Mike Giles and Wanda Taylor are the 2022 inductees into the Dairy Products Institute of Texas Hall of Fame.

Mike Giles

Mike was born in Dallas Texas and is a 6th generation Texan.

He moved to College Station Texas in 1975 at age 17 to attend Texas A&M University where he studied Biomedical Science trying to get into vet school, unsuccessfully, I might add, so he says he went into Food Science for his graduate work. While in college, he worked around 30 hours a week at a local grocery store, where he met his future wife, Judy, this June they will be married 40 years, and they have 7 children and 12 grandchildren.

He worked for a short while in the restaurant industry, then started his dairy career in 1985 at a little plant in Tyler, Texas, now a Hiland plant but at the time was Cabells, a part of the Southland corp., then later sold to Brookshire Grocery company.  In his time there he held positions of shift supervisor, QA manager, plant manager, plant director and the VP of manufacturing over 6 plants, the dairy, and ice cream plant with yogurt and sour cream, a sweet goods bakery, a water /tea plant, and ice plant and a fresh cut fruit operation.  Some highlights of that time included the first plant in Texas to produce Red Diamond tea, first fluid plant to produce organic milk in Texas, and was part of a team that in 2001 introduced the first low carb ice cream, low carb yogurt, and a low carb milk beverage, all of which was sold to HP Hood in 2004.

He spent a short time in ice cream at HEB and is now General Manager and President of Plains Dairy, and General Manager of Panhandle Pure water in Amarillo, Texas.

He has been a long-time 4-H leader and shooting instructor in rifle and shotgun, his interests are music and history, raising meat goats and keeping bees with his wife, and rehabbing real estate.  He and wife Judy attend Grace church in Amarillo, Texas.

Wanda Taylor

Wanda was born in Loraine, Texas October 18, 19--. Shortly thereafter moving to and growing up in Midland. Her Father was a preacher over 30 years and her Mother was a nurse. Wanda graduated from Midland High School and attended Howard Payne College in Brownwood, Texas.

Most of her adult working years were with law firms in Midland and Odessa. In 2005 she followed her son Randy to the Texas Hill Country in Marble Falls and signed up with Pat’s Employment service who in turn sent her on an assignment with DPI in Horseshoe Bay. Glenn Brown was the President of DPI and was an attorney himself and lobbyist for DPI. When Glenn looked at Wanda’s resume, he discovered that she had worked with his brother at a law firm in Midland. One week later Glen hired Wanda.

Wanda has been with DPI for 16 years and has had four Presidents since Glenn passed away, Mark Compere for 9 years, Mike Giles for about a year, Glen Harrington for over a year, and now Dawn Murphy. It is impossible to say here what all this lady has done for and experienced with DPI of Texas. She has been the main constant helping members, member companies, and I think 16 different Chairman and Boards.

Wanda has told me many times that her family is the most important thing in her life. She has one son Randy and wife Betty, 3 grandchildren, 8 great grandchildren, and 3 great, great grandchildren. (Recognize Son Randy and wife Betty, and Grandaughter Jennifer Wetmore.)

She is an officer in her church, she takes care of her 96 year old Aunt Millie and her x husband George, who as a policeman was injured in a motorcycle accident many years ago and is in a wheelchair.

Wanda lives in Kingsland, Texas next to Lake LBJ.

On a personal note, I figured out real quick how to operate in my job as President. Listen To Wanda. I did that for 9 years. We were a good team and became good friends which Jackie & I appreciate & cherish.  I learned a lot about the importance of love of family from Wanda.  It was like, stick together & love each other and you can get it done and have fun doing it.

And as you all know she loves and cares about DPI, has treated it like family. , her baby and has made many friends in this organization. She has helped keep this great organization flying for many years.

Wanda, on behalf of the DPI Board and membership, thank you for your friendship and many years of wonderful work and caring.

And on behalf of DPI of Texas, it is my honor and pleasure to induct Wanda Taylor into the Dairy Products Institute of Texas Hall of Fame.

Introduced by Mark Compere. 

