| Chevron Retirees Association Metropolitan Houston Chapter |
Member Spotlight
Evelyn & Mike Kassey
Our “Hostess with the Mostest”, Evelyn Kassey (pictured with her husband, Mike at the Texans-Steelers game in 
2023), “re-retired” from the MHC Board of Directors at the end of 2022 after many years of service on the Neighborhood Luncheon Committee to devote more time to family and honing her Bunco and pinochle skills! Many of you know Evelyn and Mike as they cheerfully greeted our many Neighborhood Luncheon attendees over the past few years and made you feel “at-home”.
Evelyn continues her volunteer work as President of the local Texaco retirees social group that meets semi-annually at Kelly’s Restaurant in Stafford.
Her husband, Mike, is an officer of the Greatwood Oil Retirees Group. This is a social club of ~18 oil company retirees from various companies (Shell, Unocal, Transco, Exxon) that meet for dinner monthly. Evelyn has been a member of this group for ~28 years. Mike keeps membership records for this group.
Mike is also a member of Hermann Sons Life – Hermann Sons Life - Texas Life Insurance San Antonio | Hermann Sons Life . This is a 109-year-old fraternal benefit society with a lodge system that provides for the payment of life insurance and benefits to their members and their communities.
Mike and Evelyn previously supported the Channel 13 Food Drive for Fort Bend County. Their Loaves and Fishes drive provides sandwiches for kids during the summer. They also work with the Lions Club and the Veterans Administration. Donations go to the ROSENBERG RICHMOND HELPING HANDS – Food & Clothing Pantry serving West Fort Bend County (roserichhelpinghands.org). This is a group of ~40 people that meet every other month. Mike is an officer and handles the finances.
Mike is also a member of the Knights of Columbus in Pearland.
Bob Joyce
If you are interested in joining HGA, go to https://groundangels.org/, followed by “VOLUNTEER”, and “PLEASE JOIN US”. If you have any questions about HGA, please contact Bob Joyce (shown left), an MHC member and Chevron retiree, and previously an attorney in the Major Capital Projects group, at either po3oka@gmail.com or (281) 446-1909. |
Houston Ground Angels
If you volunteer for HGA, you are not held to any fixed schedule.John Wolff
In the 2022-23 school year, the Museum offered half-day programs for Houston Independent Scholl District (HISD) fourth graders and second graders. The program typically included a Planetarium Show, a 50-minute tour of at least two Halls using docents like me and a Lab in the Lower Level of the Museum taught by a HISD teacher on staff. It ends up being a busy morning. On some tours, kids are engaged and ask good questions while others prove challenging when kids are inattentive or distracted. I have found that the volunteer library, training classes and on-line materials helped me get comfortable in my role. The book club with interesting books is also a big plus. In the last school year, 12,509 HISD students participated in the program, as well as 1,740 teachers and chaperones. Almost 90% of the HISD schools had classes visit for this program. I hope we get all the schools to participate in the upcoming school year.
I also provide tours to the Weiss Energy Hall and help provide background information on the energy business, drawing on the wide array of exhibits in that Hall. Many Houston firms have sought tours for their summer interns and new hires. In the pre-Pandemic year of 2019, there were 219 docent-led tours in the Weiss Energy Hall for 8,542 patrons. Many Chevron retirees probably benefited from their understanding of science and may wish to help others learn more. The docent program seeks individuals with an undergraduate technical degree. To become a docent, there is a screening procedure and a well-structured training program. Once badged as a docent, there are additional opportunities to help at the Museum. Best of all, docents can visit the Museum for free if they volunteer regularly. Of course, the Museum is air-conditioned, which is most appreciated in Houston’s hot summers! You can find out more about the volunteer process at https://www.hmns.org/support-hmns/volunteer/. The Museum is at 5555 Hermann Park Dr, Houston, TX 77030 if you just want to visit. If you’d like to schedule a tour, just call the Museum at: 713-639-4629. More information may be found at www.hmns.org. |
MHC Member John Wolff worked in Chevron’s natural gas midstream business area from 2006 to 2018, assessing international natural gas markets and tracking global LNG supply and demand issues as our Gorgon and Wheatstone projects advanced.
