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Marie Grabow (Pittman) (1959)

Delores,    Thanks for jogging the memory!  Yes, I do remember you at Shell and I'm trying to think of who else from SHHS worked there.  A couple from Tomball Jr. Hi days worked there too...Ann Johnson on 18'th floor? and a girl with last name Kuehn worked in key punch on 1st floor.  I worked in accounting on 15th floor and when the Midland office transferred here, we were removed to the 3rd floor. @ 1965, Acctg. Dept. was moved to the top 2 floors of the Prudential Bulding on Holcomb.   I never fully understand that move and the Midland people didn't care for Houston as they started working here in the Old Shell Bldg, then after a year were sent to Prudential bldg.   We all missed the shopping at noon downtown & the sounds of downtown [air raid siren on Friday noon & Church bells, Christmas festivities at banks + more choices for lunch.]  Most everyone brought brown bag as no where for a lunch without driving.  A beautiful cafeteria was on 5th floor, but Shell employees could only come in for morning & afternoon coffee breaks.  We could not buy any food, just drinks.  The lunch time it was off-base for us.  Sometimes, we felt like step-children in the building:).   The big plus for Prudential building was free parking in nice garage.  Also the grounds were beautifully landscaped with walking paths for noon-time stolls.  It was a disciplined atmosphere.  Down side other than no lunch in cafeteria was bus transportation meant a transfer-wait downtown which no one wanted to do and many empoyees didn't like the commute, so some retired.  I kept in touch with some retirees and they said the accounting dept. was moved out to a campus in west houston area in the "oil corridor".  Are the Shell & Texaco bldgs turned into condo's?  I know they both have been renovated & so much has been turned into condo's near the ball park.  Delores, I look forward to your messages.  I've been wondering about Elizabeth Strong [Sawchek], do you hear from her?  She was living in the Clear Lake area.  Good to connect again.

Marie

Marie Grabow (Pittman) (1959)

Travis, #2664, You have hit the nail on the head with name of restraunt by the ferry/bayou.  That does sound familiar now that you mention it!  Great food and interesting views of the ship channel.  Kids enjoyed matching the flags to the country on the ships. Thanks for message

About the telephone exchanges, ours was HI2- later 442.

Kenneth Heron (1966)

I am hoping to see many of the 1966 graduates this Saturday. There were 535 of us, so hopefully some of you are still kicking. I didn't have many close friends in high school. The Houstonettes wouldn't let me join. If some of you know folks like John Voigt, Lawrence Owens, Sammy Jeter, Joe Valdez, Wilbur Johnson, Mike Heitmann, Joy Stapp, Betty Pursley, and  Daniel Lim, please remind them of the reunion. This will be my last time around for reunions. I couldn't have asked for a better high school education than the one I received from  Robert Williamson, Joseph Huckstein, Mr. Campbell, Coach John Davis, Miss Lohr, Miss Jensen, and others whose names have escaped me. I enjoy reading of all the eating places.  I do remember going to Prince's on Irvington(?) and playing Otis Redding's "I've been loving you too long" on the jukebox (before he died). See you Saturday!

Marvin Wright (1969)

Every Christmas we would make a trip to downtown for gingerbread and wassell at the bank and look at the anamated decorations in the Foley's windows. After I came out of the service and got married we would have to go to the Christmas store after leaving downtown. As a kid my best friend and I would go to the movies downtown then go by the old Rice Hotel just to roam around. They would politely ask us to leave after noticing us. They had a guy in the rest rooms that would hand you a real towel to dry your hands. Downtown was always an interesting place then but I would never let a couple kids go there now by themselves. We were only 12 or 13. 

Debbie Vollert (Campbell) (1971)

Good morning.  Can anyone recommend a realtor for the Hardy Toll Road/Little York/Rittenhouse/Bauman Road area?  Thank you.

Lanell Hight (Allee) (1966)

In response to Kenneth, #2683...Kenneth, I've been making name tags for '66 reunion.  I have tags for John V., Joy, Betty, Mike H and Daniel in the names you mentioned.  We are looking forward to a great time!  See you there.

