Thayer, Starr, 1886-1957

THAYER, REINIGER

Posted By: Lydia Lucas - Volunteer (email)
Date: 7/11/2016 at 08:15:16

From the Sioux County Capital, November 14, 1957:
[the text on the left margin of the obit was blurred, and some words were illegible]

Services Held at Houston, Texas, for Starr Thayer

Funeral services for Starr Thayer of Houston, Texas, were held Thursday, October 31, at the Park Place Baptist church in Houston. He was the husband of the former Caroline Reiniger of Orange City. Thayer, 71, died Tuesday night in Methodist Hospital following an illness of pneumonia with complications.

Thayer was one of the first corrosion engineers in the nation. He built the Houston North [illegible] Railroad from Houston to [illegible] in 1926. The railroad now belongs to the Missouri Pacific. He was employed by the United Gas System from 1930 until [illegible] when he left United Gas to become a consultant. Since that time, he has worked for the major oil companies in South America and the West Indies. Earlier this year, he returned from Spain, where he was working on a pipeline to supply United States Air Force [illegible] there.

Thayer was one of the first members of the National Assn. of Corrosion Engineers, which was formed in 1943. In 1952, he received the Frank Newman Speller award for achievement in corrosion engineering.

Survivors include his wife, Mrs. Caroline Reiniger Thayer; two sons, David Thayer, both of Houston and Olin E. Thayer, El Paso; one daughter, Mrs. Raymond Barr, Stockton, Cal.; and two brothers, Wayne and Edward Thayer, both of Los Angeles. Scott Reiniger of Des Moines was among those who attended the funeral.

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No comparable obit was located in the Rock Valley Bee for October 31, November 7, 14. However, Thayer was a resident of Rock Valley and vicinity for a number of years, and the Bee gave considerable coverage to his activities during the 1910s and early 1920s, especially his military service in 1917-1918. His employments during this time included a position with the Rock Valley electric light company.

Texas death certificate #55472 shows him born 5 Sep 1886 in Michigan; died 29 Oct 1957 in Houston; parents Edward Thayer and Jessie Smith Thayer [who are buried in the Rock Valley cemetery].

FindaGrave.com shows him buried in Forest Park Cemetery, Houston, with a graveplate showing him as Capt. Co. A, 534 Engr. SVC BN World War I.

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An article in the Galveston Daly News (March 13, 1952) about his receipt of the Speller award gives additional details on his career:

Thayer, since 1937 a corrosion consultant with offices at Houston ... is among the first engineers to apply cathodic protection to underground structures. His consulting work has been in all sections of this country and in several foreign countries. His principal interest is in the protection against corrosion of underground and underwater pipelines, tanks and docks. He has performed engineering work on many large cathodic protection systems. Thayer was employed as a corrosion engineer by the United Gas System from 1930 to 1937, when he resigned to become a consultant. He has contributed numerous articles on cathodic protection to engineering trade publications.

An early member of the NACE, Thayer not only participated in the formation of the association, but took part in the first corrosion control group--known as Midcontinent Cathodic Protection Association. This led to the formation of NACE which was organized in 1943 and incorporated two years later.