstanding first year advanced course cadet and was soon promoted to Cadet Lieutenant Colonel.

During his sophmore year Van enlisted in the Army and was shipped off to the Phillipines as a Sergeant. After his 4-year tour of duty he was in an Army hospital for a year. Once recovered he re-enrolled at the University of Illinois and finished his BS in Geology and became a founding member of the TNK honorary society.

While at the University of Illinois, Van met his wife Julia Anna Venhuda who was also attending the university. He completed his Master of Sciences degree in Geology in 1949. Van and Julia married January 28, 1950, and he accepted a job as an oil and exploration geologist in Texas for Shell Oil Company. The happy couple moved to Houston and four months later were transferred to Midland, Texas.

When the Korean War broke out, Van joined the Army Reserves as a Captain and was sent immediately to Korea. After he was discharged from the Reserves he continued working for Shell Oil Company. While living in Midland Van was the president of the Midland Symphony and became involved with Kiwanis, Rotary Club, and the YMCA.

Van moved his growing family when he was transferred to Roswell, New Mexico, where he was a district geologist for Shell in west Texas and New Mexico. After several years he was transferred to Houston, Texas, and became actively involved in organizations his children were in such as Boy Scouts of America, YMCA, Little League and Pee Wee football.

In October 1963 Van was selected by Shell Oil to manage their data retrieval system which was being designed for the Peruvian Basin Well data that was being encoded at that time. He was the first person selected by Shell for this type of activity.

After 20 years service with Shell Oil, Van accepted a position with the Illinois State Geological Survey in Champaign-Urbana where he pioneered the computerization of the data being collected by AAPG’s (American Association of Petroleum Geologists) Committee on Statistics of Drilling. By January 1966 Van was collecting data on all types of wells drilled (exploratory, development, strat tests, service wells, et al), processing it by computer, storing it on magnetic tape, and publishing the data monthly in the Oil and Gas Journal.

Van retired after 22 years with the Illinois Geological Survey and he and his wife headed off to Placerville, California, to enjoy their retirement in the Sierra Nevada mountains. In 1998 they moved to Aptos, California, where Van joined the local VFW Post 1011 where he became Surgeon General.

Besides his wife Julia, Van is survived by one brother Wayne of Illinois, one sister Alice of New York, one daughter Nancey (Tom) of Florida, three sons Lindell (Lynn) of Los Altos Hills, Frank (Faith) of Las Vegas, Gerry of La Selva Beach, California, 4 grandchildren Joshua, Emily, Kevin and Blake and numerous nieces and nephews. One brother Neil preceded Van in death.

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