Memorial to Chauncey DePew Holmes 1897-1981

ERNEST H . M ULLER Department o f Geology, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13210

JAM ES K. ROGERS 9321 Greensward Road, Houston, Texas 77080

Chauncey D. Holm es was born in the glacierized farm land plateau 25 miles southeast o f Syracuse on M arch 9, 1897. We now know this area around New W oodstock as part o f the Valley Heads Moraine. To Chauncey, this uplands area was always home, for his family roots in upstate New York extend back to 1810.

O f his ancestors, Chauncey wrote in Our Family: “ In general, the Holmeses have not aspired to social or political leadership, though they all have shared in the common community responsibilities. . . . So far as my knowledge goes, their industry, thrift and com ­m on sense, and the grace of God, have kept them off the relief roles and out o f jail, but not altogether out o f m ischief.”

A t the end o f W orld W ar I, responsibility for maintenance and operation o f the family farm passed to Chauncey, then only 21 and newly m arried to Eunice Conger. The farm work was demanding and exhausting, but Chauncey found intellectual chal­lenge and reward teaching Sunday School classes at the M ethodist Church. He struggled for three years against weather and postw ar inflation until a younger brother assumed responsibility for the family enterprise, enabling Chauncey to enroll at Syracuse U ni­versity in preparation for a ministerial career. For two years, while an undergraduate student, Chauncey served as minister-in-charge at the East Hom er and later the Peter- boro churches. O f this experience he later wrote: “ I perceived that my temperam ent was unsuited for dealing full-time with the essential pastoral duties and with church politics.. . . By good fortune, I discovered that I was well suited to the science of Geology.”

He entered graduate studies in geology at Syracuse and completed both the under­graduate and m aster’s requirem ents in 1927. In these early years, Chauncey was par­ticularly inspired and guided by Professor Thom as C. Hopkins, to whose memory he later dedicated the textbook Introduction to College Geology, acknowledging the gifts o f “ a disciplined mind, a trained im agination, and a sense o f hum or.”

In 1935, Chauncey married again to Frances Vivier. Her dedication to him he once described as the “ key to all my later successes.” His research and analysis o f the glacial and interglacial development o f Chittenango Falls resulted in his first m ajor published paper and drew the attention o f Richard Foster Flint at Yale who was influential in arranging an assistantship for P h.D . graduate study. By his research in the Syracuse area uplands, Chauncey confirmed the im portance o f the orientation of long axes o f imbedded pebbles in glacial drift as signifying the direction of ice movement at the time o f deposition. He coined the term “ till fabric” and introduced it into the language o f glacial geology, publishing the results o f this investigation both as his Ph.D . dis­sertation and as a m ajor contribution in the Bulletin o f the Geological Society.

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For a year following completion of his Ph.D. studies at Yale University in 1939, Chauncey taught at the University o f North Dakota; he then joined the faculty of the University of Missouri in Columbia where he served for 28 years, 6 o f them as chair­man of the Department o f Geology. Raymond Peck, a colleague, recalls him as “ an excellent teacher. He was well liked by students and was a good influence on them. He was kind, considerate and thoughtful.” In reference to university problems, Dorothy Nightingale, a member o f the chemistry faculty, recalls that his “ opinions were so reasonable. He had a delightful sense o f humor. Whatever the conversation was about, he contributed his bit before leaving us to go to work.”

Summer employment during his academic career included petroleum exploration in Montana, service as ranger-naturalist in Yellowstone National Park, and terrain investigation in Greenland for the U.S. Geological Survey.

Because o f combined geological and philosophical training, Chauncey recognized geology as one o f the unifying aspects o f the whole o f life. He was convinced that geology—especially the historical aspect—was a subject that all students should have an opportunity to experience. He was particularly oriented toward beginning students and maintained the point o f view that the university administration had a responsibility to design and present elementary courses that would be concept oriented and project enthusiasm. He was, in a sense, ahead o f his time, opposing those who seemed to feel a primary responsibility to develop students with graduate school potential. He sought to integrate and unify—his college text was essentially arranged historically, with physical concepts introduced as they would explain historical changes.

Chauncey will be long remembered among glacial geologists and geomorphologists for his painstakingly detailed and careful field work. Where conflicting opinions existed, he had the ability to sort out the relationships, adopting and blending the best of each, as in his syntheses “ Geomorphic Development in Humid and Arid Regions” and “ Equilibrium in Humid-Climate Physiographic Processes.”

In 1964, with retirement as professor emeritus at the University o f Missouri, Chauncey and Fran returned to upstate New York where their hearts had always re­mained. It seems that Chauncey could do just about whatever he made up his mind to undertake. Needing a summer home in New York, he built a split-level house, which they called their camp, on Skaneateles Lake. After it became desirable to have their retirement home in a less-secluded place, he had the shell o f a fine house built in Tully. He and Fran lived in part o f the basement while he did a masterful piece o f work in finishing the interior.

