[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 96 (Friday, July 17, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1345]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    IN MEMORY OF SHELBY DUPREE PITTS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. RALPH M. HALL

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 17, 1998

  Mr. HALL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay my respects to a 
loving husband, father, grandfather and prominent Dallas oil company 
executive--Mr. Shelby Dupree Pitts, who died on May 18, after a long 
and valiant battle with cancer.
  Mr. Pitts was born on April 12, 1915, in Wesson, Mississippi, the 
second of three sons born to Mr. and Mrs. John Lloyd Pitts. He attended 
Lincoln County, Mississippi public schools where he was class president 
his sophomore, junior and senior years. At Copiah-Lincoln Junior 
College, he was elected State President of the Hi ``Y'' Clubs of 
Mississippi. In 1936, he joined Nu-Enamel Paint Company, advancing 
rapidly to Division Sales Manager for the New England states. He 
volunteered for the U.S. Navy in July, 1941, and served as public 
speaker attached to the U.S. Navy Public Relations office in Chicago. 
After World War II, he remained in Chicago where he organized the 
Wesson Houseware Products Company which sold household chemicals 
throughout the United States. He married Mary Elizabeth Tillman, of 
Hazelhurst, Mississippi, on April 20, 1947.
  After investing in oil and gas drilling ventures for several years 
with his brother, Frank Pitts, he became a co-owner and Senior Vice 
President of Exploration Surveys, Inc., an international geophysical 
exploration company. When Exploration Surveys, Inc. was sold to U.S. 
Industries in 1969, Mr. Pitts organized his own independent oil and 
natural gas production business, Natural Gas Finders, Inc. Along with 
his brother, Mr. Pitts became co-owner and Chairman of the Board of 
Dallas Production Inc., an oil and gas operating company which grew to 
operate more than 1,000 oil and natural gas wells in eight states.
  An active member of the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty 
Owners Association (TIPRO), Shelby organized the TIPRO Explorers group 
in 1976. Members of the Explorers group were required to contribute a 
fixed and substantial dues amount each year to provide a firm financial 
base for the organization. Mr. Pitts served TIPRO several years, 
successively as a Vice President, Membership Chairman, Secretary, 
President, Chairman of the Board and as a member of the Executive 
Committee. His work with TIPRO earned him four Distinguished Service 
Awards and in 1994 he received TIPRO's highest honor, the ``Mr. TIPRO'' 
Award.''
  As a long time member of the Dallas Petroleum Club, Mr. Pitts was 
honored by being selected to the Dallas Wildcat Committee, a select 
group of 100 persons affiliated with the Petroleum Club. In 1989, he 
started DSC Incorporated, a specialty chemicals company which provides 
unique drilling fluid additives for the oil industry. In addition, to 
his many oil industry activities, Mr. Pitts was a member of the Dallas 
Council on World Affairs, a Director of the Dallas Opera, Director of 
the Baylor University Medical Center Foundation, Dallas, and a Director 
of the Copiah-Lincoln Junior College Foundation, which also elected him 
as Alumnus of the Year in 1976. He was a Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary 
International and a member of the Bent Tree Country Club.
  Mr. Pitts is survived by his wife of more than 51 years, Mary 
Elizabeth Pitts of Dallas; his daughter, Pamela Elizabeth Lane and her 
husband Bruce Lane, Jr., Dallas; his daughter-in-law, Dawn Pitts, 
Jackson, Mississippi; and four grandchildren, Justin Rutherford Lane, 
Holly Elizabeth Lane, Cerissa Dawn Pitts and Natalie Michelle Pitts. He 
is also survived by two brothers, L. Frank Pitts, Dallas; and Troy N. 
Pitts, Wesson, Mississippi.
  Mr. Speaker, Shelby Pitts will be missed by his family, many friends 
and business associates throughout the United States and in many 
foreign countries. As we adjourn today, let us do so in honor of and 
respect for this great American--the late Shelby Dupree Pitts.

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