Private Rites Are Planned For Geologist

U-M geology professor-emeritus George M. Ehlers who died Tuesday at the Whitehall Convalescent Home at age 84 following a brief illness, was the "father" of the University's summer geology camps. His home was at 2601 Devonshire.
Also, "He was the living authority of the Silurian rocks of Michigan's Upper Peninsula," according to Dr. Robert V. Kesling, U-M geology professor and curator of the Museum of Paleontology.
Prof. Ehlers served as director of the U-M Geology and Geography Summer Field Camp at Mill Springs, Ky., from 1924 to 1936. He then established the U-M's Geology Summer Field Camp at State Bridge, Colo., and served as its director until 1942. He also directed U-M geological field work at Camp Davis in Wyoming.
Developer of the first U-M courses in vertebrate paleontology in 1919, Prof. Ehlers became curator of paleozoic invertebrates in 1928, and in 1942 was appointed by former University President Alexander G. Ruthven to the editorial board of "Contribution."
He was granted the titles of professor-emeritus of geology and curator-emeritus of paleozoic invertebrates in the Museum of Paleontology by the U-M Board of Regents in 1961 following retirement.
Prof. Ehlers had served as consultant to the U.S. Steel Corp., Michigan Limestone Division, the Ford Motor Co., and the Huron, Peerless, and Universal Atlas cement companies. He also had served as assistant geologist for the Wisconsin and Michigan geological surveys. He was the author of a number of scientific papers and articles, primarily on paleontological and stratigraphic findings in northern Michigan.
He was a member and former vice president of the Paleontological Society of America; a member and former geology and mineralology chairman of the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts and Letters, and a member of the Geological Society of America.
Prof. Ehlers was also a member of the local Science Research Club, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Gamma Alpha, Sigma Xi, the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, the Ohio Academy of Science, and the Michigan Basin Geological Society.
He and the former Mabel Allen were married on Dec. 24, 1913. She survives. Also surviving are two sons, Allen of Midland, Texas, and John of St. Louis, Mo.; a daughter, Mrs. Priscilla Fischer of Dexter; and seven grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.
Cremation has taken place and private memorial services will be held later. Memorial contributions may be made to the U-M Museum of Paleontology. Arrangements were by the Muehlig Funeral Chapel.