Reunions Abound 10 Recalling the Road Less Traveled 16 The Wide World of Warren Boudreaux ...

36 Pages·2013·31.74 MB·English

PLEASANT DAYS FALL 2013 THE MAGAZINE FTOHRE SMAAUGDAI ZAIRNAEM FCOOR RREETTIRIREEESD WAORARLMDCWOINDSE
Reunions Abound 10
Recalling the Road Less Traveled 16
The Wide World of Warren Boudreaux 18
Rogue and Rider—A Tale of Two Spirits 22
C O N T E N T S
DEPARTMENTS 2 MAIL CENTER 6 MOSAIC 30 IN MEMORIAM
10
Reunions Abound
Aramco offspring joyfully reunited this
spring and summer:The Aramco
Brats held their 14th reunion in
Tucson, Ariz., in May; and a number
of Aramcons who attended the
AmericanCommunitySchool (ACS) in
Beirut met inSanDiego,Calif., in July.
Right (l-r): WendyNine (DH’68), Kevin
Haug (AB’68),CrystalRiley-Brennan and
KimberleyCraver-Hammond (DH’70), and
Osama Mikhail (DH’61) relax at theBrats
Reunion.Far right, ACS students pose on
the tarmac on a trip to Jerusalem in 1952.
Aramco students includeBillTracy and
JerrySmith, front row, third from right and
far right, and Monroe Pastermack, back
row, ninth from right in jacket and tie.
16
Recalling the
Road Less
Traveled
A young MaryGillis took her first steps
along the road less traveled—fromNew
York toDhahran—55 years ago this
November.She retraces her journey and
that of a still-young company, describing
discoveries in the place that would
become her home for 30 years.The
author (shown boarding a donkey at the
November 1959Dhahran “CountyFair”)
is deeply grateful she followed that road.
Borrowing a phrase fromRobertFrost’s
famous poem, she says, “And that has
made all the difference.”
Cover:Like a modern-day Pied Piper, Kinda Hibrawi greets children atCamp Zeitouna in northernSyria. Her project is one of three involving individuals with company
connections that are profiled in “ChangingLives,One at aTime.” Photograph by MohammedOjjeh.
Al~Ayyam Al~Jamilah ADDRESS CORRESPONDENCE TO PRESIDENT Nabeel M. Amudi
“PleasantDays,” is produced for annuitants, TheEditor, Al-Ayyam Al-Jamilah DIRECTOR, PUBLIC AFFAIRSDEPARTMENTAli M. Al Mutairi
families and friends of Aramco, nowSaudi AramcoServicesCompany and Aramco
EDITOR ArthurClark
Aramco, and its associated companies OverseasCompany, P.O.Box 2106
by AramcoServicesCompany. Houston,TX 77252-2106 DESIGNGraphicEngineDesign
FALL 2013. ISSN-1319-1512 [email protected]
A
M):ANT
OB
GHORI; OPPOSITE, TOP LEFT (BOTTRT SEAL; BOTTOM RIGHT: ROBERT 1TW8hoer lWd oidfe Warren
Y AMJAD M LEFT: BE Boudreaux
OTTOM: COURTESUG BRICE; BOTTO Wwclohavererrese,n ”“ Btphoreuio dwr rtheoao ujloex i nissialnailnged dA strmoam eZlacleond za ibosafr,
BO an English teacher at the Ras Tanura
TIME.COM, OURTESY D Itnradvueslterdia ml Turacihn ifnagr tCheern atenrd i nw 1id9e5r9 a. tHe
©SVOTEC/DREAMSUR CLARK, (TOP) C Anbanoyra dwpm lh avcenios eir te,ae cnbdado lml asat ofh,t riteesrr a p thihneear a enrnge 1drtii7nr oe0adn tc i oihonnou 1srn s9wter8biie1tahs.c, Hkth,ee’s
TOP: ARTH pleasure of a connoisseur.
