Extraordinary Son, Husband, Dad, Grandpa, Favorite Uncle, Geologist, Explorer, Hunter, Teacher, Mentor, Rock Star and Fire Chief

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Herman L. Bauer, Jr. was born February 20, 1925 to Herman L. Bauer and Gertrude Shannon Bauer. At a few weeks shy of 96 years, he outlived most of The Greatest Generation, except for the love of his life and wife of 70 years, Lillian.

Herm grew up in a classic brick bungalow on Highland Drive, worked as a farm hand in the summer, graduated from South High School in 1943 and served in the U.S. Navy as WW II ended. He graduated the University of Utah as a Master of Science in Geological Engineering in 1952.

“Let's go on a wild goose chase!”

Meanwhile! A legendary ski accident at Alta put him in the V.A. Hospital for several days with a dislocated shoulder and broken leg. There he met Lillian Brown, who was likewise in a cast from a skiing mishap, albeit on the bunny slope.

Herm and Lil married in November of 1950. Their family grew to include five children who were quite sure, and still are, that their father was the strongest, wisest, toughest and most heroic Dad on the planet – Julie (Laird), Mark (Tanya), Erik, Laura, and Scott (Lori). That conviction is shared by his eight grandsons and three granddaughters.

Herm’s career as a mineral geologist took him from big cities to remote mining camps. Herm and Lil lived in SLC, Utah; Wallace, Idaho; Ruth, Nevada; Chicago, Boston and Denver. Exploration journeys included far-flung adventures from Alaska to Ecuador, Norway to Australia, and Papua New Guinea in the South Seas to Guinea, Africa. He was the head geologist for Kennecott in Ruth, Nevada (where he really was the occasional volunteer fire chief) and then at the huge Bingham mine in Utah. Later, he served as president for exploration divisions, including Bear Creek Mining Company, Amoco Minerals and Cyprus Minerals Company.

Herm and Lil chose to retire in Salt Lake City, the place they always called home. They spent many happy days at their cabin on the Provo River, where they worked like crazy, planted hundreds of trees, and visited with their large family and many friends. Together they enjoyed picnics, cross-country skiing, hiking, gardening, and playing bridge. Herm also volunteered as a docent at the University of Utah’s Natural History Museum and local elementary schools, where he loved to share his passion for geology and knowledge of the natural world.

He never met a rock, mineral, fossil, fault line or roadside cut that he didn’t find fascinating. His children have inherited several stashes of rocks to prove it.

Herm’s was a long, happy life lived to the very fullest, to the very end. He would advise you to do the same – preferably outdoors!