In the 2022-23 School year, I served as one of the HISD Chairs to help coordinate the docent assignments for tours on most school days.Jay Morris
Jay Morris retired in 2020 after 38 years with Chevron. Jay was looking for a way to give back to the community, when his wife Lynn asked if he would help with Faithful Paws Pet Therapy. In 2017, while Jay was working on rotation in Kazakhstan, his wife, Lynn Morris, also a former Chevron employee, joined Faithful Paws Pet Therapy in Houston. Faithful Paws was founded in 1997 with a mission to spread “Unconditional Love” through pet therapy. The organization started with six members and by 2020 it had grown to 150 members with their dogs, rabbits and cats. The members visit schools, hospitals, senior living centers, hospice, rehab centers, prisons, and universities. The members and their pets go through their in-house developed five-week training program, that focuses on Canine Good Citizenship and the expected behaviors on a therapy visit. At the end of training, they are a Pet Therapy Team certified by the American Kennel Club. Their web site is Home | Faithful Paws Pet Therapy (faithfulpawshouston.org) and on Facebook Faithful Paws Facebook.
Lynn became the Administrator of Faithful Paws, managing memberships and visits, in 2019. In 2020, as the pandemic ramped up, Faithful Paws could no longer visit its 100+ facilities. But that did not last long. Towards the end of 2020, facilities started asking Faithful Paws to return. As the number of requests grew, Lynn asked Jay if he would help with a few things. Being recently retired, Jay said “Sure!”
Jay became the Facilities Coordinator for Faithful Paws, which entails matching facilities requesting visits with volunteers and working out the logistics of the visit. Jay and Lynn have completed over 450 visits with their dogs, Presto and Kyrie (shown at right). In 2022, Faithful Paws interacted with over 10,000 people in the Houston Area. In 2023, that grew to over 15,000 people.
The Faithful Paws Executive Director retired in 2023 and asked Lynn and Jay, along with another member, to take over the organization, and make it a stand-alone entity. The parent organization endorsed the change, and in 2023 Faithful Paws became a stand-alone non-profit 501(c)3 organization. Lynn became the Executive Director, while Jay was named to the BOD, became Treasurer, and remained the Facilities Coordinator.
While helping run the “back room,” Jay continues to go on visits with Presto. KPRC-TV Channel 2 in Houston did a feature on Faithful Paws discussing the work it does at the Childrens Museum of Houston on Sensory Friendly Days, when our members work with autistic children. The KPRC feature can be seen in this video: Sensory Friendly Days at Children's Museum Houston (click2houston.com). Jay and Lynn are in the video with their dogs, Presto and Kyrie, and other members of Faithful Paws.
Here are a couple testimonials:
- From a member: Visiting a special education class at an elementary school, one boy who was non-verbal, always wanted to pet my dog, but just couldn’t quite do it. One day as I entered the room, he shouted out my dog’s name. His teachers were in disbelief. He spoke and said “Buddy!”. On that day, he even walked Buddy around the room. The teachers took pictures and shared them with his parents. This is a testament to how animals can unlock some strong doors.
- From a member: A few of us were in the stroke unit visiting a patient that had recently had a stroke and hadn’t spoken since. After a little while there, she whispered her first words. We were shocked, and her adult children were shocked. It’s amazing how we always end up where we are the most needed.
George Treibel
We thought that our members might be a little curious as to how George created these wonderful mementos, so this article will provide some background. George earned a BS in Commercial Art at Lamar State College of Technology (now Lamar University) in Beaumont, Texas, in 1966. After graduating from Lamar, George served in the US Navy and in Vietnam. During his career with Gulf Oil and Chevron, he coordinated the paint, decal, sign and spanner work to support the transition from Gulf to Chevron service stations in three states.
People who wear glasses present a challenge, since the wood all needs to be connected. Otherwise, the portrait can simply fall apart. If that happens, or a mistake is made during sawing, the entire process (which typically takes a day-and-a-half) needs to be restarted from scratch.
Once the scroll saw work is complete, the wooden portrait is glued to a sheet of black construction paper to provide contrast to the lighter birch. The portrait is then mounted in an antique wooden frame. The result provides a 3-D effect that is stunning. See the photos of Maya Pendleton (who previously served as MHC Scholarship Chair and Ex-Officio BOD member) and her wooden portrait. George is an active volunteer for many organizations, including the American Legion, Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo and the National Association of Destroyer Veterans. George has also faithfully served on the MHC Board of Directors for 12 years, with seven of those as Vice President. To recognize his service to our Chapter and thank him for creating these wonderful works of art, George was presented with one of the inaugural MHC President’s Awards at the 2022 MHC Holiday Event. |
Attendees at our 2022 Holiday Event were treated to several unique presentations courtesy of our retiring Vice President, George Treibel, shown at right.
Over the years, George has merged his talents in art and woodworking.
If you’d like to share your volunteer story with your fellow retirees, please e-mail us at: |