Rhonda sent out an email about Gilbert & Mary being spotlighted in the Yorktown Paper.
Picture of the actual story in the paper.
Pargmanns part of Nordheim past
by Pearlie Bushong, News-View News Writer
Wednesday, September 9, 2009 9:05 AM CDT
Mary (Pfeifer) and Gilbert Pargmann are well known Nordheim residents because of the jobs and community involvement each has had over the years.
Gilbert and Mary Pargmann once operated service stations in Nordheim. (News View photo)
After graduation from Runge High School, Gilbert attended college in San Marcos for one year. He was drafted into the Army October 12, 1954 and went to basic training in El Paso. Mary worked for Southwestern Bell as a long distance operator in Victoria after graduation from Nordheim.
“Mary and I married May 17, 1955, and she went to Pennsylvania with me where I was stationed with the 176th AAA Missile Battalion, Charlie Battery. That was our honeymoon,” he laughed. “To make extra money, I gave haircuts for 25 cents. Mary worked at the park swimming pool in Village Green, Pennsylvania, until she became pregnant with our first child.”
He also played football with some of his Army buddies.
“We went to Dover Air Force Base to play football on a rainy day. When we got there, they asked if we wanted to concede the game, and we told them no. During the first quarter, it began to sleet. At half time, we were again asked if we wanted to concede. Again, we declined. Then about the end of the third quarter, it became a snow storm so thick we could hardly see. At the fourth quarter, they asked us again. The referees wanted us to quit, but neither team would give up. They called us crazy. Nobody really won because the game turned out 0 to 0,” Gilbert said.
When Gilbert was discharged from the Army, he returned to Runge and farmed for a year. Then he left the farm and moved to Nordheim to work for Janssen’s International Tractor run by Buddy Moore under the guidance of Walter Schlinke. He worked there for three years, and then went to work for Newton Borth as a mechanic and welder. After a year working for Borth, he quit and opened Gilbert’s Garage in Nordheim.
“Besides doing mechanical work, State inspections, welding, and delivering gas to farmers, Mary and I also operated an Exxon Service Station there, too. We bought tractor gas from Donoho Refinery in Pettus until it closed down. That’s when Jack Ritter came into our lives,” Gilbert explained. “After a while, we closed down our Exxon station, and I went to work for Ritter as District Manager for the South Texas area, traveling as many as 2,500 miles per week and managing 29 stations, auditing each one every week.”
“Ritter bought the station in Nordheim from Alene Buchhorn, and after she passed away, I took over selling Ritter Gasoline, liquor, ice, sodas, and chips. I sold gasoline for 24.9 cents a gallon and premium for 30.9 cents a gallon,” Mary explained.
Three of her five children were born during the years she ran the station.
“I brought the little ones to work with me,” she said. “I also had my sewing machine there and made dresses for my girls and pillows when I wasn’t busy with customers.”
In the 11 years she ran the station, it was broken into twice.
“Once was just before Christmas, and the thieves took liquor that had come in pretty bottles for Christmas giving.” Mary said. “The other time, the items taken were things girls would have wanted; so maybe those thieves were girls. No one was ever caught for either break-in.”
After they closed the station, Mary went to work at the Yorktown Bakery.
“I worked there for three years before going to work in the Nordheim School cafeteria. I retired from the school in 1999 after working there 17 years,” she said.
Gilbert worked for Ritter for 17 years.
During that time, he had to deal with a 14-inch rain in Clute that floated the empty gas tanks out of the ground. Two tornadoes took the roof off of the Louise station while the dealer, Rufus Utsey, and a helper held the doors shut. The helper had a brick fall on his foot when the roof blew off, but none of the glass was broken
“Ritter named me president of the company the last year I worked there, but after his death, I resigned,” he said. “After the only vacation I ever took, I went to work for Harkins Drilling Company 13 months. During that time, I ran for County Commissioner; and after a run-off, I won by three votes.
“I was commissioner for 16 years and then lost the vote for one term in 1996 before being re-elected in 2000. When I lost the election in 2008, I retired,” Gilbert said.
While a commissioner, he served as president of the Golden Crescent Planning Commission, was the only person in the history of the South Texas County Judges and Commissioners Association to hold the office of president twice, and had the distinction of being president of the State County Judges and Commissioners Association. He also served as one of the Board of Directors of the Texas Association of Counties in Austin for four years.
He served locally in Nordheim on the school board, Shooting Club, Nordheim Museum, and Chamber of Commerce. He has been a member of the Nordheim Volunteer Fire Department for over 50 years. He also writes a column for the Yorktown News-View about the events in Nordheim.
Gilbert and Mary have two sons and three daughters. Each have the same initials R. D. They also have 12 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
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