Jimmy Ellis Shamas

Jimmy Ellis Shamas, 82, died Monday, June 5, 2017, in Lone Tree, Colorado.

He leaves a wife of 61 years Annawyn; daughter Laura Shamas (Jon Klein), son Jimmy Shamas, Jr. (Annette Shamas); daughter Ellen Shamas-Brandt (George Brandt); sister Emilene Fisher; brother Mitchell Shamas (Sue Lynn Shamas); uncle Ray Shamas; five grandchildren: Jimmy Ellis Shamas, III, Alec Shamas, Michael Shamas, Kaylene Wright, and Annamarie Wright; and nephews and nieces.

Jimmy Ellis Shamas was born in Bristow, Oklahoma, in 1934, where his Lebanese-descendants had settled prior to Oklahoma statehood. He attended grade school in Tulsa and Bristow, Oklahoma. Shamas graduated from Bristow High in 1952; he was Co-Captain of the football team. His parents owned Shamas Dry Goods in Bristow, where Shamas also worked part-time. In the summers during his college years, he worked as a forest ranger in Idaho. He married Annawyn DeBenning in Stillwater, Oklahoma, in November 1955. He graduated from Oklahoma State University in 1957 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, was a member of Beta Theta Pi there, and was eventually inducted into the OSU Engineering Hall of Fame. He earned his Juris Doctor Degree from the University of Tulsa in 1969.

Joining the oil industry in 1957, Shamas held a number of engineering positions with increasing responsibilities. His first job was with Sinclair Pipeline Company, then Conoco Pipeline Company. In 1965, Shamas joined Skelly Oil Company in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and was promoted to Transportation Manager in 1970. In 1981 he was named President of Western Crude Oil, and in 1982 he was appointed Executive Vice President of Getty Oil Company (the youngest to hold this position) and President of Getty Trading and Transportation Company. With the merger of Getty Oil Company into Texaco Inc. in 1984, Shamas was named President of Texaco Trading and Transportation, Inc. He was President of Rooney Engineering from 1994 to 1998, and a board member of Pacific Energy Management, LLC. During his career, he served as President of the Association of Oil Pipe Lines. He was known as an employer who cared deeply about his employees.

Throughout his life, Shamas was involved with the communities where he lived. He served as a Scoutmaster, a boys' baseball coach, a girls' softball coach, a community theatre supporter, a Littleton Town Hall Board member, an active Rotarian, President of the Emily Frisbee Foundation for the Arts, a volunteer for the Democratic party, an active member of Littleton United Methodist Church for 27 years, and a Mark Hopkins School volunteer for the I Love To Read program.

All these accomplishments pale in comparison to his roles as husband, brother, father and grandfather. A viewing will be held at Drinkwine Mortuary, 999 Littleton Boulevard, Littleton, on Friday, June 9th from 4 to 7 p.m. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 10, at Littleton United Methodist Church. Contributions in his name may be made to the Boy Scouts of America or Rotary Club, International.

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