PESA WA Branch has mourned the passing of another giant of a geologist, namely former Branch President Grant Ellis, who was both fondly and sadly remembered at his funeral where the following tributes were read out to his life and legacy.
Grant was born in 1949, the second child of Norma and Ken Ellis. He and his sisters Bronwyn, Jan
and Yvonne lived in Adelaide. He went to Black Forest Primary School and later Marion High School.
His interest in rocks and big collection of them led to his bedroom being called ‘Grant’s Tomb’. He
loved geology from a young age and studied geology on his own. In the Leaving Honours year he
thought he’d better concentrate on his school subjects, but when the exam timetable came out and
he found that Geology was a week after all the others he read the textbook and successfully
prepared for that exam in one week!
After his first year at the University of Adelaide Grant transferred to the University of South Australia
as he found that he preferred its way of doing things. He graduated with a Degree of Bachelor of
Applied Science in Applied Geology in 1971 and a later a Graduate Diploma in Economic Geology in
1973.
He started off his career as a Wellsite geologist in the North West Shelf and in Indonesia in 1972.
Little did he think that working on an offshore rig would result in a telegram arriving at his parents
house in Adelaide advising them that Grant was OK – the drilling hit a big pocket of gas which
aerated the water and caused the rig to begin tipping over – all the people on the rig were rescued
but lost most of their gear.
He came back to Adelaide to study for his Graduate Diploma and worked for three months in South
Australia before taking up a position with Mines Administration in April 1974 where he met Robyn.
They both went to Papua New Guinea Highlands to spend Christmas with Bronwyn during her final
year there. Grant proposed on the beautiful island of Umboi just north of the mainland with big
monarch butterflies and swaying palm trees. They married later in the year in Brisbane in 1976 –
Grant only arrived back in Brisbane from one of his many field trips a week before the wedding.
On one of these trips a bush fire came very close to where they were drilling and his boots were
burnt but the caravan and gas bottle were safe. In those days before mobile phones there was no
telephone communication in some of these isolated areas and he had to drive 2 hours each way to
ring home. If there was an emergency you could get word out through the flying doctor early
morning session.
Grant and Robyn had two sons Daniel and Adam. Grant loved being a dad and sharing the ups and
downs of their lives as they found their way in the world. Daniel married Lauren in 2011 and her
artistic gifts have been appreciated by the whole family, she bonded with Grant over their love of
photography and they have gone off on photo trips together. He loved her painting of his beloved
red car. His grandsons James and Josh joined the family and brought with them their own unique
qualities. Grant had fun getting to know and enjoy their different personalities as they hung out
together
Grant went on to work for Marathon Oil in Brisbane and then in Perth from 1978 to 1994. He had
his own consulting company, Petroleum Dynamics for 3 years before joining Hardy Petroleum which
was eventually bought by ENI Petroleum from 1997 to 2016.
One of the exciting times at ENI was being part of the discovery of the Kitan oil field in East Timor.
His body was home with us but his being lived every metre of the drilling of the discovery well. It
was the first commercial oil discovery since East Timor became a separate nation and led to Grant being involved in celebrations with the people of East Timor and with helping to mentor 6 young
East Timorese geologists
Even in retirement Grant has consulted to a number of companies and has been an Affiliate at CSIRO
one day a week for more than 6 years It is an organisation he has always had a lot of respect for.
He was always passionate about geology and would often be still be in his study at 11oclock at night
dreaming away. He authored or co-authored more than 30 publications over the years – some of
which were presented at conferences and some at international events.
His other passion related to geology was volcanos and his study wall is covered with pictures of
them. He tried to walk the Tongariro Alpine Crossing a number of times but was finally able to climb
most of the crossing in 2012 when the volcano ceased erupting for a short while and he brought
Adam across to climb with him. In 2019 he almost went across to White Island in New Zealand but
decided to leave it for another trip – we found out it blew 2 weeks after we came home. He was
fascinated with the volcanoes in Iceland and the five on the Canary Islands. Volcanoes in each of the
three areas have erupted since he has been there.
He always believed that if you were going to be part of something you get involved. He was Chair of
Western Australian Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia from 1998 – 2000, Chair of their
Education and Training Committee from 1999 – 2002. He was the President of the Well Log Analysts
from 1988 – 1990 and a committee member from 1985-1997, he ran a number of seminars and
workshops with them.
Grant has always had an adventurous spirit. He went caving when he was at University and some of
the caves were a real challenge where you wriggled through on your stomach and had to breathe
shallowly or you could get stuck. He came down a tall mountain in New Guinea with Robyn and
Bronwyn and with Robyn Climbed Mount Hua in China – they were the first European people to
climb that year and had to get permission from the Chinese government before they left Australia.
Grant has always played sport. From a young age with baseball, hockey and athletics to squash,
tennis, veteran’s basketball and golf as an adult. He encouraged his sons to play a variety of sports
and was an active part of their endeavours – 20 years of Saturday morning sport and often Sunday
as well when Adam played WACCA cricket.
Grant had a busy life until mid February when he went to the GP with feeling a bit tired and talking
very softly. He had a series of blood tests drove to Margaret River, spent 5 days there and drove
home again to find his blood tests were normal but there was a bit of distortion in his ear. A MRI
the next day identified quite a number of lesions in his brain and he was in to hospital. He was very
fortunate that at no time in the next 10 weeks until his death did he have any pain or feel any
sickness.
