Cancer

Newfield Exploration Co. President and COO David F. Schaible, 46, died Saturday following a brief battle with cancer. He leaves his wife Tina and four children. CEO David A. Trice, who will assume the role of president, said Schaible joined the company when it was founded in 1988, and he joined the board of directors in 2002. When he joined Newfield at the age of 28, Schaible was the youngest member of the founding group of employees. He served as executive vice president, Operations and Acquisitions from November 2004 through July. He also served as vice president, Acquisitions and Development from 1995-2004; manager, Acquisitions and Development from 1992-1995; coordinator, Acquisitions and Marketing from 1991-1992; and as petroleum engineer from 1989 to 1991. Before joining Newfield, Schaible was senior production engineer in the Eastern Gulf Division of Tenneco Oil Exploration and Production Co. He earned a degree in petroleum engineering from Marietta College, GA. He also was active in the Society of Petroleum Engineers.

Jerome “Jerry” James McGrath, 81, a retired former president of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA), died on Tuesday of cancer at his home in Chevy Chase, MD. McGrath served as an executive with INGAA for 20 years. After an extensive career as a natural gas industry lawyer, he was employed by INGAA in 1968 as executive vice president, general counsel and secretary. In 1978, he was promoted to president and served in the capacity until his retirement from the association in 1988. His tenure included leading INGAA and its interstate pipeline members through the challenges associated with the wellhead decontrol of natural gas and the beginnings of the pipeline industry’s transition from merchant sellers of natural gas to unbundled transportation providers. Mirant announced that effective May 3 M. Michele Burns, 46, will be joining the company as executive vice president and CFO. Burns will assume lead responsibility for the company’s financial restructuring. She will report to Marce Fuller, Mirant’s CEO. Burns brings more than 23 years of experience in corporate finance and accounting to Mirant, having served as executive vice president and CFO at Delta Air Lines and as partner at Arthur Andersen LLP. “As one of the nation’s most well-respected CFOs, she has the experience and skill to lead our financial restructuring, and play a key role in enabling Mirant to emerge from Chapter 11,” said Fuller. In her career at Delta, Burns is credited with stabilizing the company’s finances immediately after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, then leveraging Delta’s business unit, technology and supply chain strategies to reduce costs by over $2.5 billion.

Larry W. Brummett, chairman and CEO of Tulsa’s ONEOK Inc., diedFriday following a two-year battle with cancer. He was 49. Hebecame CEO, chairman and president of ONEOK in 1994 and under hisdirection, ONEOK had grown from a local natural gas utility companywith assets of $1 billion in 1994 to a diversified natural gascompany with total assets exceeding $5 billion. “Larry was a greatleader and a wonderful friend to all who knew him,” said COO DavidKyle. “It is a tribute to him that we have such a great team ofemployees at ONEOK who will move forward with the focus and visionthat he has set for the company during his years of leadership.”