24
Changing Lives,
22
One at a Time
Rogue and Rider
Banker Amjad Ghori, pictured
—A Tale of with children from Aziza’s Place
as they frolic at a water park in
Two Spirits
Phnom Penh, has something
in common with artist Kinda
In 1984, eleven-year-old Angelique Hibrawi and photographer
Banta befriended an injured pony Wendy Levine. All three are the
named Rogue at the Abqaiq Stables. children of company retirees
Rogue and rider, both novices, quickly and each has undertaken
became a prizewinning team. Robert a personal project—in
Banta, Angelique’s dad, watched Cambodia, Syria and Uganda,
them interact with surprise and satis- respectively—to help those
faction, while making new friends at whose prospects otherwise
the stables: René and Scrabbit. look bleak.
Find Us on the Web
To view the current issue and archived issues of Al-Ayyam Al-Jamilah dating back
to 1956, go to: www.aramcoservices.com Publications Al-Ayyam Al-Jamilah.
M A I L C E N T E R
‘Aramco Did
share his experience on how to better
Itself Proud’ enable museums to become fiscally
self-sufficient. I accompanied him on
March 4, 2013 this trip to England….
The writer, who is 95, receivesAl-Ayyam “With Roger, I met many distinguished
Al-Jamilah because she formed Aramco links scientists and world leaders—the Aga
during her time in Jiddah—1952-53 when Khan, Thor Heyerdahl, Dr. Stephen S.
her husband was with the U.S. Agency for Gould, the last queen of Egypt and your
International Development and 1968-72 Sir David Attenborough. But 74 years
when she worked for the U.S. Geological ago, two little girls smiled at each other
Survey. Last fall, she sent the “first half” of in front of Buckingham Palace—a special
her memoirs about her years in Saudi Arabia, moment I will never forget.
Liberia and Iraq. This spring, she wrote that On Jan. 3, Queen Elizabeth’s lady-
old age would prevent her from complet- in-waiting thanked her for her letter,
ing her work. Here’s what she said about Elinor Nichols publishedTrue Tales from apologizing for being late to reply
Aramco, from her time in Jiddah in the ‘50s. Jungle Indialast year. To it, she could “because of the enormous number of
append a story about meeting Princess letters, cards and messages received
The Fourth of July Celebration was Elizabeth in London in 1938. by The Queen on the occasion of her
just that. A real celebration. Aramco Diamond Jubilee.” She wrote:
had flown in fireworks. All the people NOTE: Elinor Nichols wrote to Queen “Her Majesty greatly appreciated
gathered on the edge of the Red Sea. Elizabeth II in September 2012 to remark your kind thought in writing as you did
The sky was completely dark except on their meeting nearly three-quarters of and was interested to hear about your
for stars, with no city lights. When it a century earlier. In January, she received life and your fond recollections from all
was time to start the fireworks, all our reply. She had shared memories of visiting those years ago….”
flashlights were extinguished. London en route to America from India,
It was spectacular to watch the where her father was a missionary, on her
Dining Out in Riyadh
fireworks go out over the Red Sea…. family’s “once-in-seven-years” furlough.
Aramco did itself proud with the display She wrote: “My memories of that trip March 18, 2013 AIS
offered that night. Everyone “oh’d” and [in 1938] when I was 11 and you were OB
D
“ah’d” and clapped. It was so much fun. 12 … are still vivid. When we heard that Recently, we dined with a lady who said AL-
Y.
The final display was placed in a the little princesses would be leaving one she and her husband were in Riyadh A
rowboat and pushed out into the water afternoon to a birthday party, we waited around the late ‘50s. He was either DULL
B
A
and lit. As it got started, the small in front of Buckingham Palace hoping to military or a diplomat and they were E,
T
waves and the wind kept pushing the catch a glimpse of you. Shortly you ap- OSI
P
boat ashore. Finally, someone got a peared in a grand, horse-drawn carriage Riyadh, whose bustling city center OP
rope on the boat and tugged it out into waving your white-gloved hands at the consisted of mudbrick buildings in ERS;
1949, is now a metropolis built of ALT
the water out of harm’s way. crowd. As you drove past us our eyes met W
To me, fireworks in the city have and we exchanged smiles. It was a magi- cboyn tchree tnee, astrelye l1 a,0n0d0 -gfloaosts- thaigll hKliignhgtdeodm W, T.F.
