Former President of Mobil Oil
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Former President of Mobil Oil
| John Daniel (View posts) | Posted: 15 Mar 2006 2:08AM GMT |
Classification: Obituary
Surnames: Hardman, Little, Megarity, Haslam, Dunton, Barbeck, Miller, Hayes, Johnson
Dillon Alva (D. A.) Little was the President of Magnolia Petroleum, which became Mobil Oil and is now part of Exxon Mobil.
D. A.'s grandparents were James Archibald and Narcissa Caroline Hardman Megarity. Narcissa's parents were Bluford Floranoy and Martha P. Hayes Hardman. Bluford's parents were Allen and Cynthia Johnson Hardman.
Below is D. A. Little's obituary:
Dallas, Texas Morning News, October 27, 1950
Retired Oil Leader, Dillon A. Little, Dies
Dillon Alva Little, retired president of Magnolia Pipeline Company, died early Thursday morning at a Dallas hospital. He was sixty-three.
The Texas oil leader was admitted to the hospital Oct. 10 following a heart attack and had been seriously ill since. He lived at 75201 Turtle Creek Drive.
Little was born on a farm near Corsicana. It took him only nineteen years to work his way to top position with Magnolia after a bare-handed start as an obscure bookkeeper with the company in Corsicana in 1914.
He was elected Magnolia’s second president in 1933. He retired for health reasons on Jan. 1, 1946 and was succeeded by J. L. Latimer, present Magnolia chief executive.
Funeral services will be held at 1:30 p. m. Friday at Highland Park Methodist Church with Dr. Marshall T. Steel, pastor, officiating. Entombment will be at Restland Memorial Park Abbey.
Pallbearers will be J. L. Latimer, R. M. Chan, J. Ralph Wood, T. L. Bradford, Jr., Murray Johnson and Luther Newman. Honorary pallbearers will be the directors and officers of Magnolia Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, Inc., Southwestern Life Insurance Company and the Dallas Citizens Council.
Little was born March 6, 1887, son of Mr. and Mrs. T.(Thomas) P. Little. He attended Oak Valley rural school and graduated from Corsicana High School in 1903. He attended Southwestern University in Georgetown.
He had been a clerk in the Corsicana post office about five years when he joined Magnolia in Corsicana and moved to Dallas when the company moved its home office the same year 1914.
An energetic worker, Little soon attracted his superiors’ attention and gradually his responsibilities were increased. He was promoted to assistant treasurer of both the oil and pipeline company in 1923. He was moved into the department of the president in 1928 and a year later was elected a director and named assistant general manager of both companies.
Within another year he was elected vice-president of the rapidly expanding organization and two days before his nineteenth anniversary with Magnolia, March 16, 1933, he was elected president of both companies, succeeding the late E. R. Brown.
One of the honors he received as an outstanding leader in the oil business was his selection by the South Texas Chamber of Commerce as the Oil Man of the Year in 1943.
He was a Dallas civic and cultural leader, being a member of the board of the Dallas Grand Opera Association and one of the planners of both the Texas Centennial and the Pan-American Exposition.
He was the first president of the Dallas Petroleum Club and several times was a director of the Dallas Chamber of Commerce. He was a director of the Dallas Historical Society. He was also a member of the Dallas Citizens Council, the Koon Kreek Klub and the Dallas Country Club.
Little was a member of the Texas Safety Association, The Dallas USC Council, a member of the board of directors of the Southwestern Medical Foundation and a director of the Southwestern Life Insurance Company of Dallas.
B. F. McLain, president of the Community Chest, said; “D. A. Little was one of the great civic leaders who came to the support of the Dallas Community Chest during the most critical period in its history. His leadership and his influence were vitally important in the period of reorganization when the whole principle of federated giving was in the balance. His assistance in attaining success will be a continuing factor in the maintenance of this organization throughout the years to come.â€
Little was a member of the chest’s board of directors from its reorganization in 1941 through 1944. He was chairman of the budget committee in 1943, chairman of the finance committee in 1944, and in that year also served as vice-chairman of the executive council of the war chest.
He was a member of the Highland Park Methodist Church and a Mason.
