Geneos Pete Cokinos passed away peacefully at his home in Beaumont, Texas on November 7, 2004. He is survived by his wife of fifty-eight years, Lula Pelias Cokinos, formerly of New Orleans, Louisiana; son, Peter Geneos Cokinos of Beaumont; daughters, Natalia Cokinos Oakes and her husband, Herbie of Houston, Nena Cokinos Marshall and her husband, Bruce of Houston and Katie Genel Cokinos and her husband, Alex Rappoport of Saugerties, New York; grandchildren, Thomas Cokinos of Beaumont, Leopold Oakes, Peter Marshall, Maggie Marshall of Houston, and Lula Frances Rappoport of Brooklyn, New York. His daughter Elizabeth Genel Cokinos predeceased him.
Born January 7, 1916 in Beaumont, Texas, of Greek immigrant parents, Peter Demetrios and Elizabeth Velliantis Cokinos, Mr. Cokinos was oldest of five children: Jimmie Pete Cokinos, Mike Pete Cokinos, and Andrew Pete Cokinos, all of Beaumont; and Helen Fostinis of Modesto, California.
Mr. Cokinos was graduated from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Petroleum Engineering, Class of 1938. He was the first of seventeen members of the P.D. Cokinos family to attend and graduate from Texas A&M University. Mr. Cokinos and three brothers funded an academic Presidential Scholarship in memory of their parents.
In 1940, Mr. Cokinos was hired as a petroleum engineer with the Texas Railroad Commission, Oil and Gas Division, in Corpus Christi. In 1943, he enlisted in the United States Army Air Force as an Aviation Cadet serving at Boca Raton, Florida.
Following World War II, he returned to the Texas Railroad Commission as District Petroleum Engineer handling issues related to oil fields of Southeast Texas. In 1960, Mr. Cokinos became an independent oil operator and producer as a registered Professional and Geological Engineer in Texas and Louisiana with offices at 947 Hazel Street, Beaumont, Texas.
Mr. Cokinos drilled more than forty oil wells and wildcats in South Louisiana and the Upper Gulf Coast of Texas. His first well was in the Port Barre Field, St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, and he was an operator in the East Hackberry and Starks fields in Calcasieu Parish. In Texas, he was an operator in Orange Field, Port Acres gas fields, and South Hartburg in Orange County, Port Acres Field in Jefferson County, Hull-Daisetta Field and Sabine Tram Field in Newton County and Somerset Field in Bexar County.
Mr. Cokinos was a founder and President of the Beaumont Spindletop Section of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. He was Chairman of the Oil Information Committee of the Southeast Texas area of Texas Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association. He was a Board Member of the Texas Energy Museum and a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), the Society of Petroleum Engineers, Texas Independent Production Royalty Owners (TIPRO), and the Houston Geological Society
A strong believer in propounding the story of oil to the public, Mr. Cokinos was frequently called upon to voice his opinion on the art, science and business of exploration and production. He wrote technical papers for national oil publications and gave talks at state and local levels on oil finding and production in Southeast Texas. Mr. Cokinos wrote a weekly newspaper column for the Beaumont Enterprise and Journal on the oil industry.
During his career, Mr. Cokinos was consultant to Red Adair on an oil blowout in Fannett Field. He was an advisor in the Hurghada area, southeast of Cairo, Egypt, where he reinstated several dozen oil wells damaged during the Six Day War between Israel and Egypt.
Mr. Cokinos is listed in Who’s Who in Engineering. He was a longtime member of the YMCA, the Beaumont Country Club, and participated in and supported tennis programs in Beaumont. He was a champion tennis player, President of the Beaumont Tennis Association and on the board of directors of Orange National Bank and Beaumont Bank, both now Hibernia Bank.
A lifelong baseball fan, he and his good friend C.C. “Sonny” Cabiness had attended baseball spring training with the Houston Astros since 1974, and, with the Astros, initiated the Annual Astros Caravan to the Beaumont A&M Club where he served as a member of the Board.
An honorable son of Greece and the United States of America, Mr. Cokinos was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 1997 in recognition of his being a distinguished citizen and the son of Greek immigrant parents. Mr. Cokinos served proudly as past president of the St. George Greek Orthodox Church in Port Arthur, Texas.
Funeral services will be 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, November 10, 2004 at St. Michael’s Orthodox Christian Church followed by burial at Magnolia Cemetery under the direction of Broussard's, 2000 McFaddin, Beaumont. A Trisagion will be 7:00 p.m. Tuesday evening November 9, 2004 at the Mortuary.
Andre Cokinos of Beaumont; Michael Cokinos, Paige Cokinos, Gregory Cokinos, Kevin Cokinos and Christopher Cokinos all of Houston; and Micheal Pelias of New Orleans, Louisiana will be serving as pallbearers. Jimmy Cazamias of The Woodlands, C.C. Cabiness, Mike Grimes, Joe A. Laird and Townes Pressler all of Houston are designated as honorary pallbearers.
