Reunion in Borger

For our 60th Phillips High School Reunion my first-grade fiend, Marjo Hettick van Patten of Kettering Ohio, picked me up at my cousin Julia’s in Amarillo. On the 50-mile trip to Borger, we saw a historical marker for the Dixon Creek Ranch, part of the 6666 Ranch, where our family had lived the year I turned four.

Joel remembers it as a camp of about 15 houses around a natural gas well. My father was the superintendent of that camp and kept the gas flowing. In the summer of 1949 we moved about 10 miles north to Phillips, where a sign stated that the population was 4,105–very exciting after that tiny camp! We lived at 312 Riney Drive, a 676 square-foot house identical to most of the other houses in the town. It had a small yard with the neighborhood incinerator at the back fence.

Soon I got acquainted with the neighbors. Across the street were the Browns, the Whites, the Greens, and then another family named White, the Akers and the Stokes. Next door were the Rogers on the left and the Hills and the Wakefields on the right. Next was a driveway to a group of one-car tin garages. I found lots of kids to play with and parents who watched out for us (except some dads worked night shifts and slept during the day). We played a lot outdoors; I loved the freedom we had to roller skate on the sidewalks, walk or bike to the park, explore the canyons, and form our own play groups.

When my brothers, Joel and Harry Kirkpatrick, entered 8th and 7th grades in September 1949, I started morning kindergarten with Mrs. McCarroll at the Phillips Methodist Church. My mother enrolled in courses at Frank Phillips Junior College in Borger to earn credits for her long-delayed bachelor’s degree. She took me along with her to her weekly afternoon biology lab. Completing her courses at West Texas State College, Mom graduated in 1954, the same year Joel graduated from Phillips High School.

The teachers I had in Phillips were outstanding. I played flute in the band, accompanied instrumental soloists, and edited HawkTalk, the school newspaper. After getting married on June 11, 1966, I never lived in Phillips again. My parents sold their house in 1967 and built a new house on the farm in Flower Mound TX, that my Dad and his brother Tom had inherited. I loved the class reunions I attended in 1982, 1997, 2002, 2007, 2012 and this year, 2022.

After an explosion at the refinery in 1980 that shattered most of the windows in town, residents began to move their houses from the land the Company leased to lots they bought in Borger, Bunavista or Fritch. Phillips is now a ghost town and the school has been torn down. The refinery is still active, but is fenced off and not open to casual visitors. When my brothers and I attended school there, it was a very special place, generously supported by the Phillips Petroleum Company. Close friendships formed there are still an important part of my life.

At the 2022 all-school Reunion on Friday night, I met Don Ham, class of 1953, who practiced law in Amarillo and was a great help in settling my mother’s estate, and Morris Creel, a member of my brother Harry’s class of ’55 and son of assistant band director Ada Creel. Mo and his wife live in Georgetown TX and came to the 75th birthday party I hosted for Joel near Dallas in 2011. Here I am with Don and “Mo” and his wife, Joy.

There were likely 150 or more kids who belonged to our class at some time from first through twelfth grades; the Company transferred employees in and out. Mary Anne Svetlik moved to Akron OH after fifth grade, but has attended two reunions. Marjo moved to Bartlesville OK after 10th grade, but feels that Phillips is her real home.

Tommy Birch, long-time Alumni Association president, and Marjo, who served fifteen years as webmaster of phillipsblackhawks.com, have a list of 76 current addresses for our class; 42 are reported deceased. I remember that 77 of us graduated on May 24, 1962.  Here I am with Mary Anne, Marjo, Virginia Pirtle Malicoat ’63, and Ray L. Robbins, class member and son of Phillips Band Director Ray Robbins. Marjo, Mary Anne, Ray and I began band in fifth grade.

Virginia Pirtle Malicoat, class of 1963, brought me a copy of Stained Glass and Railroad Tracks, the book she wrote and published in 2017. It’s a wonderful book (available on Amazon) about growing up in Phillips in the 1950s. She said that she appreciated my kind words when it first came out. I’m re-reading it now and determined  to write my own book soon. I talked to many fellow alumni who agreed that Phillips was a unique, safe, and encouraging place to grow up. Some may think the company’s role paternalistic, but it had many benefits for us–low taxes and virtually free health care.

