Bill Capdevielle
To Rick and family, you have my deepest condolences. All shall be in my prayers.
After I left New Orleans in 1978 I lost track of Cheryl, though I did hear she had transferred to Reservoir Engineering. When I got back to New Orleans 7 years later I found out that she had left Mobil to start her own consulting & training firm. We kept in touch over the years. I would get to see her about every 5-10 years. I had a great deal of respect for her, both as an engineer and a person. I really enjoyed working with her; she had an infectious sense of humor. Now, I wish I had done a better job of keeping in touch. In retrospect, I can now see times in my past when I was faced with difficult professional decisions when I should have sought her advice.
I can’t verify that Cheryl was for first pregnant woman to work on an offshore rig, but I can verify she was Mobil’s first. I know because I was her Lead Engineer in New Orleans Operations Engineering at the time. She came to me one day and told me she was pregnant (for which I was thrilled) and wanted to know what Mobil’s policy was for pregnant women going offshore. I told her I didn’t know but that I would inquire. So I called Mobil’s medical department in Dallas and inquired. They didn’t have such a policy, so they quickly created one so Cheryl could continue to go offshore.
In her pursuit of personal and professional excellence, Cheryl wanted to work projects that would give her new experiences. Going offshore gave her the opportunity to soak up more knowledge. And Cheryl was so respected and likable that she usually got her way. She was almost like a force of nature.
So, Mon Dieu, you better have a presentation ready with all the secrets of the Universe, ‘cause Cheryl’s on her way!!