never been the same or as good. cal moment…. Tower (below, right). ELO
B
Phyllis K. Kennedy “You became queen
1174 Matador St. of England. I married a
Abilene, TX 79605 hardworking Iowa farm
lad [Roger Nichols, an
employee who led the
Royal
Aramco-Harvard cam-
Correspondence paign to eradicate tra-
choma from 1957-70];
March 16, 2013 we struggled together to
Here are some assorted articles and put him through medical
items, including a letter-exchange with school. He moved on
Queen Elizabeth that delighted me. My to become a depart-
memoirs have been self-published…. It ment head at Harvard
has been fun sharing it with family and and then director and
friends all over the world, including an president of Boston’s
Indian missionary doctor in one of our Museum of Science.
original hospitals out in the jungle. “He was serving in
Elinor P. Nichols this capacity when Your
140 Lincoln Rd., #3 Majesty’s government
Lincoln, MA 01773 invited him in 1987 to
2 FALL 2013 Al~Ayyam Al~Jamilah
“chaperoned” by one of the princes. 1977-90 and would enjoy keeping up
She could not remember his name. Her with friends through your publication.
husband has been dead for some time. We have relatives who receive it and
She couldn’t believe me when I have recommended it to us….
informed her that Riyadh now has a We look forward to receiving your
skyscraper and I had seen a picture publication and the many memories it
of it in the last year. Embarrassingly, will give us.
I can’t find the resource. It would be Martin Pfotenhauer
nice to show her a circa 1950’s view 2108 20th Ave. NW
plus a 2010 view. Any possibility you Aberdeen, SD 57401
can help me?
John Hodge
Shard ‘Painter’
8040 Frankford Road #222
Dallas, TX 75287 Remembered
May 7, 2013
Dhahran Arrival:
I have just received the Spring 2013
1948 Syed Zamir Hassan arrives in Dhahran, issue of Al-Ayyam Al-Jamilah with the
Aramco bag in hand, in 1948.
“Mail Center” artifacts story of glass
May 6, 2013
in the Transportation and Traffic Dept. shards, shells, etc. The picture of this
I wanted to share a photo of my father He transferred to the Product Distribu- hung on wall at Peg and Fred Lucas’s
Syed Zamir Hassan arriving in Dhahran tion Dept., under W. S. Kelly, in 1950, home; she had made two of them.
in 1948. Notice the giant Aramco bag and he and Kelly moved to Petromin Their home in Winchester, Tenn.,
in his hand? in 1959. He retired from the Arab was like going into … a picture, with
I was born in 1972, after my dad’s Petroleum Investments Corp. in 1990. jewelry and the like all from Arabia.
service with Aramco, but have wonder- Now 84, he and his wife live near Rima She and Fred were dear friends of
ful memories of attending the Annual in Washington, D.C. “To this day, my ours in Dhahran.
Fair at Aramco. Now I live in Wash- father regrets leaving Aramco,” she I have one of her paintings ... of
ington, D.C., and work for the Saudi wrote. “He says his best days in a work an eagle with wings made from glass
Embassy as an information officer. environment were at Aramco.” bracelets, broken pottery etc., and a
Rima Hassan picture of an Arab man.
[email protected] Gloria W. Gentry
The Joy of Keeping Up
403 Churchill Ct.
NOTE: Rima Hassan also sent a photo May 6, 2013 Smyrna, TN 37167
of her father posing by the family’s
Opel Kadett in 1966. (This was his I’m writing to request that you place NOTE: See related letter, “More Peg
second car. His first, a Dodge he my name on your list of subscribers Lucas Art,” on page 4.
bought in Dhahran, cost $8!) Aramco toAl-Ayyam Al-Jamilah. I was an em-
recruited him in India in 1948 to work ployee with Aramco in Dhahran from
Bumping into
Old Friends
May 12, 2013
What a great magazine…. It’s remark-
able. I might bump into someone I
remember on the very next page!
I shall drop Marie [Degnan] a line
and see how she is. We were in the
Photolab for a long time together.
She was a nice lady.
