Ode to My Exxon Memories - Frank Gatewood

A couple of days ago I received a Facebook Messenger note from Donna Gatewood that her dad, Frank Gatewood, had died from pneumonia.  I had not heard anything about Frank in a couple of years.  Had not felt the friendly nudge from behind while out in public like I had over so many previous times of someone coming up behind me and whispering in my ear... "Hey Lucky... can I borrow a dollar?" as Frank often did.

Frank's passing marks the end of the last life from a generation of men who truly shaped my life as a college kid.  My days working for Exxon, U.S.A... 1,799 days to be exact (just under 5 years) in the Tyler District Office were probably the most pivotal time in my life, because during those years I was afforded mentoring from several men who forever changed me.  Hal Kleeburg, Grover Hubley, Al Stover, Keith Hightower, C.D. McElfatrick, Don Barfield, Weldon Hicks, and Frank Gatewood might not have realized it at the time, but by just allowing me to peak in on their ways, lives and conversations... included me in their wealth of knowledge, remembrances of earlier years, leadership and most importantly... personal behaviors towards others.  Five years at Exxon has stretched to almost 40 years of my life, benefiting me each day from lessons I learned from these men.

My time spent with Frank Gatewood was broken up into small bits that began in 1981 when he would stop by the Exploration Drafting office where I worked.  Frank was the supervisor of the Survey Section at Exxon, and immediately I could tell he was a real character.  He had a thin build, wavy hair, most every time I remember Frank he was wearing a golf shirt, plaid slacks and had a cigarette tucked between his fingers.  In an environment where most of the supervisors wore ties and white shirts, Frank blazed a trail as casual as his approach to life, more resembling a PGA professional golfer than a corporate boss.

Long before Frank would darken... or brighten our door... we could hear him carrying-on in other offices on our hallway.  Since Frank worked in another building in town at that time, he often would barnstorm his shtick and humor through the halls when conducting business in our building. 

Frank had an infectious semi-baritone laugh that seemed to naturally roll from his lips and made you want to laugh with him.  He always found the lighter side in everything that crossed his path.  No subject, person or supervisor seemed to be taboo from his quick one-liners, poems or funny stories.  He was never mean or hurtful with the quick wit he shared, but in a different era of acceptable humor, Frank was master of his domain.

During his visits to our offices, my supervisor, Hal Kleeburg would murmur... "Sounds like Frank is in the building...".  Hal was extremely jumpy, and usually on high alert when Frank was around, because Frank would often sneak up behind Hal and give him a poke or goose in the ribs sometime during his visit. 

Frank would lean in our doorway, couple of maps rolled up under his arm, smoking... knocking off ashes from his cigarette onto the floor and rubbing them into the vinyl with his shoe... take along drag from his cigarette and say... "Hello, boys..." like he was a character in a Humphrey Bogart movie.  After sharing his latest... or oldest material on us, Frank would pretend to leave, but then make a mad dash surprise attack on Hal's rib cage or the back of Hal's thigh, which lead to more shenanigans in the office as the ever-poised Hal tried to get away from Frank.  As unprofessional and child-like as this might sound to some people in an office setting, some of these attacks were much funnier than any Three Stooges or Marx Brothers skits I had ever seen. I always knew that when Frank visited our office, funny things were going to happen.

Some of my remembrances of Frank's visits include:

Frank stopping in the doorway, atypically unannounced by his laughter, and as he was an SMU football fan, teasing both TCU fans who worked in the drafting office with this poem...
"Austin has the Capitol...
Dallas has the State Fair.
Fort Worth has the stockyards,
You can smell them everywhere"

SMU had just badly beaten TCU on the previous Saturday, and Frank felt the need to remind us somehow that Fort Worth was inferior to Dallas... but in a nice way.  He laughed, took a long drag from his cigarette, left a small pile of ashes on the floor, and was gone as quickly as he arrived.

Sure there were R-rated stories I could share here, too, but the funniest and my favorite Frank Gatewood story happened like this...
My supervisor Hal was already a little jumpy from a visit from Al Stover to our office.  Al, like Frank Gatewood liked to joke and poke a little fun at Hal.  This was all done in a nice way, Hal was part of the act each time.  Upon this day, Al was in our office talking when Frank appeared out of nowhere to rush Hal with an attempt to tickle him.  After Hal had eluded Frank on a couple of tries, the tone of the visit quieted down in general conversation.  As he got ready to leave, Frank tried one last attempt to tickle Hal and the following took place...
Frank:  "Okay boys... I've got to go... (then turning his back on Hal, added) Hey... did I ever show you what this boy did to my shoulder once..."
Hal: (realizing this was a trick and pretending to be interested stood up from his drafting stool as if to look at Frank's shoulder, saying) "Where..."
Frank: (thinking Hal was still seated on the stool, reached behind to grab Hal's stomach in a last ditch effort to unravel Hal's day... BUT... since Hal was standing, Frank's grasp ended up being... let's just say several inches below his intended target on Hal's stomach... below the belt line actually)
Frank:  Hollered... "WHOA!!" realizing he had grabbed a part of Hal's body he never intended to touch.
Hal: (Not seeing Frank's attempt to grab him, screeched like an attacked bird realizing the most private part of his body was being squeezed by Frank)

Al Stover and I were left as witnesses to the unintended groping, which surprised the attacker as much... maybe more than the victim.  Frank quickly exited the office even quicker than usual, laughing a little louder as he walked down the hall.  Hal... well... I can only guess his drafting skills were less than normal for the rest of the day.  For years, Al and I would retell this story and laugh about it.

Rest in Peace Frank Gatewood!  You will be remembered as a ray of sunshine in our days.  You made us laugh... and often.  I believe making people laugh is one of the greatest gifts we can share with others, and you excelled at it.