C.J.-Silas-Obituary

C.J. "Pete" Silas

Bartlesville, Oklahoma

1932-2014

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Bartlesville, Oklahoma

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C. J. "Pete" Silas, former Chairman and CEO of Phillips Petroleum Company, passed away on Tuesday just before 5:00 PM. As his wife, Theo, aptly put, right at the end of a regular workday at Phillips.Silas was born on April 15, 1932 in Miami, Florida, where he attended Miami High School,...

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I was shocked to learn of Pete's death the other day from another of our Miami High School '49 classmates. We were very good friends in High School. He was also a member of the same high school fraternity of my first husband, Jim Freels. When Jim died in 2000 after a long bout of pre-senile dementia, I was a widow for four years after which I married another classmate of ours, Dr. C. Dudley Saul, a retired Navy Captain. Dudley joins me in sending prayers and condolences to the Silas...

Sorry to hear of one of Miami Hi's top graduates. He was truly an icon. Lenny Booth '52

I'm so sorry for the loss, my condolences to the silas family. May you all keep everything in prayer and find relief in the God of comfort and peace.

While watching the Mississippi State vs Georgia Tech football game, I was reminded of my first cousin Pete. I went to my iPad and googled him as I would do on occasion to see his many accomplishments. I was saddened to see that he had passed away on December 16. My sisters and I were related to Pete through our father Jack who was a younger brother to his mother, our beloved Aunt Trixie. Aunt Trixie resided in Florida where we lived and we frequently visited her when passing through...

I am very sorry for your loss. May the God of all comfort be with you during this difficult time. My thoughts and prayers are with you in your time of grief. May your memories bring you comfort. My heartfelt condolences to the family during this time of sorrow. (1Corinthains 15:26) (Isaiah 61:1,2) Please find peace in knowing that He understands your grief and He cares. 1 Peter 5:6,

The long entry with the storybook is from me, Pete's oldest niece, who typically forgot to sign it.

Uncle Pete was an important man in the world, but to me as a child he was the fascinating uncle who visited when he wasn't traveling the world for Phillips, bringing odd souvenirs like picture postcards from Switzerland that could be played on a phonograph. When I was four or five years old, my favorite storybook was "Tuffy the Tugboat", about a bathtub toy that wants to go to sea. I used to cry at the climax of the story. The grownups weren't sure whether it was the narrative line or the...

At one point, I was James' soccer coach. It was very impressive to me that a high executive like Pete would drive up to the soccer field in his executive limo, hop out, take off his coat and tie, and come help the boys. Bartlesville has lost not only a business leader, but a true gentleman in all the best senses of that term.

Pete, Theo and Barbara, Hong Kong 1998

I won't ever be teased with "Weabe me awone" again, which makes me very sad. When I was very small, Uncle Pete scared me because he was so enormous, and I ran away shouting that. He reminded me of that all the time. He was an important anchor in my life and helped me many times, for which I will always be grateful. One of my fondest memories is when he and Aunt Theo came to meet me in Hong Kong while I was living in mainland China. Being abroad and living on my own for the first time was an...