Lanny Eugene Jones

© The Bakersfield Californian

March 18, 1915

Submitted by: Sandi Carter

Lanny Eugene Jones
1940 - 2005

Lanny Eugene Jones Nov. 14, 1940 Dec. 16, 2005

Services: Thurs., Dec. 22, 1:00 p.m.

Lanny Eugene Jones was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma to parents Maxine and Ralph, and passed away peacefully with his family and close friends by his side.

Lanny was a graduate of Grove Oklahoma High School, and also attended the University of Oklahoma.

Lanny was a figurehead in both the petroleum industry as well as the Bakersfield community. He began his career going to work for Welex/Halliburton in Pawhuska, Oklahoma in 1961 as an Equipment Operator. Lanny worked his way up through the ranks serving as Drafting Supervisor; Engineer Trainee; Engineer; Senior Engineer/Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Engineer in Charge/Quito, Ecuador; Senior Engineer/Offshore, Ventura; District Sales/ Bakersfield; District Manager/Ventura; and Senior Division Sales Manager/Bakersfield. Lanny recently retired this past June as a Senior Account Representative in Bakersfield, having served Halliburton for 44 years. While working for Halliburton, Lanny also developed university recruiting programs for Halliburton engineer trainees in the state of California, hired all engineer trainees, and hired for Halliburton International Operations, as well as for the Rockies region.

Lanny was particularly proud of his personal relationship with the current Vice-President of the U.S., while Mr. Dick Cheney was CEO of Halliburton. Lanny never thought of his clients as a means to an end; he always considered them as his closest and most personal friends. Lanny was passionate about giving back to those less fortunate, as well as to serving the petroleum industry, and he belonged to several societies both national and local. He held memberships in the Society of Professional Well Log Analysts, California Independent Petroleum Association, American Petroleum Institute, American Association of Drilling Engineers, the Bakersfield Paternal Order of Elks, Footprinters, and was the former director of the Bakersfield Petroleum Club. Lanny was the recipient of numerous awards and recognition for his service to the industry and to the community-at-large, including the Desk & Derricks Oil Person of the Year for both 2000 and 2001, MDAs Commitment to the Community award as Humanitarian of the Year in 2004, as well as CIPAs True Industry Hero award in 2005.

Lanny was preceded in death by his parents and grandparents.

He is survived by his beloved wife, Laura; his daughter, Michelle McLean and husband, Don of Bakersfield; sons, William Jones and wife, Brenda of Denver, Colorado; Robert Freeman and wife, Debbie of Desoto, Kansas; and Michael Samoc and wife, Agnieszka of New York, New York; granddaughters, Belinda Elliott and husband, Michael; Elisabeth Herrera and husband, Mikie, and Sarah Jones, Jennifer Freeman, Sydney Lee, and his ninth grandchild, Paige Lee; grandsons, Robert and Philip Jones, and Nicholas Freeman; great-grandchildren, Aidan and Liam Elliott, and Isabella Herrera. Lanny is also survived by siblings, Sandy Moss, Pam Hargrove, Randy Jones, Lora Harp, Teresa Atkison, Debbie McCann and Tammie Miller, his Aunt Bonnie, additional loved ones, including Tom and Judy Blacklock, Wolfgang and Loren Regener and countless close friends, and his faithful companion to the end, Precious.

Lanny loved his family, his dog Precious, dominoes, cooking, eating at the Red Pepper, boating, fishing, golfing, and people. He was a man of integrity, extremely generous, and a man of his word. He was also passionate about fundraising for CIPA PAC, Pyles Boys Camp and other organizations that contributed to disabled or impoverished children.

Lanny will always be remembered as a kind, considerate, and compassionate man. Lanny was a man who loved and served his family and his community. His favorite times were when he could be with his children, his grandchildren, and his great-grandchildren all at the same time. We will miss his sense of humor, his smile, and the way he would roll his eyes and tap his watch when someone was late. We are looking forward with joy to the day when we will all be together once again.

The family would like to give a special thanks to Dr. Magalong and to the nursing staff of Memorial Hospital for the kind and loving care shown to our husband, father and wonderful friend.

Pall Bearers will be sons, Bill Jones, Robert Freeman, and Michael Samoc, brother-in-law, Jeff Harp, and close friends, Tom Blacklock and Paul Hacker.

Honorary Paul Bearers will be grandson, Robert Jones, and close friends, Wolf Regener, Jim Hill, and Terry English.

Services will be held at Hillcrest Memorial Park on Thursday, December 22, 2005, at 1:00 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, at Lannys request, donations may be made to Pyles Boys Camp or to Oprah's Angel Network.

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