Isaac Field Roebuck Jr.'s Obituary
ROEBUCK, ISAAC FIELD, JR. of Dallas, Texas, passed away peacefully on April 15. He was born in Graham, Texas on September 6, 1930, and is preceded in death by his parents Isaac Field Roebuck and Ruth Mae Gilliland, and sister Evelyn Deane Hinson. He graduated from Graham High School in 1948, and attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude, receiving B.S. and M.S. degrees in petroleum engineering. After graduation, he served on the petroleum engineering faculty at the university. He was a Registered Professional Engineer and was an independent engineering and geological consultant as president of Roebuck Associates, Inc. He previously served as Vice President of Overseas Exploration for Core Laboratories, Inc. and Vice President and General Manager of Engineering Numerics Corporation, a subsidiary of Core Laboratories, headquartered in Dallas, Texas. He was also an adjunct professor of geological sciences at Southern Methodist University. He authored several books and 35 scientific papers, and has been listed in Who’s Who in the Southwest, Who’s Who in Science and Engineering, and American Men and Women of Science. He was a member of the Society of Independent Professional Earth Scientists, the Society of Petroleum Engineers, and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists. His work took him throughout the U.S. and to 34 countries on six continents. A talented musician, he was a drum major in the Graham High School band, and a member of the Longhorn Band at The University of Texas at Austin, serving as president 1951-52. He helped to finance his college education by playing tenor saxophone and clarinet for dance bands in Austin. While working at the university in Austin, he met his future wife Joan Gerhardt, and they married in 1957. They subsequently moved to Dallas. He was an enthusiastic organic gardener and rosarian, and as a freelance writer and photographer, he enjoyed contributing gardening articles to the House & Garden section of “The Dallas Morning News”, to “The Gardener” and “Neil Sperry’s Gardens” magazines, as well as to several gardening club bulletins. He also contributed articles to “True West” and “Old West” magazines. His photos have appeared in all of these publications, as well as in the Ortho publications “All About Roses” and “All About Vines”. He was a member of the Garden Writers Association of America and the Western Writers of America. He was a past-president of the First Men’s Garden Club of Dallas, and was grateful for the many friendships he shared as a member of that organization and of the Dallas Area Historical Rose Society, the Heritage Rose Society, and the Heritage Rose Foundation. He was also a member of the Texas Botanical Garden Society, the Royal Horticultural Society, and the Seeds of Texas Seed Exchange. He served as a show judge for the Gardeners of America and, in 2002, was invited to serve as judge for the annual rose show of the Bermuda Rose Society. In 2001, he authored the book “Foolproof Guide to Growing Roses” for the Creative Homeowner series, also providing many of the photographs for the book. A second edition, “Complete Roses-Featuring 100 Easy-Growing Favorites” was released in 2007. In 2008, with the generous support of the membership of the First Men’s Garden Club of Dallas and Mike Shoup, owner of The Antique Rose Emporium in Brenham, Texas, the “Field Roebuck” rose was released. His namesake rose honors his years of service to the First Men’s Garden Club of Dallas and the Dallas Area Historical Rose Society. He is survived by his wife Joan, his daughter Sue Ellen, first cousin John Rawlins Gilliland, and nieces and nephews Diana Lynn Welsch, Mark Alan Welsch, Kim Hinson Goodwyn, Stanley Rawlins Hinson, Eric Foster Hinson and Andrew Roebuck Hinson. Field was a loving and devoted husband and father, and he will be forever dearly loved and remembered. Funeral services will be held in the chapel at St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church on Wednesday, April 20 at 2:00 p.m.
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