Adrian Waine
16 Humber Road, Great Sutton
Ellesmere Port
Cheshire
CH66 2SH
England
www.photographyforindustry.com
[email protected]
3
for Aramco in Smith and the late Dr. Cecil Smith,
Houston from who retired 1981, sent a picture of
1983-86. Then another piece of Lucas’s art. Her sister
for the U.N. Sarah had been in touch earlier to
Development discuss how to donate pen-and-ink
Program and artworks from the Eastern Province to
the govern- the King Abdulaziz Center for World
ment of Culture in Dhahran. Because of the
Botswana as archeological nature of Lucas’s work,
an oil and gas advisor in southern Africa the Saudi Commission of Tourism and
until 2005. I am 83 years and enjoy my Antiquities in Riyadh asked to receive
life here in Norway…. Lucas’s artwork.
My hobby is making tin soldiers,
teaching schoolchildren to make them,
etc. I have 650 different forms.
Bernhard Morse
nesvegen 473
1514 moss
Norway
[email protected]
NOTE: Bernhard Morse joined Caltex
in 1960, began working in Bahrain in
1962 and transferred to Aramco in
1967. When the Project Management
Dept. was established in 1974, he was
among five project managers. In 1983,
he joined a group in Houston working
to reduce spare-parts inventories.
Bernhard Morse and an “elf” helper
In a letter toToy Soldier & Model
prepare to cast tin soldiers at a recent
holiday fair in Oslo. He received his Figure magazine in 2013, Morse wrote
first casting set for Christmas in 1938. about his hobby: “What I cast … are
children’s play toys, not figures to set
Tunnel Invitation in a cabinet. For little money, they
Stewart Booth
can create a tin army. If a figure gets
May 12, 2013
broken, they know that I will repair or Photo Query
Adrian Waine shared this message, replace it.”
May 14, 2013
received in response to his letter in
the Spring 2013 issue ofAl-Ayyam … My father was an electrical engineer
More Peg Lucas Art
Al-Jamilah. and worked for Aramco from the early
May 13, 2013 1950s until his retirement, but (aside
I have read about from business trips to Saudi Arabia et
your industrial photo We have a framed horse made from al.) was always based in The Hague. My
work … and your broken bangle and pottery pieces brother and I grew up in Holland.
desire to photograph found in the desert and made by our If you ever come across a photo that
tunnels. Since you friend Peg Lucas in Dhahran, probably happens to include our father Stewart
photographed one in the early ‘60s. I’ll ask my mom if she F. Booth, we would love to have access
of our tankers—The remembers more specifically when she to it.
Jahre Viking—why did the work. Cathy Baudar
not photograph Suzanne Dejong [email protected]
one of our tunnels? [email protected]
Norway has the most
Wedding Story a Hit
operating tunnels in NOTE: The Spring issue ofAl-Ayyam
the world and many Al-Jamilah ran a letter from Dr. Robert May 23, 2013
new under construction. Some are Pokorney about a 1965 Peg Lucas art-
very unique. work made from shells, glass shards Thanks immensely for the bold feature
I worked in Bahrain and Arabia from and pieces of ancient bracelets. of Didi’s wedding in the latest edition
1962 until 1977 and as a consultant Suzanne DeJong, daughter of Dorcas of the magazine. I can’t wait to see his
K
T
4 FALL 2013 Al~Ayyam Al~Jamilah
J
ungers said Aramco had an
face when he sees it on Sunday. (We’re that the Davises had embarked “on the exceptional cross-cultural
heritage, enabling the company
to grow with the kingdom. “It
all staying at a farm in Kent for a whole ship of matrimony” March 26 in Beirut.) started from zero and moved
up to where it is today,” Jungers said of the
enterprise, by bringing Americans and
week starting on Saturday!) Bob retired in 1972 and died in 1999, Saudis together under one hat.
The North Dakota native joined
Aramco in San Francisco in 1947, moved
Chika Udezue and Betty recently donated his photo to Ras Tanura two years later and served as
CEO from 1973-77, retiring the next year.