Surviving are his wife, the former Evelyn Haslam of Corsicana, whom he married March 17, 1919; two daughters, Mrs. Ray L. Miller and Mrs. William R. Barbeck, both of Dallas; his mother, Mrs. T. P. (Henrietta Megarity) Little, and a sister, Mrs. Edgar Franklin Dunton, both of Corsicana; a brother, J. R. Little of Richards, and three grandchildren.
D. A.'s grandparents were James Archibald and Narcissa Caroline Hardman Megarity. Narcissa's parents were Bluford Floranoy and Martha P. Hayes Hardman. Bluford's parents were Allen and Cynthia Johnson Hardman.
Below is D. A. Little's obituary:
Dallas, Texas Morning News, October 27, 1950
Retired Oil Leader, Dillon A. Little, Dies
Dillon Alva Little, retired president of Magnolia Pipeline Company, died early Thursday morning at a Dallas hospital. He was sixty-three.
The Texas oil leader was admitted to the hospital Oct. 10 following a heart attack and had been seriously ill since. He lived at 75201 Turtle Creek Drive.
Little was born on a farm near Corsicana. It took him only nineteen years to work his way to top position with Magnolia after a bare-handed start as an obscure bookkeeper with the company in Corsicana in 1914.
He was elected Magnolia’s second president in 1933. He retired for health reasons on Jan. 1, 1946 and was succeeded by J. L. Latimer, present Magnolia chief executive.
Funeral services will be held at 1:30 p. m. Friday at Highland Park Methodist Church with Dr. Marshall T. Steel, pastor, officiating. Entombment will be at Restland Memorial Park Abbey.
Pallbearers will be J. L. Latimer, R. M. Chan, J. Ralph Wood, T. L. Bradford, Jr., Murray Johnson and Luther Newman. Honorary pallbearers will be the directors and officers of Magnolia Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, Inc., Southwestern Life Insurance Company and the Dallas Citizens Council.
Little was born March 6, 1887, son of Mr. and Mrs. T.(Thomas) P. Little. He attended Oak Valley rural school and graduated from Corsicana High School in 1903. He attended Southwestern University in Georgetown.
He had been a clerk in the Corsicana post office about five years when he joined Magnolia in Corsicana and moved to Dallas when the company moved its home office the same year 1914.
An energetic worker, Little soon attracted his superiors’ attention and gradually his responsibilities were increased. He was promoted to assistant treasurer of both the oil and pipeline company in 1923. He was moved into the department of the president in 1928 and a year later was elected a director and named assistant general manager of both companies.
Within another year he was elected vice-president of the rapidly expanding organization and two days before his nineteenth anniversary with Magnolia, March 16, 1933, he was elected president of both companies, succeeding the late E. R. Brown.
One of the honors he received as an outstanding leader in the oil business was his selection by the South Texas Chamber of Commerce as the Oil Man of the Year in 1943.
He was a Dallas civic and cultural leader, being a member of the board of the Dallas Grand Opera Association and one of the planners of both the Texas Centennial and the Pan-American Exposition.
He was the first president of the Dallas Petroleum Club and several times was a director of the Dallas Chamber of Commerce. He was a director of the Dallas Historical Society. He was also a member of the Dallas Citizens Council, the Koon Kreek Klub and the Dallas Country Club.
Little was a member of the Texas Safety Association, The Dallas USC Council, a member of the board of directors of the Southwestern Medical Foundation and a director of the Southwestern Life Insurance Company of Dallas.
B. F. McLain, president of the Community Chest, said; “D. A. Little was one of the great civic leaders who came to the support of the Dallas Community Chest during the most critical period in its history. His leadership and his influence were vitally important in the period of reorganization when the whole principle of federated giving was in the balance. His assistance in attaining success will be a continuing factor in the maintenance of this organization throughout the years to come.â€
Little was a member of the chest’s board of directors from its reorganization in 1941 through 1944. He was chairman of the budget committee in 1943, chairman of the finance committee in 1944, and in that year also served as vice-chairman of the executive council of the war chest.
He was a member of the Highland Park Methodist Church and a Mason.
Surviving are his wife, the former Evelyn Haslam of Corsicana, whom he married March 17, 1919; two daughters, Mrs. Ray L. Miller and Mrs. William R. Barbeck, both of Dallas; his mother, Mrs. T. P. (Henrietta Megarity) Little, and a sister, Mrs. Edgar Franklin Dunton, both of Corsicana; a brother, J. R. Little of Richards, and three grandchildren.