Judy Maxwell (1971)

Shirley Culpepper #2678

HI ~ Yes I had a message from Nelda a couple of days ago. We plan on getting together soon, we don't live that far from one another. SO glad to hear from her.

You are the Shirley that was at Bobby and Connies when Barbara and my sister came by to look over Scarborough pictures right? It was good to see you and we will have to gather again and have George Clay (71) come with us, He remembers a lot of them. and would be able to help is out I'm sure.

Talk again soon!

Judy

Cathy Davis (Roper) (1968)

To Dolores 2675 and Marie 2681 and any other Shell alums -

Shell folks - so when you went to work for Shell in the old Shell Building you probably went through the "Employment Office" there and met and maybe knew my Mother, Sophia Davis, who put many folks on the payroll back in the day.  She retired with 40 years with Shell many years back, and in fact, just passed away last week at the age of 86.  Great career she had, she was good to Shell and they were very good to her.  There was a mutual loyalty back in those days that has somehow disappeared.  I, too, worked for Shell for 20 years myself and am now a pensioner -

Oh, and I was raised off of Airline and Rittenhouse and our old phone number was OXford 695 2339.....

I raised my own family off of Parker and I45 and our phone number was OXford 697 4248....

lots of good memories of Sam Houston, Shell careers, raising my family, the good old northside....!

Judy Maxwell (1971)

Cathy Davis #2688

Sorry to hear of your Mom passing. May you find comfort in your memories of her and the many years of working together as well.

We grew up off 59 and Jensen (Lakewood Dr.) we too were Oxford 2-4897 then became 692-4897 funny how I can remember that phone number and my Mom has had a different number since moving to Humble 12 years ago. If we still used those exchanges she would be Hilcrest because not she is 442-

Is anyone getting any rain today> I am in the Lovelady ~ Midway area and we are getting a light drizzle.

Take care!

Judy

Bobby Hopper (1970)

 Response to #2678  Hello Shirley Culpepper, I see you reached out to Nelda Doss, now reach out to Donna Henley, and Brenda Kunkel again. lol

Judy Maxwell (1971)

Bobby #2690

Hey stranger how ya been

Judy

Marie Grabow (Pittman) (1959)

Cathy # 2688, Delores, and other Shell alumni

Cathy, your Mother was a beautiful person always with a sweet smile.  We are so sorry to hear she is no longer with us.   I do remember her name and face [always with a smile].  What a small world!  Yes, I well remember the employee office on 2nd floor.  There were 2 beautifu ladies and a man that I remember in the employee office.  I started off in the mail room, so I got to know most of the Shell part of the bldg.  There were several attorney's & doctor offices on the 2nd & 3rd floor, but rest of bldg was Shell occupied.  I think Glenn McCarthy owned and/or had management company there prior to time I worked there as the "old timers" would reminise over brown bag lunches about him.  He was quiet the character.  Those were very stable days with loyal employees and companies repaying with generous rewards for those who reached retirement. 

The lady who interviewed/hired me was Ms. Margie Cotten.  Before marriage, I rode the Irvington bus to work and  Ms. Cotten woud get on in Lindale most mornings.  If memory is awake today, her husband was principal at Waltrip High School.

 One of my most outstanding memories working in the old Shell bldg. is the refinery union strike probably around 1960/61.  The wives of workers organized a protest & came up to the 18/executive floor.  I was asked to take something in the conference room where they VP was talking with them.  I'd never seen such a large room full of so many unhappy women.  Felt sorry for the VP as he was outnumbered.  But don't remember any security officers being called as would be in todays world.  We just handled things our own self.    That was where I learned the power of being wife/woman as seems the strike was over shortly after that.  Company didn't want another wife/family protest.  Was Mr. Wilson VP then?  The other outstanding memory is where I was & what I was doing at the time we were told Pres. Kennedy had been shot.  The room was so silent for so long.  Then there were whispers of the possibility of Russia being behind the assisnation and  the rumors began.   I was anxious for the day to be over and get out of downtown.