[email protected] collection to the King Abdulaziz Center Obenr sD oefc S. a9u, dhie A srpaomkec ot’os Acecncteelre rsatatefdf aTnrda nms-em-
formation Program (ATP) Youth Leader
for World Culture in Dhahran. Aabdovuisto hriys Bcaoraeredr (aYnLdA eBm)p, hshaasirziningg t thhoeu cgohmts-
pany’s good links with Riyadh.
“We had a good relationship with the
government,” said the sprightly 86-year-old,
Tapliner: ‘It’s Been the last living American CEO. “We were
respected, as you are today.”
But Jungers also said Aramco had to work
A Long Time’ ‘Small World Story’ Jungers Reveals hina rthde t oU ncoitnevdi nSctaet eitss tfoo uurn sdheartraekheo lsdoemr ceo lamnpda-nies
Secrets Success mora troko p dreomjecatnsd tihnegy f coor nmsiadnearegde mtoeon te xtop ehnasnivdele.
Fortune magazine called his job “one of the
June 10, 2013 June 13, 2013 CCaarrrrin oottss 1pm9ho7ass3t Je dusoe niollig fcee atmrthsebe wp aMorasgsaio tsCi,ot eEpnrOrs eGi snaai dtas el tlSdh iy neos dttveuiemmsrt er tay ho.n”efd fit horesvter-
saw the establishment of the Saudi Consoli-
This is not exactly a voice from beyond Small world story of interest: My daugh- dated Electric Company (SCECO) in the
Eastern Province—the template for today’s
the grave, but it has been a long time. ter Renell’s son, Logan Bourne, who has
I finally found the … photos I lost been to Saudi Arabia and met many
KKIINNGGSS
when I sent the other Aramco photos Aramcons and enjoyed thrilling days
… along with several others for friends, of experiencing the dunes, Half Moon
filed among the recipes. Bay, al-Khobar, etc., has been in Detroit conversation
Betty Davis temporarily, and has worked this week By Arthur Clark
1923 E. Joyce Blvd., #220 on the new Aramco Services Company
Frank Jungers, the CEO who guided Aramco
Fayetteville, AR 72703 Research Center building in nearby Novi, through its most transformative period, returned
to Dhahran late last year and discussed topics
[email protected] Mich. He is hoping to witness the arrival ranging from carrots to kings at the inaugural ABOVE: Frank Jungers when he was named
of Saudi Aramco President and CEO InteKrignegn Aebradtuiolanzailz D Cieanlotgeru efo irn W thoer lodffi Ccueltsu oref .the MTIgneOtaneiPrnegrt:eae Jnln useanurnagpcteeeiror sSin npuatople nDpndlidyaeel roinnsg t a 1uo 9eqf5 u iEn9en .sDgtihionaneh earartin nt hglae ta einn ldaaustg yueraalr.
NOTE: Betty Gosfield joined Aramco Khalid Al-Falih and other Saudis….
‘Carrots to Kings’
in 1963, met Robert Davis in Dhahran I’m watching theDetroit Free Press
and they married in 1965 after he for news on the opening of the research Was Tasty
joined Tapline. (The April 1965 issue of center, one of the three new ones
Tapline’sPipeline Periscope remarked mentioned. June 24, 2013
Bev Swartz Let me congratulate you for “Car-
c/o Carter Swartz II rots to Kings.” The essay improved
5348 Huntingwood Ct and increased my knowledge about
Sarasota, FL 34235 Aramco, SCECO and the character
and behavior of Frank Jungers, the
NOTE:Bev Swartz, who kept in close then-CEO, toward Aramco and the
touch withAl-Ayyam Al-Jamilah, died company’s Saudi employees.
July 13 and this was her last correspon- Shahid Husain
dence. ASC’s research center in Novi, 755-Zaidi Society
Mich., opened in July. Its focus is on Meerut (U.P.) 250002
carbon capture from mobile sources India
and fuel-technology research, as well [email protected]
as research on fuel and engine devel-
opment. Other ASC research centers
Time Marches On
are being established in Houston,
Texas, and Cambridge, Mass. June 24, 2013
Bev loved exploring the Saudi
countryside, where she discovered a Thank you for sending meAl-Ayyam
number of archeological objects. On Al-Jamilah for so many years; I enjoyed
July 11, her son Carter II wrote to say receiving it because I recognized most
that he had visited “Roads of Arabia,” of the people. But now, at age 89, I do
an exhibition of ancient artifacts from not recognize anyone! So please save
the kingdom, in Pittsburgh, Penn. “One yourself the effort and cost of sending
of her last wishes was that one of us me any more copies.
would be able to visit the exhibit while Best wishes to all the Aramcons!
it is in the States,” he noted. “She was I have very fond memories of all the
thrilled when I brought her the exhibi- years I spent in Saudi Arabia.
