Dale Kunitomi, a distinguished Petroleum Geologist, was a good friend of Joan Barminski, geologist and retired Pacific Region Director for BOEM. Dale passed away on August 29, 2026. Joan shared the inspiring Coast Geological Society tribute to this remarkable man.
Dale was born at the Heart Mountain, Wyoming, Japanese concentration camp during World War II, where he spent the first year and a half of his life. When the camp closed, his family returned to Hollywood California to rebuild their lives with Dale and his four siblings. Growing up conflicted about his family’s hardship, he found his way back to his personal history as an adult, when he attended his first Manzanar Pilgrimage in 1988.
Dale’s parents were both college graduates and longtime teachers in the LA school system. After graduation from Belmont High School, Dale enrolled in Los Angeles City College then transferred to UCLA where he discovered geology courses. After graduation he worked for and lived in the City of Long Beach, California where the easterly extension of the giant Wilmington field had just begun. During that time, he attended four years of graduate night classes at USC in an attempt to “absorb the huge volume of literature documenting the emerging Plate Tectonics Revolution”. His education at UCLA and USC resulted in episodes of schizophrenia during fall football seasons.
From Long Beach his career took him to the Southern California Gas Company in Los Angeles, then to Santa Barbara, Ventura, Bakersfield, and Camarillo working for various small oil companies (Pauley, Argo, Celeron) concentrating on oil and gas exploration and development in California and Alaska. Dale’s work has also included geotechnical investigations, hydrogeologic assessments, and 3-D geologic modeling of oilfields. While living in Camarillo, he became an independent consultant in 1988 working for individuals, companies, municipalities and utilities on various aspects of oil and gas geology. A large portion of this work was as a contractor for Exxon / ExxonMobil from 1994 to 2003, as an operations geologist in the Santa Ynez Unit in the Santa Barbara Channel. Dale was the Exxon representative for most of the well logging operations during that time.
Dale and Grace enjoyed deep-sea fishing from their fifteen-foot 1978 Boston Whaler and from charter boats. The Whaler is still floating and berthed in the Channel Islands Harbor, and retains his classic sticker, “I brake for kelp paddies.” After one of his fishing trips, Dale treated the entire Exxon geology group to an exquisite self-prepared sushi lunch from his catch. Dale and Grace also enjoyed traveling to foreign lands that included China, Kenya, Kamchatka, Alaska, Canada, Australia, and Mexico. Many of these trips mixed geology and culture, and included a number of CGS folks.
The first presentation Dale made was to the Coast Geological Society in 1977 on transforming the Honor Rancho Oilfield to a Gas Storage Field after visiting the area. In 1993 Dale and Bob Michael presented on Kamchatka – The Russian Ring of Fire after a trip to the area. In 2005 he presented on Climate Change: The Paradox of Global Warming Causing A New Ice Age in a joint meeting with AEG. Dale was a CGS member and then an honorary member for over 45 years. Within CGS he proudly held the position of Assistant BBQ Chief under the tutelage of Dr. Eugene “Iron Chef” Fritsche. No doubt he was also proud to be CGS President in 1993-1994. He served as vice-president of the LABGS in 1976.
Dale was very active in the PSAAPG, where he was Vice President in 1999. He assisted with a successful convention held in Santa Barbara and was Convention Site Chairman for two conventions held in Ventura. Dale contributed or edited four Pacific Section publications including Structure and Petroleum Geology, Santa Barbara Channel as well as geology field guides and presented technical papers to the Pacific Section conventions.
In 2004 Dale S. Kunitomi was chosen to receive the Distinguished Service Award presented by the Pacific Section AAPG in recognition of his contribution to and involvement with the western United States geological community. In 2013 Dale received Honorary Life Membership, which is the highest award given to PSAAPG members. It is bestowed upon members who have distinguished themselves by their contributions and devotion to the science and profession of petroleum geology and by outstanding service to the Pacific Section.
In his DSA nomination autobiography, Dale wrote:
“I believe being born in the shadow of the geologic marvel of Heart Mountain, where Mississippian Madison Limestone overlies Eocene sediments, in some way influenced my life and career choices. I have been fortunate to have learned my craft from many knowledgeable geologists.”
