DVSA Newsletter

 

From the President    As I begin my time as DVSA president, I find myself in a thankful mood.   First, thank you for the opportunity to serve as president — I look forward to working with you. Thanks to Gerry DeFelicis for filling that post last year. Gerry brought his usual energy to moving the organization forward. Thanks and welcome to two new board members, Pat Steadman and Cynthia Pashley. We appreciate their willingness to contribute their time and effort to DVSA.   Thank you to the technology types who work and worry over the DVSA website. It’s come a long way since we first became part of the online community. (See more about the site elsewhere in this issue.)   Thank you to the folks who tend to the website’s Frequently Asked Questions section. There are some very common questions that were directed to the Sunoco Benefits HELPline. FAQs are updated periodically so it’s important to check this section of the website regularly. There’s a good chance you’ll find the answer to something you’ve been wondering about. If not, send in your question.   Finally, thank you to all of you for your continued support and interest in DVSA. Hope to see you all at the Spring lunch on May 6.                                                             John Engelbrecht,, President Luncheon Information: Date:  May 6th, 2008   Place: Springfield Country Club 400 West Sproul Road Springfield, PA 19064 610-690-7600   Time: 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM. – Social Time 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM – Luncheon 2:30 PM - 3:30 PM - More Socializing   Program: Speakers: Rolf Naku, Sunoco’s Senior VP of Human Resources & Public Affairs, and John Carroll, Director of Compensation & Benefits       Career Opportunity… …to fulfill your lifelong journalistic aspirations.     The current editor of this newsletter is being downsized by personal choice (after 10 years at the helm.) The job description requires a modest ability to read and write about how wonderful retirement is. If you’re interested in adding “editor” to your resume, speak to any board member or contact   Beverly Dotter at 610-889-2025 or BEV266@aol.com.   Newsletter (Printable Version)   Spring 2008 Winter 2007 Summer 2007     Contents From the President Luncheon Information 2007 DVSA Lunch Dates Passages One-Minute Interview Comments, Questions? Wedding Anniversaries Birthdays 1608 Club Calendar Food Cupboard News From Sunoco DVSA Website Gets Lots of Attention Sunoco HELPline Did You Know Become A DVSA Member   Wedding Anniversaries   Anniversaries   50 years   Eleanor & Albin Yodis April 26     David & Maridel Rippy May 31   Kenneth & Barbara Phillips June 12   Lewis & Shirley Googins July 19   35 years Richard & Mary Ann Zajac May 12   20 years Hank & Rosemary Siegel May 7   Belated congratulations to: 55 years   Ernie & Dorothy McBride Nov. 22, 2007

News From Sunoco Sunoco said it was raising its quarterly dividend 9 percent, or 2.5 cents a share. The new dividend, 30 cents a share, is payable June 10 to shareholders of record on May 9. This will be the sixth straight year in which the company boosted the dividend.   At the end of a year that saw crude oil prices nearly double, Sunoco reported a net loss of $9 million for the fourth quarter of 2007 versus net income of $123 million for the similar period in 2006. Excluding special items, income for the 2007 fourth quarter was $23 million. CEO Jack Drosdick said fourth quarter financial performance was negatively impacted by the sharp increase in crude oil prices. For the full year 2007, Sunoco reported net income of $891 million versus $979 million for the full-year 2006. Excluding special items, income for 2007 was $833 million.

Passages Russell Leidy, 82, died in October 2007 at his home in Vero Beach, Fla. He was coordinator for investment and benefit funds at Sunoco when he retired in 1986.    Samuel M. Vauclain, retired Sunoco geologist, died in November 2007 at the age of 92. Mr. Vauclain started with the company in Mississippi. He served in WWII, returning to the company after his discharge. In 1952, he transferred to Philadelphia and was head staff geologist for U.S. and Canadian operations when he retired in 1971.    Lemuel A. Geyer, retired Sunoco public relations executive, died February 15 at the age of 99.   Jay McGowan died Dec. 4, 2007 in Florida. He had worked in Sunoco’s insurance department.   Charles “Tom” Boles, 83, died in November 2007. Mr. Boles was a structural engineer for Sunoco for 34 years, retiring in 1982.   Richard Sterling, retired Sunoco marketing manager, died July 2007 in Florida. Mr. Sterling was head of Radnor Corp. at the time of his retirement.     Mary Cline died in January at the age of 66. She worked in the accounting department at Sunoco for 20 years.   Edith Richards, 83, died in November 2007. After earlier positions with the company, she worked for the Marcus Hook Refinery Employees Federal Credit Union from its inception in 1949 until her retirement in 1983.    Emma “Brownie” Dunlop, wife of former Sunoco Chairman of the Board Robert G. Dunlop, died Feb. 22, 2008. Mrs. Dunlop was 93.   Condolences to...Dorothy Poland on the death of her husband. .  [Top of Page]