DAIRY PRODUCTS INSTITUTE OF TEXAS

HALL OF FAME

Mike Woods

Mike started in the dairy business in 1974 at Midwest Farms in Texarkana, TX. His first job was in maintenance where he learned how every piece of equipment in the dairy worked. He learned the process of ordering ice cream, ancillary products like sour cream, cottage cheese, etc and raw milk. He learned as much as possible about quality control and the lab and became the liaison between the health department and the operation. Promotions followed and he held the position of Plant Manager when he left Midwest.

Mike started with Foremost Dairy in Dallas, TX in 1983 as a supervisor. He continued his "on-the-job" training and once again served as the liaison between the health department and the operation. He was challenged to get their newly acquired ice cream plant in Fort Worth up and running. Promotions followed and he ended up running the operation as Co-Plant Manager.

The next stop was with Borden Dairy in Madison Heights, Ml. He started his career with Borden as a Superintendent. He gained much of his extensive knowledge of machinery and equipment at this "mega-plant". He also learned the process of making cottage cheese, sour cream, and yogurt. Following a promotion to General Superintendent he took over responsibility for the vault. He also continued to serve as liaison between the health department and the operation. He negotiated a five- year labor agreement with the union the longest agreement ever achieved by Borden. 1990 saw Mike in St. Louis, MO as General Manager of a bottled water plant. He revamped the operation doubling the water filling capacity and the number blow molds. He also tripled the production of "belly wash" (Kool-Aid).

Mike returned "home" to Texas in 1993 as Plant Manager with Borden in Tyler, TX. That tenure was short-lived as Borden transferred him to their Dallas plant. Working with the City of Dallas, he received their annual "Blue Thumb Award" for BOD reductions seven different times. He also received his SOF certification. Mike continued to work with the health department and made a lifelong friend in Rabi Shaw as he worked to ensure kosher products from the farm to the store. Extensive growth in the operation occurred over his 18 years of service with the addition of a new vault and a new warehouse. The filling floor was re-designed and five new fillers were added. PET was also added for quarts, pints, and half-pints. The Red Diamond Tea brand flourished. One of the biggest changes was the upgraded digitalization of all controls and processes. New bagging and de-bagging equipment was installed in the blow mold operation and the case room evolved from floor-chain drive to pallets. During his years in Dallas, Mike served as president of the Dallas Fort Worth Dairy Society. He received numerous awards and recognition throughout his career including Dairyman of the Year in 2007.

Mike joined HEB in San Antonio, TX in 2011. He doesn't even remember his title, but his responsibilities included managing the fluid milk production, the bottled water operation, cultured products, UHT, and Greek yogurt. He was the first partner to receive the bottled and vending water operations certification from the Texas Dept of Health. Numerous upgrades and improvements were made to the facility during his tenure. HEB tasked Mike with training up and coming plant managers and he loved sharing his extensive knowledge with anxious, young partners. He thrived as a mentor and teacher and received the Harvey Mabry Excellence in Management Award.

In January of 2018, Mike received the biggest promotion of his career to become a full-time poppa, house husband, and honey doer! He often advises people to never retire because the honey do list never ends. The phone still rings with requests for advice, consultations, and questions. He enjoys catching up with these former colleagues, but continues to find satisfaction and fulfillment in his new career.

Murry Bain

Murray Bain was born and raised in Ontario Canada.

He attended Fanshawe College in London Ontario majoring in Music and Recording Engineering. After graduating he moved to the Niagara region of Ontario where he helped build the first Digital recording studio in North America. After working in the recording business for a few years he switched careers moving into a more stable manufacturing industry.

Murray has been working in the Dairy Packaging Industry with Stanpac for almost 40 years. He has served as Vice President of Marketing since 1990. He honed his marketing skills by attending the Richard Ivey School of Business at Western University in London Ontario.

He is married to his wife Beverley, has 2 grown daughters, plus Bev's daughter.

He has served DPI of Texas as a Longhorn member and through various roles including President.

He has just finished his term as President of the Society of Glass and Ceramic Decorators, is currently Chair of the Board at a local Hospice and serves as Elder in the Presbyterian Church.

