Henry Howard Finnell

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Birth: Oct. 27, 1894 Mississippi, USA

Death: Sep. 7, 1960 California, USA

H. H. FINNELL, age 66, former regional director of the Soil Conservation Service and known in the 1930's as "the man who stopped the dust storms" died Wednesday in Westminister, California.

He had been living in Westminister since his retirement last year as director of the Panhandle A. and M. Experiment Station in Goodwell, Oklahoma.

In 1913 he enrolled at Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College (now Oklahoma State University) and graduated on May 25, 1917 with a Bachelor degree in Agronomy.

Finnell came to Dalhart, Texas in 1934 with a government appropriation of $15,000 to arrange a long-term lease on 25,000 acres of dust bowl land and work out a method to help save the soil.

After his emergency dust stopper work at Dalhert, he was director of the regional Soil Conservation Service Office in Amarillo until it was closed in 1942, and continued to serve as a research specialist with SCS. From 1948 until his retirement in 1959 he was director of the experiment station at Panhandle A & M.

Survivers include his wife, Constance, of Westminister; his Mother, Mrs W.J. Finnell of Carlsbad, NM; four sons, Joe of Westminister; William of Denver; Robert of Albuquerque and H. H. Finnell, JR of Little Rock, AR and five grandchildren.

Family links:

Parents:

• Jesse M. Finnell (1865 - 1933)
• J. Ann Finnell (1871 - 1961)

Spouses:

*Margaret Thomas Finnell (1894 - 1929)

• Constance Cooke Finnell (1906 - 1979)

Burial: Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Cypress) Cypress Orange County California, USA Plot: Churchyard, Map 3, Lot 2820, Space 3