Robert H. Davies takes a coffee break, tion book.” Mary Baumgartner
probably in the mid-1950s. He worked 3510 Bahia Blanca
first for Aramco and joined Tapline in
W Unit 2G
the 1960s, becoming manager of
Laguna Woods, CA 92637-2959
Industrial Relations.
5
M O S A I C
Former Aramcon ‘Thrilled’ by Kenya Sponsorship Success
F
ormer Aramcon Alice Hastings-James, year. “Thanks to you, I saw reason to con- help needy children and said she hoped
executive director of Kenya Scholarship tinue ‘cause oftentimes I would pity myself “we will meet face to face ‘cause you have
Fund (KSF) International (www.helptoke- and wonder why the other students had inspired me to follow the path you fol-
nya.org), travelled to Kenya in July with fees and I didn’t.” lowed.” With Hastings-James’s visit, part of
her daughter Cynthia and Cynthia’s family She pledged to use her education to that wish came true.
to meet KSF students and see how KSF
scholarships had affected their lives.
They also distributed 216 pairs of
donated shoes and socks to orphans in
Ngong as a KSF community-outreach proj-
ect. The donations came from Greater Love
Church in Houston, Texas.
Hastings-James spent seven weeks in
Kenya, where she was born. She and her
husband Richard, who retired in 2005, live
in Houston.
Hastings-James said she was “thrilled”
to meet Sophie Aura Knight, who gradu-
ated from State House Girls High School
in Nairobi in 2011 and received a KSF
scholarship to attend Moi University in
Eldoret. Ladies of Arabia (LOA), a group of
ex-Aramcons in the Houston area founded
by Judy Thomas, sponsored Knight’s junior
and senior years in high school.
“Nothing I can offer will be able to
measure up to the help you ladies gave Kenya Scholarship Fund (KSF) International Executive Director Alice Hastings-James, right, and KSF’s
me,” Knight wrote to LOA members last Nairobi director, left, flank recent KSF scholarship recipients including Sophie Aura Knight, right.
Bratts Bloom in Minnesota
J
ohn and Mary Bratt of Eveleth, Minn., Services Company in Houston, Texas. Mary in your community.” Mary, who is vice presi-
are growing prizewinning blooms at their was a nurse at the Dhahran Health Center dent of the Eveleth Fayal Garden Club, says R
E
U
home by Ely Lake, where they retired in from 1973-76 and in Houston. she and her husband “find it very satisfying E
BL
1994 following John’s career as an engineer The couple’s two children, Glen and to share our knowledge, extra bulbs, etc.” RA
A
in Ras Tanura and Dhahran and at Aramco Merilee, were five and 2 ½ when the fam- with others. RB
A
B
ily arrived in 1965. “We can They also share their garden with bear T:
EF
say we have the ‘real’ Brats,” cubs and nesting robins, she notes. E L
T
Mary quips. A flyer for a local garden tour in 2012 OSI
P
P
The Bratts have two says that the Bratts’ “specialties” are dahlias O
T;
acres of gardens and won the and hydrangeas. RAT
B
Community Service Award of RY
Merit from the Minnesota State The Bratts’ white dahlia invites smelling. MA
Horticultural Society in 2012.
Eveleth is 65 miles north of
Duluth, Minn.
This year they won 17 rib-
bons at the Eveleth Fayal Flower
Show. In addition, Mary’s sug-
gestion, “Everything’s Coming
Up Flowers,” was selected as the
title of the show.