Grant was a very loving supportive person who will be sorely missed by his family. His mischievous
playfulness, his patience and good humour are already missed. When he went for walks up until the
last day before he went into hospital he loved the feel of sun on his back and would stop and
consciously enjoy it – he had a lovely ability to be present each day and live it as it came.
Robyn Ellis
All of you here know Grant in many different ways – to me I have always believed that he is the
Universe’s very special gift to me. He has been my husband and best friend for 47 years. He always
supported my choices and saw me as an equal partner in our relationship He has always been
confident enough in himself to not want to change me. He has been able to accept and love me
exactly as I am on any given day and I am going to miss his love and support terribly.
Grant was a gentle peaceful person with a romantic soul. He proposed in a beautiful tropical forest
in New Guinea with lots of birds and big monarch butterflies flying around us. On his first field trip
after we got engaged he wrote a 9 verse poem on how he felt and saw our life together
He loved coloured stones and over time has bought me some lovely unique pieces of jewellery – I
remember just before Christmas one year he said he saw a very nice necklace in the city and when I
said that I really did not need any more jewellery he said come in with me and tell me you do not
want it – it is one of my favourite pieces.
He loved art and saw beauty everywhere – in the art on our walls, the rugs on the floors, the stained
glass door, his red sports car and the shapes and colours in nature. He saw magic in everything
around him and wanted to share that magic with me
Grant has always loved trees and gardens and when looking for a home he wanted one with trees.
He found working in the garden relaxing and good for his soul. Two little willie wagtails would often
come and sit on his shoulder. When a new rose would come out he would cut it and bring it inside
with a little bow for me and a big grin on his face
We have had lots of adventures and travels together and seen some amazing things in our world but
we always looked forward to coming home to the home we created together – we loved how it
represented us and our unique expression in the world – we called it our jewel box.
It has been a privilege for me to share my life and create a home and family with such a very special
man and now sadly it is time for me to say goodbye – his body may be gone but the memories of our
shared life and his loving spirit will be with me always.
Remembering Grant, geologist and mentor – Friday 24 May 2024 – Lucy McLean
It is lovely to see so many people come to honour Grant today.
I am Lucy, a former colleague from Eni, and friend of Grant’s. I have been asked by Robyn to say a few words about Grant as a geologist and mentor, as these two facets of his life were essential parts of him.
I won’t give you Grant’s CV here today, needless to say Grant was active in his professional career by publishing and reviewing many papers and technical posters, winning industry awards, taking the role of President PESA WA (the Petroleum Exploration society) etc.
Grant worked at Eni for more than 19 years where along with John Gorter andvDave Hearty, he was an integral part of the Exploration Department. During that time, he mentored a number of young geologists (well, they were young at the time) who have gone on to have successful careers within the industry.
It’s a real testament to Grant that even though they may not have worked with him for many years, many of his former colleagues and mentees are here today.
To help with this honour to remember Grant, I have collected together the memories from some of his other colleagues, mentees and friends to weave into a tribute.
So, here goes….
Over again, Grant has been described as a fantastic supervisor and mentor. My own personal experienceof being a mentee of Grant’s, is that he wasincredibly supportive and always had my back. His office door was always open, and he was never too busy to listen to my problems and offer advice.
Sometimes he would ask for some time to think about a solution, but he never forgot and always came back with a proposal, even if it was a few days later.
Grant was passionate, intelligent and always curious – a geologist who thought outside the box with new creative exploration ideas. He could discuss hydrocarbon entrapment histories and pyrite in reservoirs and what this meant at great length. These topics fascinated Grant, and he approached learning
about them (and many other subjects) with curiosity, stamina and focus, where he tussled with the concepts until he was sure that he had extracted something meaningful.
People have shared memories of scientific debates with Grant where they were left working out which “impossible” option must be true once all the possible ones had been ruled out. And photo’s have been shared of various travels with Grant, of Christmas lunches, and even a sunset photo from the beach in Dili, where the Kitan team were celebrating the project kick-off, including a beaming Grant, and a photo- bomb by Bob Hawke!!
Grant was a gentle and calming person to be around, he was a man with a big heart, and his connection and interest in all of our personal and family experiences was always apparent. Grant would share in the joyful moments with us, and he would literally relay the information far and wide through the
office. For example, Grant shared photos (and height, length and weight details) with the whole exploration department when his grandsons were born, and shared photos and gifts from his holidays with Robyn. He celebrated his colleagues’ personal successes and family occasions such as weddings, the
birth of my daughter and many other ‘Exploration’ babies. He was a fatherly figure in the office, he was generous with his time, he was encouraging and kind. Grant is described by one former colleague as being ‘one of the favourite people that I have worked with’ and I could not agree more!
Once he left Eni, Grant made it clear that he was open and willing to helpanyone out as someone to talk to, to ask questions, or to bounce ideas offabout the here and now or the future, but he did note that we should not expect an answer before10 am!
And I know that many of us here in this room, including myself, still turned to Grant for advice, both geological and personal, even when we did not share an office anymore. Grant continued his passion for research at CSIRO where right up until his passing he was working on new ideas and papers.
Grant’s words on leaving Eni in 2016 can serve as his wish for us all going forward, and his reflections on a happy life, and one well lived. He said: hang in there, try to remain passionate about what you do, keep learning and the rewards will come – that is the advantage of being “older”, I can look back on
periods of apparent adversity in my life and recognise that they were necessary phases for my growth and ultimate enjoyment of my life.
Thank you
