The Story of Brown Dupree Oil Company

It is not often that a business and a family come together to deliver top-tier service for nearly half a century while keeping their operation unmistakably family-oriented. Yet that is exactly the legacy of Brown Dupree Oil Company — a story rooted in hard work, friendship, and the unshakeable belief that a small business in a small town could rise to meet any challenge.

Jerry Brown was not originally from Ulysses. He grew up in Hutchinson, Kansas, where he met his high-school sweetheart Sue. The two went on to the University of Kansas, with Jerry attending on a football scholarship while earning a degree in civil engineering. Their family grew to include three children, and Jerry began his professional career with the Bureau of Reclamation, working on the Glen Elder Dam project.

Opportunity knocked in 1966 when a former college friend urged Jerry to come to Ulysses to work for Popejoy Construction. That same era, another young man — Harold Dupree — was charting his own path. Harold had graduated from Plains, Kansas, and married Carolyn “Sis” LaFever of Ulysses. He came to town to work for Dowell, then launched D&G Backhoe Service, backfilling for the Ulysses Irrigation Pipe Company owned by Pat Appling.

As the two couples settled into their new lives, Jerry stayed busy with Popejoy Construction, but a strong friendship soon grew between the Browns and the Duprees. While Jerry was working at Wolf Creek Pass, the first spark of a business idea was lit. In 1975 the chance came to purchase Ed and Rosalyn Bruntzel’s Amoco Fuel & Oil business. After lengthy back-and-forth with the bank and securing an SBA loan, Brown Dupree Oil Company, Inc. officially opened for business on December 1, 1975. Their operation centered on a single location at Colorado and Oklahoma.

During an interview, Jerry recalled the early days well: gasoline sold for just over 60 cents a gallon, and diesel was around 40 cents. The new business began with four employees plus Jerry, two bulk trucks, and a modest battery of tanks. In those early years they handled around three million gallons of fuel annually — with 500,000 gallons going to the Standard Oil station across the street — serving a roughly 50-mile radius around Ulysses.

As Grant County industry boomed, the company’s annual volume soon grew to four million gallons. As opportunities arose, Jerry diversified — at one point entering the cattle business and later becoming involved with a local bank.

The growth spurred expansion. Brown Dupree purchased a tanker truck, allowing them to haul fuel directly from refineries and terminals. More trucks and trailers followed, enabling the company to stay busy hauling whatever the times demanded — fuel, sand and gravel, asphalt. As Jerry put it simply, “You just had to change and adapt.”

But not everything about the era favored a young business. High interest rates and rigid loan policies meant a single misstep could sink a company. Ulysses also had several competitors vying for the same customers, in an industry where margins were never generous. Still, the two families persevered with what some would call “Faith and Fire.”

One of the earliest decisions Jerry made was to raise wages and provide health insurance and benefits for his staff — something far from common in the 1970s. But the investment paid off; Brown Dupree never struggled with high turnover.

When asked about the fuel embargoes and oil crises of the time, Jerry explained that relationships they had built — combined with their increasingly diversified operation — allowed the company to weather the storms better than most. Railroads and drilling operations still needed fuel regardless of global news.

The company had begun in a two-room trailer on Colorado Street, but by the early 1980s construction was complete on their warehouse near the airport, which eventually grew to include over 2,000,000 gallons of storage capacity.

The Grant County History Book notes that by 1981 Brown Dupree trucks covered more than 500,000 miles across 23 states — from Pennsylvania to California and from North Dakota to Texas. In 1984 Harold and Sis Dupree made the decision to exit the business. A buyout agreement was reached, but the name remained unchanged.

As Jerry’s children became adults, each left for school, married, and at various times returned to work in the family business. For years Pam and Kim worked alongside daily operations, and their husbands stepped into roles within the company. Jerry’s son Kent laid the groundwork for bringing Brown Dupree into the modern era by implementing an Apple computer system — a system maintained and expanded over the years by Dave Irvin.

The 1980s brought further growth, including a filling location in Hugoton. Cities Service was drilling heavily then, and fracking alone could use 80,000 gallons of diesel at a time. Brown Dupree also kept Popejoy Construction fueled, a vital revenue stream that helped balance out constantly rising oil purchase costs. In 1987 the company expanded into hauling used oil, sending trucks as far as Lubbock, Texas.

Jerry also recalled with a laugh how much times have changed. In the early days, the gas station relied on identical keys and a handwritten notebook to track purchases. Dick Kreie would write tickets the next day — during one sugar beet harvest, the station was so full of trucks that everything was billed to truck numbers. When it came time to settle up, every driver walked in with cash, paid their balance, and every cent reconciled perfectly.

Over the years the company upgraded continually as the landscape of the fuel business shifted. Territory changed. Supply routes that once stretched across multiple states condensed to Scott City, Valley Center, or McPherson. New hazard-labeling requirements emerged. Ethanol was added to gasoline, biodiesel became more common, and throughout it all Brown Dupree maintained its commitment to high-quality products.

In the early 1990s the business moved into the brick office behind the movie theater. Tragedy struck in 2004 when Jerry’s wife Sue passed away in an accident. In 2011 he remarried Holly Cross, who sadly passed away in 2022. Over the last 15 years Jerry’s sons-in-law stepped into primary operating roles within the company.

Many locals associate the Brown Dupree name not only with their well-known corner location and reliable service but also with the gas station they operated nine years until its sale. Discussions about selling the business began earlier, and in 2024 the convenience store on West Oklahoma — along with the corner location where it all began — was sold to Casey’s. A second sale followed in August 2025, when AEG Petroleum purchased the warehouse and retained the staff.

Reflecting on the company’s history, Jerry said it simply: “Ulysses has been good for us. We expanded far from home, but it has always been good to come home here.” And perhaps more importantly: “To last 50 years, you have to have good people and good customers.”

Brown Dupree Oil Company’s legacy extends far beyond fuel. For decades the family and employees have poured their time, energy, and generosity into the community — from supporting 4-H, to helping families in times of need, to backing countless youth sports and activities. Their impact cannot be measured by gallons sold or miles driven but by the countless lives touched along the way.

Though the closing of Brown Dupree Oil Company marks the end of a remarkable chapter, it also begins a new one. On November 29, 2025, at Tate’s Event Center, the community will gather for a Come-and-Go Celebration of Exceptional Service. It will also serve as a symbolic passing of the torch — a hope that the light carried by this company for 50 years will continue to burn brightly in the years ahead.

Congratulations to Jerry Brown, Kim & Dave Irvin, Lorna & Kent Brown, and Pam & Jay Annis on a job well done — and a well-earned retirement.