The 2012 horticultural
John, Mary and Merrilee Bratt pose by the source
award recognized the Bratts for “efforts
of the Mississippi River in their home state of
and services [that have] contributed toward
Minnesota. Merrilee was 2 1/2 when she arrived
in Saudi Arabia in 1965. improving horticulture and the quality of life
6 FALL 2013 Al~Ayyam Al~Jamilah
Bobb Races to Spencer Trades Kids for Bison Babies
5th-Place Finishes
L
ou Spencer, who
F
red Bobb (DH’72) finished fifth in the retired from the
100- and 50-yard breaststroke races Dhahran Schools in
in the men’s 55-60 age group at the 2007 after a 27-year
National Senior Games in Cleveland, career, traded fifth
Ohio, on July 20 and 22. There were 26 and sixth graders for
entrants in each event. bison babies at Yel-
Bobb, 56, clocked 33.41 in the 50 lowstone National
and 1:17.07 in the 100; that compares Park in Gardiner,
with his times of 33.37 and 1:15.93 at Wyo., this spring.
“Wildflowers
are out and the park
is greening up,” he
wrote from Gardiner
in May. “Bison babies
started appearing
two weeks ago….
The babies are called
red dogs because
they look like Irish
setters or golden
retrievers.”
This was Spen-
cer’s third tour of
duty in Yellowstone
Rusti Moore, center, former director of Nursing
Education at the Dhahran Health Center, and as a volunteer. He
her daughter Leah, a returning college student spent January-March
in 1984 and 1986, cheered Fred Bobb to a fifth- at Lamar Buffalo
place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke at the
Ranch in a valley in
National Senior Games.
the park’s northern Lou Spencer, right, pauses with pals on a hike in Yellowstone National
the senior games in Houston, Texas, in range. in March. The near-freezing temperatures that day were almost balmy
compared with the -24°F reading that greeted him on his arrival Jan. 1.
2011. He said the Cleveland State Univer- He wasn’t far
sity Natatorium “ran a good meet—on from teaching at the
time and fast-paced.” ranch: It’s the site of the Yellowstone Assn. A highlight of his ranch stay was
Although he did not medal, Bobb was Institute, where visitors study everything watching wolves. “We were able to
happy to touch out the sixth-place finisher from photography to wolf-watching to observe mating, inter-pack rivalry, hunting
in the 50, who had topped him easily in the park ecology. The ranch has cabins and a and killing of prey, and darting and collar-
senior games in Stanford, Calif., in 2009. bunkhouse for cooking and classes. ing of Alpha males and females,” he said.
The Palm City, Fla., resident got sup- Spencer did “camp duty” and served Spencer headed home to Signal
port from his fiancée Barbara Bleuer, former as program assistant for the instructors. Mountain, Tenn., early in June. But not
Aramcon Rusti Moore and her daughter The former role “meant cleaning and for long: The indefatigable traveler led a
Leah, from Cleveland, and friends from his helping out at the camp,” he said, and Dhahran Outing Group trip to Kenya in
alma mater, nearby Oberlin College, includ- the latter included piloting a 15-passenger August, with plans to lead a trip to Iran in
ing the men’s varsity swimming coach. bus, often on ice and snow. September and Myanmar in October.
Walkers Teach Kids about Kingdom
B
ill and Judy Walker donned Saudi The activity was part of the church’s their Saudi souvenirs and talking about
dress July 28 to make a presentation World Travelers program. It introduces life in the kingdom, the Walkers read
about Saudi Arabia to children at the children to other countries and cultures, a story and gave each child a coloring
Wildflower Unitarian Universalist Church and to world religions and spiritual book, two storybooks, an ecology DVD
in Austin, Texas, of which Bill is a mem- practices “in a fun, relaxed setting that and a CD of Arabic music, provided
ber. The Walkers, who retired in 1995 includes a lot of age-appropriate, par- through Aramco Services Company.
after 16 years in Dhahran, gave a similar ticipatory activities,” Bill said. They capped the event by handing out
presentation at the church in 2008. In addition to showing some of Arab sweets.
