Rudy Rockett:  

I have had some unusual twists and turns in life. I worked in construction coming out of high school; in fact, I helped build the dams for Kaw Lake, Sooner Lake and Copan Lake. I then settled down and started working at the Conoco refinery in Ponca City. I retired after 27 years in 2007. During my time with Conoco, I became a supervisor in operations, then, in the later half of my career I moved to the front office doing various things such as writing training manuals, writing procedures and some Information Technology (IT) work. When refinery simulators came onto the scene, I became IT support for planning and scheduling applications for the refinery. So what happened in 2007? Phillips took over Conoco and it was a jump back to the 50's in management style and some technologies. I didn¿t like it. It prompted me (and others) to start looking at other opportunities. I was offered a position with Chevron to help deploy applications at refineries in California and eventually their other refineries. My wife and I bought a place in Redondo Beach where we live 7 blocks from the ocean. In 1974, I married Clara Jolynn Morris from Tulsa and we had 3 great kids, Rudy, Stormi and Nathaniel. They continue to live in Ponca City. I have two wonderful grandchildren, Rudy II...Expand for more