Retirement from geology could never be complete for Chauncey. Careful field and map studies o f subtle but significant glacial features had enabled him to unravel pre­viously unknown history o f central New York. These fruitful investigations led in turn to study of pollen in samples systematically collected at measured depths in bogs and swamps. The object o f the study was to identify the forest assemblages and therefore the climates represented by pollen samples that were radiocarbon-dated to determine the time that each represented.

To share his pleasure in understanding local landscapes, he prepared a field guide From Nelson to Chittenango, and created accurate topographic models o f the environs. Like Francois E. Matthes, he had the rare ability to write well for both the general public and the professional geologist.

Reflecting on the meaning and purpose of life, Chauncey wrote two books during his later retirement years to show that religious and geologic concepts can be viewed as in essential harmony— With God in the Universe and Christian Spirituality in Geo­

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logic Perspective. With a fine diversity o f interests— from religion to geology and finally back to religious thought and philosophy; from fine clock construction to com­piling a family history—Chauncey Holmes was a man o f disciplined thought followed by appropriate and productive action.

A prime objective o f Chauncey’s academic career was the awakening of geologic awareness among introductory students and nongeologists. To this end, he established at Syracuse University an award to recognize annually “ the outstanding introductory geology student(s).” For nearly 20 years, he and Fran were regularly on hand for the Holmes Award and Lecture. A few days before this event in 1981 he had responded as usual to the annual invitation.

“ Well, you know,” he had said, “ that’s one of the things that Fran and I look forward to each year. Yes, we’ll be there.”

This, however, was not to be, for Chauncey Holmes passed away peacefully in his sleep early in the morning o f November 23 at his home in Tully.

Chauncey is survived by his wife, Frances Vivier Holmes, and a son, Will Holmes o f Stamford, Connecticut, to whom we are particularly indebted for verifying and correcting details in this memorial.

As life and science become more complex, it is increasingly difficult to recognize an overall pattern for the meaning and purpose o f life. For Chauncey Holmes this was the challenge and it is a challenge he has left for us as well.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF C. D . HOLMES1935 Glacial and interglacial development o f Chittenango Falls State Park in central

New York: American Journal o f Science, 5th ser., v. 29, p. 41-47.1937 Glacial erosion in a dissected plateau: American Journal o f Science, 5th ser.,

v. 33, p. 217-232.1939 Pleistocene geology o f the region south of Syracuse, New York [Ph.D. disserta­

tion]: Yale University.1941 Till fabric: Geological Society o f America Bulletin, v. 52, p. 1299-1354.1942 Nebraskan-Kansan drift boundary in Missouri: Geological Society o f America

Bulletin, v. 53, p. 1479-1490.1944 Pleistocene glacial drifts and loess o f Missouri, in E. B. Branson, The geology

of Missouri: Missouri University Studies 19, p. 337-346.------ “ Pavement-boulders” as interglacial evidence: American Journal o f Science,

v. 242, p. 431-435.1947 Kames: American Journal o f Science, v. 245, p. 240-249.1949 Introduction to college geology: New York, Macmillan Company, 429 p.------ Glacial erosion and sedimentation, in R. F. Flint, Chairman, Pleistocene research:

Geological Society o f America Bulletin, v. 60, p. 1429-1436.1952 A three-dimensional teaching aid in structural geology: Journal o f Geological

Education, v. i, p. 46-49.------ Drift dispersion in west-central New York: Geological Society o f America Bulle­

tin, v. 63, p. 993-1010.------ Stream competence and the graded stream profile: American Journal o f Science,

v. 250, p. 899-906.------ Teacher, text and student: Journal o f Geological Education, v. 1, p. 26-29.1954 Geology and man: Journal o f Geological Education, v. 2, p. 3-10.

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1955 Geomorphic development in humid and arid regions—a synthesis: American Journal o f Science, v. 253, p. 377-380.

1956 Key to a more efficient and effective elementary geology course: Journal of Geological Education, v. 4, p. 37-42.

1959 Memorial to George David H ubbard (1871-1958): Geological Society o f America Proceedings 1958, p. 143-146.

1960 Evolution of till-stone shapes, central New York: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 71, p. 1645-1660.

------ (with Colton, Roger B.) Patterned ground near Dundas (Thule Air Base), Green­land: Meddelelser om G rönland, v. 158, p. 1-15.

1964 Equilibrium in humid climate physiographic processes: American Journal of Science, v. 262, p. 436-445.

1971 From Nelson to Chittenango: A geological journey: M id-New York Press, Cazenovia, 24 p.

— W ith God in the universe: New York, Vantage Press, 85 p.1975 Christian spirituality in geologic perspective: Philadelphia, Dorrence and Co.,

115 p.

Printed in U.S.A. I /