7
M O S A I C
‘Kids’ Meet for First Time
D
on Homewood and Fran Fobes Turner, Fran Fobes Turner
whose dads shared a house in Dhah- finally met Don
Homewood in
ran in the 1940s, met for the first time
July. Their fathers,
at Homewood’s residence in Santa Rosa,
Charles Homewood
Calif., in July. She called on him during a and George Fobes,
trip from her home in Georgetown, Texas. shared a house in
Charles Homewood and George Fobes Dhahran from 1943-
45, before Fran and
traveled separately from California to Dhah-
Don were born.
ran in 1938. They lived at 1635A Gazelle
Circle from 1943-45, when Homewood “100 men” who
moved out so that Fobes’s wife Margaret manned the
could move in. company during
The house is still there, a few steps from the darkest days of
Steineke Hall. World War II.
Homewood came to Dhahran as a radio Fobes traveled
operator. Jean Homewood arrived with the to the United States
couple’s daughter Katherine in 1946, and in 1941 to take
Don was born in Dhahran in 1948. instrument and
Don told Fran that his dad earned and his wife departed in 1946 and Fran was refinery training. He returned to the king-
$150 a month working for Standard Oil of born in California in 1947. She taught at girl’s dom in 1943 after getting married.
California in San Francisco while waiting for school in Jiddah, but never visited Dhahran. Don and his wife Ellie hosted Fran’s
a job in Saudi Arabia. He got a raise to $250 Don said his father returned to the mother Margaret in Dhahran when she
a month in Dhahran. United States on home leave in November returned in 1990 after a 44-year absence.
Charles Homewood retired as chief 1941. He took a British flying boat across She and George had intended to make
safety officer in 1973. Don, who had left to India and on to Hong Kong, transferring to the trip, but he died before it could be
attend boarding school in 1963, returned as a DC3 that could fly low and island hop to planned. Fran’s brother, also named Don,
an employee in 1981 and retired himself in Australia. There, he caught a ship to San Fran- accompanied her instead.
1998. He lived in Dhahran with his wife Ellie cisco, the last peacetime sailing on that route. During the visit, Margaret recognized
and their children Erin and Andrew. To start his return trip to the king- the house in which the couple had lived
George Fobes worked first in the dom in 1942, Don said his dad had to in 1945-46, but said that the community
carpenter shop and later with meters and be given the rank of an Army captain to where she’d spent two years had changed
precision instruments used in the refinery. He travel by train. He was among the famous vastly, Fran noted.
Abqaiq ‘Daughter’ SAEEA Voters Return Most Officeholders
Earns Ph.D.
N
inety guests celebrated the third They replaced Afsar Jahan, wife of retiree
S
amia Khan, the daughter of former anniversary of the Saudi Aramco Mahtab Saeed Khan, who left the post to
Abqaiq residents Mrs. Imtiaz Jehan Ex-Employees Assn. (SAEEA) in Karachi devote more time to her family.
Khan and Qamar Khan of on Aug. 31, and 53 members voted in an
Karachi, Pakistan, received election that returned all but one of the
a Ph.D. from the Miller organization’s original officeholders to their
School of Medicine at the positions.
University of Miami (UM) The reelected officers are: Kamal A.
early this year. Farooqi, president; Iqbal Ahmed Khan,
Qamar Khan retired vice president; Ghulam Qutubuddin Khan,
as a contract advisor in general secretary; Mohammad Abdulmatin,
2012 after a 37-year coordinator; and Shafiq Ahmed Khan, joint
career. secretary. Salim Hamid ran unopposed for
Samia Khan enrolled treasurer, assuming the job held by Sher Ali.
in the Interdisciplinary Bio- At the group’s previous meeting, April
Samia Khan medical Sciences Program 21, Farooqi named Naghma Manzoor
at UM in 2007. She lives Shaikh, wife of retiree Manzoor Ahmed
in Chicago, Ill., with her husband Imran Shaikh, and Razia Younus Sheikh, wife
Mrs. Razia Younus Shaikh and Mrs. Naghma
Khan and is doing postdoctoral work at of Mohammad Younus Sheikh, to share
Manzoor Sheikh, left and right, were named
the Rush University Medical Center. the duties of SAEEA ladies representative. SAEEA ladies representatives this spring.
8 FALL 2013 Al~Ayyam Al~Jamilah