One-Minute Interview With…. …Dave Rineer, who came to Sunoco in 1966 from junior college in York, PA. “Jack Agnew came recruiting at the school,” Dave says. “Jack proposed my working for Sun in the rotational program and the company would pay for my last two college years in night school. It sounded good and I eventually graduated from Widener with a BS in Management. My first permanent job at Sunoco was in the compensation, employment and human resources development group.” Dave’s work with that corporate group took him to Philadelphia, St. David’s and Radnor. It was during a stint at Sun International that he got his first taste of labor relations. After SI, Dave spent time as labor relations manager for marine operations and as HR manager at Marcus Hook. His final Sunoco job was as employee relations manager at corporate headquarters in hiladelphia. He left Sun in 1997 after 31 years to become labor relations director at Newport News (Va.) Shipbuilding. He says that “working with nearly 10,000 not always happy steelworkers was either a labor relations guy’s dream or nightmare.” But it did give him an opportunity to apply a useful lesson he learned early on in the labor relations game – “union leaders are just fellow employees doing their best at a tough job.” When Dave retired from the shipyard in 2004 as director of HR operations, he and his wife and son moved back to Pennsylvania. Now he keeps busy doing some consulting, serving on the boards of several service organizations and keeping watch on the Christmas tree farm he owns in Lancaster County.   [Top of Page] DVSA Lunch Dates   Tuesday, May 6th, 2008 Tuesday, September 9th, 2008 Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008 News, Comments, Questions?   Send news, information, questions, Comments to – Beverly Dotter 266 Vallley Stream Lane, Wayne, PA. 19087  Phone: (610) 889-2025  E-mail: Bev266@aol.com Remember, this is a publication for and About you – Sun retirees and alumni – so let us know what’s happening in your life.   Food Cupboard - by Paul Coleman Food Cupboard Chair DVSA Members Continue Tradition of Giving   In December 2007, DVSA members contributed $695 to the Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House and $872 to the Children’s Hospital Foundation. Both groups expressed thanks for DVSA’s generosity.   From Ronald McDonald House: “We are grateful that you recognize our need and are able to help us provide a home away from home for families who come to Philadelphia to receive medical treatment for their seriously ill children.”   From Children’s Hospital: “Your generosity helps maintain the high quality care that has made (CHOP) the number one ranked children’s hospital in the country. We thank you for your generous gift.”   Also in 2007, the Food Cupboard awarded five $500 gifts to organizations recommended by DVSA members. Thanks to all of you for supporting the Food Cupboard so abundantly. We encourage you to submit a recommendation for future awards. Any DVSA member is eligible to make a nomination. Guidelines and the nomination form are on the DVSA website or you can call me at 610-918-9190.    [Top of Page]

Did You Know...   …that in addition to accessing the DVSA website directly at www.delawarevallysunalumni.com  you can get there by going to SUNOCOINC.com and clicking on the “Sun Alumni” link?   While you’re at the Sunoco website, check out the “Jobs and Careers” section for all the job openings available at Sunoco. The “Jobs & Careers” section is updated every Tuesday and Thursday. Even if you are past looking for work, this is good information to pass on to those still in the work force. (All Sunoco positions are also listed on monster.com.)

DVSA Website Gets Lots of Attention     If you’re a frequenter of the DVSA website, you’ve got a lot of good company.  In fact, since the website was upgraded in April, there’s been a dramatic increase in the number of people visiting delawarevalleysunalumni.org.  One example:  In March 2006 the website got 429 “hits,” compared with 12,503 in August 2006.     The improvements feature a link from Sunoco’s website to the DVSA website.  New information includes names of recently deceased retirees and new retirees, as well as a list of luncheon attendees.  You can even check to see if someone attended a specific luncheon by entering that person’s name in the “search for attendee” box in “Meetings.”  [Top of Page]

SUNOCO HELPline

Numbers

Benefits and Payroll

   1-215-977-6300 or

   1-800-666-6323

Aetna Medical/Dental

   1-800-345-4061