A class of their own: 5 celebrate major milestone

Evelyn Kent, Herman Papillion, Sandy Mason, Phillip Jay and Dennis “Duck” Hammons. 

Five names. Five outstanding careers at Phillips 66 and its heritage companies. Each reaching or passing the 50-year mark this year.  

Hammons, a West Region Account Manager for Phillips 66 Lubricants, marked 52 years with the company in June after starting at a Union 76 gas station in Portland. His career has included some memorable treks, such as flying above the Arctic Circle and seeing grizzly bears in Kenai, Alaska. He also sold a lot of products along the way, including bringing two new marketers from zero to more than 1 million gallons per year. 

“I got to go places and do things that I never thought I would,” said Hammons, who played defensive end with the University of Oregon Ducks, leading to his playful moniker. 

Kent, a Maintenance Administrative Assistant at Wood River Refinery, reached her 50-year anniversary in April. She started her career in an era when women were not allowed to drive into the refinery, then owned by Shell. “We had to have somebody come and pick us up at the main gate. It was a man’s world back then,” she said.  

Decades later, Kent said Phillips 66 affords countless opportunities to all its employees, including a good income and friendships that feel like a family. “This is a wonderful place to work. It has been good to me. It has been good to a lot of people,” she said.  

Papillion, a Mechanic and Craftsperson at the Los Angeles Terminal, will reach his 50-year anniversary on August 16. His various roles at the company include a stint driving petroleum barrel trucks and rolling containers weighing about 450 pounds.  

“I wouldn’t change a single day,” he said. “I learned a lot from every year and every job.” 

Jay started working at Phillips 66 in Bartlesville as a utility man after serving in the Army, including more than a year in South Korea near the Demilitarized Zone. He worked for five decades in several roles, including as a mechanical pipefitter, before retiring in May. 

“Fifty years is a long time. But for me, it does not seem like a long time,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of fun. I’ve done a lot of work. I’ve seen a lot of things.”  

Mason, who helps run the Phillips Petroleum Company Museum after a career in various technology-related jobs, completed 54 years with the company in January.  

As a divorced mother of three children, she said her job provided her family with many opportunities, such as her daughter receiving a Phillips 66 college scholarship. 

“I am loyal to this brand. It sustained me and my children,” she said. “I don’t even want to think of where I’d be if I hadn’t gone to work for Phillips.”  

Meet the Fabulous Five

Herman Papillion: ‘You can go as high and as far as you want to go’

Evelyn Kent: ‘Come to work with an open mind’

Dennis ‘Duck’ Hammons: ‘My word is my bond’

Sandy Mason: ‘If it’s a challenge, I like it’

Phillip Jay: ‘Get involved with your community’