Mark Patranella

Mark Alan Patranella was born and raised in Bryan Texas and graduated from Texas A & M University in May, 1982, with a degree in Agricultural Economics. He began at Blue Bell Creameries in May, 1982, as Purchasing Agent and was named Manager of Purchasing and Receiving in February, 1993. (35 yrs at Blue Bell).

Mark is Past President and member of Brenham Noon Lions Club, Past President of Brenham Gun and Rod Club, and Past President of Washington County A&M Club.

Past Secretary - Washington County Chamber of Commerce Blue Blazers
Past Director - Washington County Chamber of Commerce
Past President/Coach - Washington County Little League
Past Officer - Brenham High School Athletic Booster Club
Past Board Member - First Baptist Church School

2012 he was inducted into Tyrus Timm Honor Registry of Former Students, Department of Agricultural Economics, Texas A&M University.

Mark and wife Debbie have been married 36 years. Their Son and Daughter in Law are Mason and Kaci Patranella, Grandson is Kyle.

Mark’s Hobbies are Hunting, fishing, and following Aggie Sports. He also enjoys spending time on the family farm in Brazos County.

Mark is a longtime Active member of Dairy Products Institute of Texas, (About 25 years), serving as past Chairman and as a Board member since 1995-1996 and I know he attended DPI outings prior to that.

David Jones

David grew up on a dairy in Franklinton, Louisiana. After graduating from LSU he began a career in the dairy industry working for Dairymen Inc. He held various positions with DI in Louisiana and North Carolina until the merger with Mid-Am when he relocated to Kansas City.

He moved to Texas in 98' when Mid-Am and AMPI merged with two other regional cooperatives to form Dairy Farmers of America. As Senior VP and Chief Operating Officer he gave oversight to both the Southwest and for a short period the Mountain regions of DFA.

During his tenure here he was instrumental in creating the Greater Southwest Agency, served on the Board of Southwest Cheese, and facilitated the expansion of balancing plants and transportation equipment as production in the area tripled in volume. He retired at the end of last year.

David has been Chairman of DPI and on the Board of Directors since 1998.

He and his wife, Melinda have moved to North Carolina where they can be close to their two daughters and five grandchildren.

Chuck Riley

Chuck was born in Plainview, Tx in 1949. The family relocated to Irving, Tx. in 1955 where he attended school grades 1-12. Graduating from Texas A & M University in 1971 with a BS Degree in Animal Science and completing 4 years in the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets, he was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant as a Chemical Officer and stationed and served at Ft. McClellan, Al., and Ft. Sill, OK.

Chuck married Sherry Sandlin and raised two children, Matt and Deborah, both adults living in DFW area.

He begin his working career with Armour Foods in Quality Assurance and Production Management. He then joined Frito-Lay, Inc. and worked for 5 years in the Semi-Work Division of R&D Group managing all Quality Assurance activities at the 3 plants in this Division.

Setting his sights on sales to the Food Processing Industry, he was hired by BASF Wyandotte (Later becoming Diversey-Wyandotte Chemical Specialties Company). He worked for DW 11 years covering Texas and 6 other states as Territory Mgr., District Sales Mgr., and Regional Sales Mgr.

Chuck joined Waukesha Cherry Burrell Process Equipment Company and for 10 years was District Sales Manager covering Tx., Ok., Ar., & Mo. Waukesha was purchased by SPX and he took an early retirement package and briefly worked with a Waukesha Distributor in DFW area, before joining Chr. Hansen, Inc. supplying cultures, enzymes, natural colors and dairy flavors to the Dairy Processing Industry for 10 yrs.

Chuck has 2 wonderful Granddaughters, Chloe, who is almost 6 yrs. old and Riley, who is 4. They both attend Legacy Christian Academy in Frisco, TX. Chuck says, “Chloe and Riley are the joy of my live.”

Chuck was offered a job at Harvill Industries in Dallas 18 months ago where he wanted to go back to his 1st love of Food Processing Equipment Sales. He hopes he has left in him one more successful sales territory to build.

He loves the Sales Process, building trust with clients and prospects and providing equipment solutions to help them provide high-quality products to their customers at the best price unit they can achieve.

Chuck says, As Willie Nelson says, “Woke up this morning, still not dead.” Hope to continue as many future mornings as possible.