On Saturday morning some 300 alumni from the 50s through the 80s met at West Texas High School in Stinnett. Seven women and six men from our class showed up, though some left before we could get a more formal portrait.

After remembering alumni who had died since the last Reunion in 2019, we studied a 38-question test about Phillips. Working together, Marjo and I won second prize, $80, which we applied to refreshments for that evening’s gathering. Sample questions with answers:  Who was the owner and manager of Cut-Rate Grocery? Frank Badeen. What was the Music Makers theme song? “In the Mood.” How many days did the Phillips Free Fair run? Four. The Phillips fight song’s melody was taken from what famous Sousa march? Stars and Stripes Forever! At the end,. we all stood and sang

After a delicious barbecue lunch, we visited the Phillips Heritage Center in Stinnett to see beloved artifacts.

• Martha Crupper Aderholt and Keith Aderholt have been married 60 years and have ten great grandchildren who live near them in Arlington TX. Keith is retired as a builder; his son continues that profession.
• Ray L Robbins joined Edward Jones in 1971 when it had only 200 employees. It now has 50,000. He lives in Chesterfield MO and also has a place in Austin TX. He is recovering from a stroke last May and enjoys promoting women’s golf at the University of Missouri.
• Harvey Hilbert worked for the Phillips Petroleum Company for 35 years in Borger. He and his late wife, Sandra, owned H & H Printing Company in Borger. After Sandra died in 2021, Harvey moved to Amarillo.
• Ron Rounsaville is an accomplished painter after an international career with Exxon. He and his wife Joan ’63, who was with him, live in a house he designed in Sugarland TX. Be sure to read in the photo album his account of the 1962 wheat harvest he did with Stephen Allen and two other PHS grads.

• Joana Garner Rash came from her home in Syracuse, Kansas, with her sister Rose. She told us about many jobs she had had there and that she still loves working part-time for the US Postal Service. She enjoys piecing quilt tops.
• Diane May Powell, like Martha and Keith Aderholt, had her first child at 19. After the Reunion, she sent this update from her home in Midland TX: “My husband, Jim, and I were married 58 years before his passing in 2020. We have a daughter and son, five grandchildren, and eight great grandchildren. I worked for El Paso Natural Gas and then retired after 26 years from Atmos Energy. After retirement I have enjoyed delivering Meals on Wheels at least twice a week, playing cards with friends and just keeping busy.”
• Marjo Hettick van Patten, uprooted after 10th grade, when her father was transferred to Bartlesville, regards PHS as HOME. Being webmaster for phillipsblackhawks.com for the last 15 years has allowed her to revisit and ponder her Phillips experience. A retired reference librarian, she has two sons and three grandchildren, and travels widely.
• Mary Anne Svetlik, eldest of five siblings in her family, moved to Akron OH after fifth grade, but still treasures the time she had with us. She earned a PhD in Hospital Administration and retired as a Colonel in the US Army. In 2010, thirty years after first meeting him, she married Anton Blieberger, a Lt. Colonel in the Army. They live in San Antonio.
• Martha Kirkpatrick Smith, taught piano in Arlington, Virginia for 35 years and now lives in Boynton Beach, Florida, with her husband Steve, who graduated from Permian High School in Odessa. They met at Rice University in Houston and married in 1966. They have two daughters, a son, and five grandchildren. (see About Martha on this blog).

It was nice to have spouses Joan Sellinger Rounsaville ’63 and Tony Blieberger with us that evening, as well as Tommy Birch and his sister, Karen Birch Demings. Tommy is the one who keeps our Alumni Association going! That evening I read the names of 42 classmates that have died since 1961 and shared messages sent recently by Elbert Brown, Carolyn Moore Rhea, Billy Don Briscoe, Sandra Roscoe Stiles, Louise Hill Chester, and Linda Lookadoo. We especially missed Billy Don Briscoe, who had a conflict that night. We passed out copies of four books that he has written. You can learn more at billbriscoe.com. 

I invite you to view the Class of ’62 photo album I assembled for those who could not attend and here is my Hometown Poem I wrote and read that night. I feel very blessed to have taken part in this Reunion.