Lawrence W. Teufel, 72, passed away Tuesday, October 31, 2023, in Philip, South Dakota.
He was born in Stillwater, Oklahoma on January 11, 1951, to Hubert and Mary (Payton) Teufel.
Lawrence was an amazing person who lived a wonderful life. During his school years, he was an athlete-student, lettering in Football, Basketball, Track, and Baseball. Lawrence knew he wanted to be a geologist by the 8th grade. He won the Pennsylvania state science fair his junior year (’68), and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists awarded him second place at the International Science Fair. He also won the Pennsylvania state science fair his senior year (’69), and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists awarded him first place at the International Science Fair. Lawrence earned a scholarship to Syracuse University, graduating with Bachelor of Science, cum laude with honors in geology. He proceeded to Texas A&M, where he earned Master of Science, Geology, and Doctor of Philosophy, Geology.
After college, he worked for Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for over 20 years. Part of his work involved travelling to Norway and England, working on the offshore oil rigs analyzing core samples to determine how the oil strata was structured under the ocean floor. He developed a device to facilitate this analysis. He had time onshore waiting for the core samples, so Lawrence travelled all over Europe and England using cars and rail passes. After Sandia, Lawrence worked for the New Mexico School of Mines & Technology as a professor for over 15 years, teaching new minds in the area of Geology. During this time, he travelled all over the world as a consultant, lecturing to other people in the field of Petroleum Geology. At Sandia and as a consultant, Lawrence has been to many of the European countries, but he especially liked London/England (saw many plays, such as Cats, Les Misérables, and War Horse), Norway, and Switzerland (pictures of him with the Matterhorn behind him). Other countries include Saudi Arabia, Abu Dabi, Russia, red China (where he visited the National Panda Preserve), Japan, Australia, many South American countries, Canada, Mexico and several Central American countries. He’s literally been around the world three times. Lawrence enjoyed visiting new places and meeting new people.
He loved his pets, which included five dogs and two cats over the years. He was a good son to his proud parents, and a great brother to his younger sister and brother.
Lawrence will be greatly missed by family and friends.
A graveside service will be held at 1pm, Friday, November 10, 2023, at Bear Butte Cemetery in Sturgis.
You may sign his online guestbook at blackhillsfuneralhome.com.
