Phillip Hoyt Vandagriff

Born in Ponca City, Oklahoma on August 27, 1939. Most of his childhood was spent on a farm west of Marland, Oklahoma. Had one brother and one sister. He was fifteen years younger than his siblings. His brother flew in the war. After he came home, he purchased a small plane and built a runway out on the farm. He got a job delivering newspapers by air to the farms houses in the area. Clifford flew the plane and Phil was the bombardier. It was his job to drop the papers at the right time so they would land on or near the porch of the house of whom had ordered the paper.

He was active in FFA showing his hogs and chickens. However, from the time he was very small, all he ever wanted to do was fly. When he was a Junior in high school, he met his future wife Anne on the school bus. She was a freshman and new in the school.

She saw Phil get on the bus that morning and liked what she saw. She ask a girl sitting in front of her who he was. The girl told her that it wouldnt do her any good. She said he doesnt like girls. He only likes airplanes. But that afternoon when the bus was loading for the trip home, he sat down by Anne and ask her out on a date. They went to the Blackwell Fair that evening and dated all through high school. When Anne graduated. They married. They had two daughters, Julie Anne and Carey Lynn. Those two daughters gave them three grandsons and those three grandsons gave them five great grand children. After high school, he graduated from Devry Technical Institute in Chicago. Thats where he learned electronics and really excelled. He started working for Conoco Oil Company in Ponca. While earning all his pilot ratings, he worked in Geophysics, knowing all the time that his goal was to become a corporate pilot for them. After a few years of flying for them, he became one of their youngest chief pilots. He was over the base in Ponca City and was chief pilot there for thirteen years. Meanwhile, Du Pont bought part of Conoco and took over their aviation department. After that he returned to Houston and flew mostly over seas flights all around the world.

He retired at the age of 58 having almost forty years with Conoco and DuPont. He and Anne remained in Houston. He and Anne celebrated sixty five years of marriage July 31, 2023. He passed away at the age of 84 on March 23rd, 2024. He is survived by his wife Anne, both daughters and their families. One nephew and One niece.