Robert M. Macfarlane Sr., 85, formerly of Lewis Run

Robert M. Macfarlane Sr., 85, formerly of 40 Main Street, Lewis Run, passed away, Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011 at The Pavilion at BRMC.

Born September 3, 1925, in Oil City, he was a son of the late William and Margaret (Carlson) Macfarlane.

On June 28, 1947 in Our Mother of Perpetual Help Church in Lewis Run he married Olga M. (Pelino) Macfarlane who died on July 15, 2003.

Mr. Macfarlane was a 1951 graduate of St. Bonaventure University with a bachelors degree in chemistry. He attended the Atomic Energy Commission School at Oak Ridge Tennessee in 1957 where he studied nuclear radiation.

He joined the United States Navy on March 26,1943, served on the USS Cod during WWII in the submarine service. He and his unit were awarded the Presidential Citation of Honor with three combat stars, and he was honorably discharged on  April 6, 1946.

In 1950, Mr. Macfarlane accepted a position with the Pennsylvania Grade Crude Oil Association Research Laboratory, located in Bradford, PA. In 1955 he was employed by Dresser Industries Research Laboratory for a period of one year. From 1956 to 1961, he was associated with Birdwell Inc. as a research engineer and later division engineer.

Mr. Macfarlane was vice president of Piper Wells Surveys, Inc. a position he held from 1962 to 1968. In 1969 he joined Quaker State Oil Refining Corporation as a district engineer, continuing to district manager, then operations manager of the corporation’s production and pipelines, retiring in 1986. In 1987 he co-founded Mactech Mineral Management  Inc. with his son James.

Mr. Macfarlane has authored and co-authored several technical papers on secondary recovery techniques and nuclear logging. He was a member of A.I.M.E., The American Chemical Society, The Society of Professional Well Log Analysis and The Society of Petroleum Engineers where he was awarded the distinction of Legion of Honor Member in 2005.

Surviving are two daughters Patricia Alexis of Derrick City and Diane Wizeman of Corning, NY; three sons: Robert M. Macfarlane of Bradford, James J. Macfarlane of Bradford, and Stephen M. Macfarlane of Springboro; twelve grandchildren: Jonathon Wizeman, Dean Alexis, Grant Alexis, Kyle Macfarlane, Alexander Macfarlane, Stephen Macfarlane, Jamie Greenwood, Laurie Wizeman, Heather Macfarlane, Ashton Macfarlane, Katherine Macfarlane, Caroline Macfarlane; and three great grandchildren: Mia Wizeman, Wyatt Greenwood, and Bayla Greenwood; two brothers George Macfarlane of Bradford and Michael Macfarlane of Victoria, TX; and several nieces and nephews.

Family will be receiving friends on Thursday, February 24, 2011 from 11:00am to 12:30pm in the Hollenbeck-Cahill Funeral Homes, Inc., East Main Street, at which time a prayer service will be held followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 1:00pm in St. Bernard Church with Rev. Leo Gallina, pastor as Celebrant. Military honors will be accorded in the church after the mass. Mausoleum entombment will be in  St. Bernard Cemetery.

Memorials if desired may be made to the McKean County SPCA, the McKean County CARE for Children or the charity of the donor’s choice.

On line condolences may be made at www.hollenbeckcahill.com