Sulphur, La. – May 19, 2016 – Yesterday, CITGO celebrated the 60 year service anniversary of CITGO Payroll Supervisor Della Gary. CITGO representatives dedicated a conference room in the CITGO Business Center in Gary’s name and local elected officials, including the governor’s office, issued proclamations honoring her service record.
Vice President and General Manager, Lake Charles Refinery Tomeu Vadell said Gary is an exemplary employee who exhibits the spirit of CITGO through her commitment to excellence and her knowledge of her career field. “Della’s work ethic and commitment to CITGO are a shining example of her character,” he said. “Della’s tenure at CITGO is outstanding and we honor her life’s work here.”
Gary said she never expected to work for 60 years in one place, but looking back, she wouldn’t change a thing. “Working at CITGO was the best decision of my life; I don’t regret one second of it,” Gary said. She has remained working for so long because she enjoys her job and the people she works with. “I’ve made some of the best friends of my life here.”
On May 25, 1956, Gary, a native of Iowa, Louisiana, began her career at the CITGO Lake Charles Refinery, then Cities Service, as a Mail Clerk. She was soon promoted to a payroll clerk where she manually imported information from timecards for an appropriate tally for employee paychecks. She was then promoted to Payroll Supervisor and has kept that position since then. For six decades, Della has shown her dedication, accuracy and work ethic in the Payroll Division and is currently the longest serving CITGO employee on record. Della does not have any plans to retire anytime soon.