Kenneth "Ken" O. Seewald, 79, beloved husband, father, and grandfather, passed away December 9, 2013, of apparent heart failure in Austin, Texas. He was born the second of nine children on his family's ranch near Kendalia, Texas, on December 9, 1934, to Oscar and Esther Rust Seewald. He was preceded in death by his wife Mary Reeves Seewald, both his parents, and brothers Marvin and Douglas Seewald. He is survived by his two sons, Wayne and Brent Seewald; his daughter-in-law Cristina Seewald; grandson Christopher Seewald; and siblings Alice Cunningham, Clyde Seewald, Gladys Whiting, Wayne, Larry and Elvis Seewald.

Ken met his wife Mary while both were students at Baylor. During a Corrigan weekend, Mary asked Ken, her geology lab instructor, on a date. Three years later, they married in Miller Chapel on Baylor's campus. They were married for fifty years. Ken and Mary loved to travel. They visited all fifty states and more than twenty foreign countries. They rode elephants in Thailand, took the tram to the top of Victoria Peak in Hong Kong, cruised the Mediterranean and Baltic seas, toured the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru, went by boat from Buenos Aires through the Straits of Magellan to Santiago, and traveled by riverboat from Amsterdam to Budapest along the Rhine and Danube rivers. They enjoyed taking their grandson Chris to visit college campuses, see Washington D.C., dig dinosaur bones, and travel by train across America. Ken graduated from Boerne High School. He went on to attend Schreiner Junior College; then Baylor University where he completed Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Geology; the University of Texas, where he did work towards a Ph.D. in geology; and later the University of Denver where he completed an MBA.

Ken loved geology, he loved working as a geologist, and he loved teaching geology. He had a distinguished career working for major and independent oil companies as well as a consultant. He was a registered professional geologist and member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists where he was elected to serve as the Chairman of the House of Delegates and served as several conference committee chairs. He was a President of and received the Honorary Lifetime Membership Award for his service to the West Texas Geological Society in Midland, and was also a member and former President of the South Texas Geological Society in San Antonio. He also worked in Houston and Denver, and at the end of his career was a partner in Thomason Partner Associates. He especially enjoyed field trips. When he was still a young geologist, he traveled through parts of the interior of Mexico and offshore in the Yucatan Peninsula. While teaching at Howard County Junior College in Big Spring, he led his class on float trips on the Rio Grande through the Big Bend. Some of these students came with him back to Baylor where they completed their degrees in geology and went on to great careers. Ken also had the companies where he worked sponsor student theses at Baylor and helped launch their careers. He served as an alumni advisor to the Baylor Deptartment of Geology for many years.

A visitation will be held Friday, December 13, 2013, at 1:00 p.m. with the funeral immediately following at 2:00 p.m. at Ebensberger-Fisher Funeral Home. Interment will then be at the Boerne Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be to Baylor University. To leave condolences for the family, please visit www.ebensberger-fisher.com and select the Obituaries tab.

Arrangements with Ebensberger-Fisher Funeral Home of Boerne.