Warren Lee Coonrad
1924-April 11, 2015
Redding, California
Submitted by Michael Diggles

Warren Coonrad passed away peacefully on April 11 at age 91 in the Shasta Regional Hospital in Redding, California.

Death came after several years of gradually declining health, and at a time of his choosing. In attendance at his passing were Warren's wife, Doris Coonrad, and two of their four children.

Born and raised in Southern California, Warren developed a lifelong passion for the outdoors and nature during prolonged camping and hiking trips with his parents.

Combined with his keen and tenacious analytical mind, it was almost preordained that he would gravitate toward a career in science, especially a career that would allow him to be outdoors and in remote areas as much as possible.

In 1941, when he began his academic career at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs, it was no surprise to those who knew him that he elected geology as a major.

His college plans were disrupted after just one semester when the United States declared war on Japan and the Axis following the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. At age 18, Warren promptly enlisted in the U.S. Navy.

After a crash course in electronics and the newly developed top-secret radar, he served for the remainder of the war in the South Pacific Theater. As a radar specialist, he spent most of the war at remote observation posts located on small, undefended atolls to track aircraft and ships. Fortunately, his stations were never detected by the enemy.

After receiving an honorable discharge from the Navy in 1945, Warren returned to the University of Colorado, where he earned a bachelor of science degree in geology.

In 1950 Warren was hired by the U.S. Geological Survey, Branch of Alaskan Geology, for geologic mapping research in Alaska with headquarters initially in San Francisco and, from 1952, in Menlo Park.

It was shortly after his arrival in San Francisco that he married Doris Wilson, a longtime high school and college friend of Warren's sister. About the time they renewed their friendship, Doris was completing her senior year at San Francisco State University and Warren was working at the Geological Survey and attending U.C. Berkeley part-time.

Warren began his professional career doing exactly the type of geologic work he prepared for and in an area that suited him best. For the next five summers, he, his partner Joe Hoare, and a few camp hands mapped the geology of a huge segment of the relatively unexplored and sparsely inhabited Kuskokwim River and Koyukuk River basins of western Alaska. This work involved summer field seasons of some three to four months, long and arduous traverses by foot or by small boats on lakes and rivers, and access and resupply by small bush planes.

Doris accompanied her new husband to Alaska for two seasons when she worked as a cook both in the town of Bethel and in a roadhouse near the Platinum mining camp within the general region where Warren and his team were mapping.

After five summers in Alaska and the birth of their first two children, Warren and Doris decided it was time to look for work in a place where they could all be together more than was possible with his three to four months absences in remote Alaska.

In 1956 Warren left the U.S. Geological Survey to accept a position as party chief of a team of geologists organized to produce geologic maps and mineral resource assessments along the land-­grant right-of-way for the Southern Pacific Railroad. The project, which included the entire railroad route in California and part of Nevada, required numerous geologists four years to complete.

The family and three children lived happily as vagabonds in a 40-foot mobile home that Warren towed north in the summers and south in the winters. In this manner, he could work throughout the year and be home every night.

Following successful completion of the Southern Pacific project, Warren rejoined the U.S. Geological Survey, where he assumed a position as chief of party for a seven-year project in Liberia funded by USAID. The family, now with four children, lived in a rented house on the outskirts of the capital city, Monrovia, where they enjoyed easy access to a river for fishing and fine beaches.

That project involved geologic mapping and minerals evaluation of most of the accessible areas of the country. Geologists traveled by small river boats, on foot along bush trails, or by vehicle along the sparse road network systematically traversing the jungle for rock outcrops.

It was probably the last scientific work that has been carried out in a systematic way, because since then, armed diamond smugglers, dissidents and insurgents in the back country make it much too dangerous for any more comparable geological projects.

In 1972 Warren returned to the U.S. Geological Survey office in Menlo Park. He and Doris purchased a small house in Woodside to provide stability for their four children, who were then at various school levels from elementary through college.

After a total renovation over a period of some seven years, the Woodside house morphed into a much larger, fine family home.

Meanwhile, Warren resumed summer mapping in western Alaska. With the availability of helicopters for field support, it became possible for his field parties to work in previously inaccessible areas and to complete the first reconnaissance geologic map that covers much of the region.

Warren retired from the U.S. Geological Survey in 1995, and a few years later he and Doris agreed to an amicable separation. Warren pursued his passion for travel, nature and open spaces while Doris attended to the home and her burgeoning catering business.

For the past 12 years, Warren lived in Redding with his partner, Barbara Bachman.

Warren Coonrad is survived by his wife Doris; four children, Jordan, Cindy, Todd and Kaimi; his six grandchildren; and partner, Barbara.

Warren was an extremely interesting, kind and gentle man who was deeply devoted to his family. He was also a staunch friend, and exceptionally hardworking and capable colleague. He will be sorely missed.

A gathering of relatives and friends to celebrate Warren's life will be held June 14 from 3 p.m. to about 7 p.m. at the home of Doris Coonrad. Food and drinks will be served, and photos of Warren will be on exhibit. dcoonrad@gmail.com

Tags: public service