Dillard Starr Hammett's Obituary
Dillard Starr Hammett was born April 9, 1931 in Seminole, Oklahoma to Mary Alice and Augusta Jess Hammett and passed from this earth to his heavenly reward Monday, September 19, 2016. A track letterman and an Eagle Scout at Capitol Hill High School in Oklahoma City, he worked in the oil fields of West Texas to pay his way through college. He earned a Civil Engineering degree with Special Distinction at the University of Oklahoma in 1954 and was a member of Sigma Tau and the American Society of Civil Engineers. He served as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, where he was cited for heroism in saving the life of a drowning fellow Marine. In 1964, Dillard designed and built the first rig to drill in Cook Inlet, Alaska where tides are the second-highest in the world. Now, 52 years later, that rig is still operating. His 60-year career in the oil business has spanned the continents, far too much to list here, but much of it chronicled at Galveston’s Offshore Energy Center. Dillard has served as Texas Governor William Clements’ Energy Advisor, and has been vice-president and on the corporate boards of Sedco, Inc and of Ensco International; he served as Chairman of the Texas Board of Professional Engineers, and as Chairman and Speaker at the World Petroleum Congress. Dillard is preceded in death by his first-born son, Mark Starr, and survived by his wife of 63 years, Georganna, and children Karen Beth, Michael Starr and wife Dixie, Lee Anne Harvey and husband Alex, Jeffrey Alan and wife Nicola, and grandchildren Carolina and husband Dr. Rob Cunningham, Zachary Jay Hammett and fiancee Catherine Goddard, Jennifer Lee and husband Jeremiah Kolbensvik, Melissa Irene and Austin Starr Hammett, and Zoe Helen and fiancé Trey Lundberg, Henry Robert and Lilly Starr Harvey. Dillard’s four great-grandchildren are: Cooper, Georgia and Ruthie Cunningham, and Melody Starr Kolbensvik. The Hammett Family is grateful for the care from his family doctor, Dr. Lige Rushing, his neurologist Dr. Daragh Heitzman, and for the loving care from the wonderful staff at Silverado Turtle Creek. Visitation 12:30 p.m. and Memorial service at 2 p.m. Friday, March 14, 2016 at Walnut Hill United Methodist Church, 10011 Marsh Lane, Dallas, TX 75229, with burial in Arlington National Cemetery at a later date. In lieu of flowers, please donate to the charity of your choice. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted into Restland Funeral Home and Memorial Park, 13005 Greenville Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75243.
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