Dolores Loocke (Ross) (1959)

Cathy,

Sorry, I did not know your mother. My dad worked for Shell Oil, so I could not be employed by them. I actually worked for Shell Pipeline, so did not know any of the Shell Oil employees. One of my funny memories of working there was the day a gentleman mistakenly delivered a 55 gallon drum of crude oil to our office on the ninth floor.  All the "Powers that Be" were frantically calling to have it picked up before it exploded !!

Marie,  Mr  Cotten was, indeed, principal at Waltrip. Mrs. Cotten was a beautiful lady.  They lived in our neighborhood  

Cathy Davis (Roper) (1968)

Dolores, yes, "nepotism" was not allowed when I came on in 1970 either - so I, too, started at Shell Pipeline for several years, then on to Shell Chemical and Shell Corporate Controller's Office as my Mother had then been transferred to Exploration & Production which made it ok since we just had to be in different "payroll centers"......ahhh rules.....Marjorie Cotton was my mother's very good friend during their years in the Employment Office - and yes her husband Gordon was principal at Waltrip.  I remember the years I went to Sam, we always thought the kids at Waltrip were from "rich" families....funny but my parents almost bought a house in "Candlelight Plaza" so that I could go to Waltrip, thinking it might be the best education option, but they had to pull out of that house deal because they felt they could not handle the $24,000 price tag for that beautiful house!!!!!  And I remember the intense competition between the Houstonettes and Waltrip's Imperial Guard.......we were always the best of course!!!  Lots of memories......lots of water under this bridge....never forget where you came from.....!

Marie Grabow (Pittman) (1959)

My memory must have stopped at the 18th floor of Shell building in prior messages, because the executive offices were on the 22nd floor.  Shell Oil and Shell Pipeline employees didn't see much of each other except on elevators.  Shell Chemical was in there somewhere?

Delores, I cannot imagine the chaos & laughs that barrel delivery must have made in Pipeline!  Seems he would know there was no need for cude oil in the building:).

Does anyone remember Mr. Owen Baker who worked in office services on 5th floor[?].  He probably was put in charge of getting the oil barrel out of the building.  He lived in the Tomball area and boarded/trained dogs in his off hours.  He was a comic.  One time everyone was told to clean up/organize their offices, as the company Pres was coming to see us.  Mr Baker with thumb tacks covered the walls of his office with paper clips, pencils/etc.  [you get the picture].  He said he wanted to impress the Pres that he was a busy, important employee.  Rumor was the Pres. actually went in his office & enjoyed a laugh with Mr. Baker.  When the VIPS in Shell went on vacations, Mr Baker would pick up their dogs, board them & take dogs home upon their return.  So, he had an "in" & could get away with more than the average employee.  He was a great guy.  He could have been the official historian of Shell as he had worked there since high school and knew everyone.

Another outstanding memory was the hiring of the first African American employee who actually work in the office.  Others worked in the mail room and other depts.  We were alerted of the new employee.  She was delightful and handled it so well.  I was talking to her in the hall one day & one of the "establishment employees" mentioned it to me later in a not so positive tone.  That was not one of my better days at Shell.

Hope I don't get locked out for my long posts.

Dolores Loocke (Ross) (1959)

Marie, Shell Pipeline Executive Offices  were on the 12th floor, so I never visited the 18th.  Joe Dickerson was the president  

I also remember when the first African American was hired. I visited with her in the ladies room, when we happened to meet there one day. She came to work the last week that I worked,  in March 1963. She was a really nice young lady. Before she came to work, a memo was sent to everyone that let us know that if there were any problems it would be our fault. Remember that?  Thank goodness, times have changed. We were in on the progress of our country.

 I quit working in March 1963, because our first baby was due in June. I'm sure you remember, it was mandatory that we quit in our sixth month of pregnancy.  Of course, Amy didn't cooperate and wasn't born until July 20th!

