Lloyd Pray

June 25, 1919 - April 5, 2016 (age 96)

Lloyd Charles Pray was a loving husband, father, and highly-regarded professor who inspired thousands of students at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, where he taught Geology for nearly four decades. His positive outlook and infectious enthusiasm, along with his candor and sense of humor, endeared him to many throughout his life.

Lloyd is survived by his beloved wife, Carrel Myers Pray, whom he married on September 14, 1946, in her hometown of Morristown, New Jersey. Carrel, also 96, lives in Madison at Coventry Village, where the couple lived in a memory care unit until his passing. Since 1969, Lloyd and Carrel lived in a farmhouse they remodeled on the west side of Madison, "Tumbledown Farm," and often visited Lloyd's family cottage on the south shore of Lake Superior.

Born in Chicago, Lloyd was raised in Ashland, Wisconsin, by his mother, Helen Palmer (Pray) of Madison, and his father, Allan Theron Pray, a prominent attorney who set up the law firm of Sanborn, Lamoreaux and Pray in 1903. Lloyd was preceded in death by two older sisters, Harriet (Pray) DeHaven of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Janet (Pray) O'Connor of Portage, Wisconsin, and two older brothers, Theron Pray of Ashland, and John Pray, who passed away at age 8, before Lloyd was born.

After attending public high school in Ashland, Lloyd's geological education began at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota under famed scientist and explorer Larry Gould. He graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in 1941. He earned a Masters degree at Cal Tech in Pasadena, California, in 1943. Near the end of WWII, Lloyd enlisted as an officer in the Navy to help survey Japanese harbors to determine if they were navigable. After a year with the USGS, where he completed a now-classic dissertation on the stratigraphy of New Mexico's Sacramento Mountains, he returned to Cal Tech, was awarded his Ph.D. in 1951, and became an associate professor. Lloyd moved his family to Littleton, Colorado, in 1956, where he initiated carbonate research at Marathon Oil Company's Denver Research Center. In 1968, he made Madison his permanent home, as a tenured geology professor at the University of Wisconsin for 35 years.

During his professional career, Lloyd earned an international reputation as a leader in the earth sciences. He had a profound and lasting effect on the study of sedimentary geology and the origin and characteristics of carbonate rocks. An outspoken proponent of getting away from desks and computers and out into the field, he made critical discoveries along the cliffs of the Guadalupe Mountains of West Texas, where he led field trips for graduate students and geologists for years. Although his fieldwork took him around the world, from the deserts of Libya to the coral reefs of Australia, he never lost his love and appreciation for the geology of his home state of Wisconsin.

As a geologist, Lloyd will be remembered for his maverick approach, which required the scientific community to step outside of its normal boundaries and conventions. As an educator, he had a unique ability to communicate complex scientific concepts and discoveries with logic, wit, and unbounded enthusiasm. Year after year, he mesmerized the students in his popular Geology 101 class, and inspired many graduate students who went on to make groundbreaking contributions to industry and academia. Lloyd received numerous awards during his career, including one for Distinguished Achievement at his 50th reunion for Carleton College; a prestigious University of Wisconsin teaching award in 1988, and the award he was most proud of, the Wallace Pratt Stewardship Award, for his work at Guadalupe Mountains National Park. He also won the Society for Sedimentary Geology's highest honor, the Twenhofel Medal, in 1999.

Lloyd and Carrel Pray enjoyed an active family life with four sons, 12 grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren: son Lawrence Myers Pray and wife Connie (Beaire) of Minneapolis (grandchildren Timothy, Andrew, Benjamin, and Emily); son John Allan Pray and wife Eileen (Wright) of Madison (grandchildren Sarah and Ian); son Kenneth Palmer Pray and wife Mary (Ohlinger) of Cincinnati (grandchildren Catherine, Allan, Christopher, and Lauren); and son Douglas Carrel Pray and wife Diana (Rathe) of Los Angeles (grandchildren Theron and Sophia).

Lloyd was an active member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Madison. He was involved in and supported many charitable organizations and institutions throughout his life, including Rotary Club, The American Diabetes Association, American Field Service, and Northland College. Lloyd was always an avid supporter of his wife, Carrel's, many involvements, including The Madison Boychoir, which she founded and directed for 16 years, and her work as a watercolor painter.

The family wishes to thank the staff at the Sebring memory care unit of Coventry Village and Agrace Hospice Care for their love and care during the last years of Lloyd's life.

A memorial service will held on Saturday, May 14 at 11:00 a.m. at the Quaker Meeting House, 1704 Roberts Ct., Madison, Wisconsin. Following the service, at 12:30 p.m., there will be a reception at Tumbledown Barn, 7664 Tumbledown Trail, Verona, Wisconsin. Email john.pray@wisc.edu for details. A private Interment service for family/close friends will take place at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, May 15 at Forest Hill Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, any donations may be made to any of the following organizations that were meaningful to Lloyd:

Madison Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, 1704 Roberts Court, Madison, WI 53711

Northland College, 1411 Ellis Ave S, Ashland, WI 54806

Department of Geology, Carleton College, 1 N. College St., Northfield, MN 55057

Department of Geology, University of Wisconsin, 1215 W. Dayton St., Madison, WI 53706

American Field Service, 120 Wall St, New York, NY 10005

Center for Defense Information, 1100 G Street NW, Suite 500, Washington D.C. 20005

Friends Committee on National Legislation, 245 Second Ave. NE, Washington D.C. 20002

Wisconsin Public Television, 821 University Ave., Madison, WI 53706

Any donation may be made directly to any of the above organizations, or a check made out to any of the above organizations may be mailed to John Pray (john.pray@wisc.edu), who will forward it to the appropriate address.

Cress Funeral Service
3610 Speedway Road, Madison
(608) 238-3434