William Lorenz

Mr. William Lorenz departed this life in the early hours of March 2, 2014 at the Paramount Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center in San Antonio, Texas. He was preceded in death by his parents, brother Klaus, sister Gertrud Millen, and nephew Hans-Peter, all who lived in Germany. The youngest of three children, William was born to Niklaus and Emilie Lorenz in Trier, Germany on May 7, 1927. He attended schools in Trier, served in the military, and graduated from college with a degree in civil engineering. William traveled to the United States of America in 1961 and became a naturalized citizen. He arrived in this country with a very limited knowledge of the English language and his engineering degree. William was able to obtain employment in his field of expertise in the New York area. He worked hard to learn this foreign language and saved enough money to move west to Colorado about two years later. After the 1964 earthquake in Alaska, William drove up the Alaska highway, at that time known as the ALCAN, and was hired to help rebuild the coastal community of Seward, Alaska. Upon completion of that project, William returned to his wife and son in the Lower 48. A few years later, the entire family packed up and moved to Anchorage, Alaska, again driving up the ALCAN. In 1969, William was hired by the engineering firm of Kelly, Poetelco, Fritz & Forsum and began work on Alaska's North Slope as a contract employee to British Petroleum Alaska. British Petroleum Alaska then merged with Standard Oil of Ohio (SOHIO). William's first construction projects were building Spine Road and several gravel pads which later became well pads, facility pads, and storage and warehouse-camp locations. William became a direct hire of BP Alaska starting as Construction Engineer and working his way up to Senior Construction Manager at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska in 1979. Several company name changes ensued including SOHIO Construction Co., SOHIO Alaska Production Co., Standard Alaska Production Co. and, finally, BP Exploration Alaska. While at Prudhoe Bay, William was employed as Resident Construction Engineer, Resident Construction Manager and ultimately Senior Resident Construction Manager in charge of all facility, pipeline and civil works construction in the development of the Prudhoe Bay oil field. In late 1983, William was temporarily transferred to Pasadena, California to oversee the design of civil works (pipelines, roads and pads, island and causeway, oil separation facilities, gas compression, water flood, and all other construction necessary for housing and life support) for a remote site in the Beaufort Sea where Endicott Island would be located. In early 1985, William again returned to the North Slope for Standard Alaska Production Co. (SAPC) as Senior Resident Construction Manager to manage the construction of the Endicott Oil Field which was operationally complete in October, 1987. The Endicott Oil Field is a billion barrel field designed to produce 100, 000 barrels of oil per day with as many as 100 oil wells located on two man-made islands which are connected to each other and to the mainland by a causeway. The islands, located several miles offshore, were constructed with 6.8 million cubic yards of gravel and contain some of the largest and heaviest production modules on the North Slope. Project construction was completed ahead of schedule and within budget. After Endicott's completion, William continued to work for BP Exploration Alaska on numerous projects until his retirement in 1994. Most noteworthy is that throughout William's Alaska career he was thought of by all who worked with him or for him as being an excellent manager and supervisor and one who was well respected by all his associates. Less than two years after he retired from BP, he was hired as an outside consultant in the cleanup of the old Kennecott mining facilities in Cordova, Alaska. Afterwards, he got serious about his retirement and enjoyed his hard earned time off. William enjoyed many summers fishing and entertaining friends on his beloved boat, Valkyrie, which was docked at Seward, Alaska. Later, he sold his boat and bought an RV. He logged many hours touring Alaska and the Yukon. After retiring from British Petroleum, he purchased a larger motor home and began traveling throughout the Pacific Northwest and all states west of the Rockies. He was accompanied by his current wife Gwen, who gently persuaded him to eventually move to her home state of Texas. They were "snowbirds" from 1994 until 2004, spending summers in Alaska and winters in San Antonio, Texas. They became full-time Texas residents in 2004. William is survived by current wife Gwen, son Patrick of Anchorage, Alaska, niece Christiane and husband Guenther Schlug of St. Augustine, Germany; nephew Willi Millen and wife Sieglinde of Haussen, Germany; along with great niece Cora Millen of Suederbrarup, Germany; great niece Louise Millen and great nephew Niklaus Millen of Haussen, Germany; and a host of in-law relatives and friends. A memorial was held in William's honor at the Meadow Lawn Memorial Park and Crematory. Donations may be made in William's memory to http://vitas.com/about-us/how-to-donate.