You don't worry about your long posts. I enjoy hearing from you. 

Dolores Loocke (Ross) (1959)

Marie,

I forgot to answer you about Elizabeth Strong. The last time that I talked to her was in 1994 at our 35th class reunion. I've tried to find her through Facebook with no success.  

Marie Grabow (Pittman) (1959)

Delores, thanks for the "encouragement" about long messages.  I'll make this one short.

If memory is correct, Pipeline was on floors 10-12 of Shell bldg.  There were some departments in the old Melrose Building around the corner near the Texaco Bldg.  I remember taking what looked like blue prints? to the Melrose Bldg.  We'd have to go out the back door of the bldg into the alley way to get to Melrose bldg.  The homeles guys always congregated in the alley to drink wine & sleep/etc.  They never bothered anyone, but made me very uncomfortable.  One of the Shell couriers talked to them.  One of the guys in the alley had been a well-known attorney in town before his life changed.  Working downtown was lesson in life! 

Dolores Loocke (Ross) (1959)

Marie,

Operating Services Dept, where I worked, was on the 9th floor. I rode with my dad and got to work 45 minutes before everyone else. I always went straight to my office and went to work. I got off the elevator into a stark black hall, turned on all the lights, unlocked our offices and turned on those lights. Can you imagine how dangerous that would be today?  That was my routine. Anyone with evil intent could have been waiting for me in those dark halls and offices. No way today would I do that. That's sad. 

Dennis Grace (1965)

Does anyone remember Ronnie Mathews?(he is my  cousin)He also worked:retired from there way agter the merger. Both he and wife at the time Suzanne, she was a secretary. He didnt  go to sam, i believe he graduated from reagan. 

Marvin Wright (1969)

Dennis did Ronnie Mathews have a brother named Billy? They were friends and competitive skaters for our competition club. I have wanted to see them for many years but haven't been able to locate them.

Marie Grabow (Pittman) (1959)

Delores,  In today's world, it would be so dangerous to be the first person on the floor of a bldg.  I'm always suspicious of stairways & Shell had the stairs in the middle of bldg.  Hopefully the "elevator ladies" and/or the snack bar owner were there when you went in.  One lady who worked the elevators was very nice & always alerting us of any problems.  The others weren't as protective/alert.  What is amazing, there was no security anywhere inside or outside the bldg at that time.  The nearest security was an officer directing traffic in an intersection on Main.  There were no cell phones or pagers then either.   We were on our own.

 When in mail room, we rotated coming early [6:30] to do 1st mail run and left @ 2/3.  I was very uncomfortable getting off bus on main & walking the block to Shell bldg.  as few people were on the streets at that hour.

It was a different time.  People looked out for each other. There was more respect for others.   I can remember working at Kress' on Monday nights in high school, & staying late to make another hours pay picking up money from cash registers.  When finished, I'd leave by the back door & walk around bldg to Main to stand waiting for bus in front of Kress', everybody who go off @ 9 was gone & there were times I stood by myself waiting for bus.  Thanks for sharing the memories!  Maybe we can make a "memory book":).  Grandkids just can't comprehend the stories we tell them:):).

Judy Maxwell (1971)

Hope everyone has a great week-end. Looks like it will be a good.

Talk to ya next week!

Judy

Dolores Loocke (Ross) (1959)

 Marie,

I don't remember elevator operators. For the most part of my employment,  the elevators were automatic. I do not like elevators and those went really fast. I remember pushing floors 3, 6 and 9, on my journey to the 9th floor,  to slow them down!! 

Marie Grabow (Pittman) (1959)

Delores,  I don't like elavators, heights, or air travel.  The elavators almost kept me from taking the beginner job in mail room at Shell.   With hubby's medical issues, we frequent the medical center & the doctors offices are always on the highest floors [20-22].  I do enjoy seeing the city sky line from up that high.

Enjoy the weekend everyone!  I'm ready for a "very cool front".