Lynn Wyatt’s 88th Birthday Party, Oscar Wyatt’s 99th and This Houston Power Couple’s 60th Anniversary Combine In One Unforgettable Evening

On July 28, 1963, the already successful oil man Oscar Wyatt and the drop-dead gorgeous Lynn Sakowitz were wed in her parents’ Houston home in a ceremony attended by 100 family and friends. Sixty years later to the day, the storied couple celebrated their marriage as well as their birthdays — her 88th and his 99th — with some 150 family and friends at the Petroleum Club, the 35th floor Houston aerie exclusive to fossil fuel magnates.

Dazzling in a gilded haute couture pants ensemble from Valentino, Lynn Wyatt was as beautiful and charming as ever, her appearance and grace overwhelmingly belying her age. Oscar Wyatt on the other hand, though as crusty as ever, was wheelchair bound due to a stroke suffered in 2008.

It was a grand evening attended by old money and new, family from near and far, Houston friends, and a coterie of friends from South and West Texas, where the Wyatts have ranches scattered from Marfa to the Rio Grande Valley and north to Corpus Christi, home to one of Coastal Corporation’s refineries. In 1955, Oscar founded Coastal States Gas Producing Company, which today renamed Coastal Corporation is a prosperous diversified energy concern.

This special celebration held a year before Oscar Wyatt’s milestone 100th birthday was the idea of the couple’s sons — Trey, Brad and Steve. Better now than later, they surmised, as Father Time is often impatient. In a playful effort to insure the more significant celebration next year, close family friend Richard Flowers quipped to Oscar that if he made it to 100, Flowers would provide 10 dancing girls in celebration of each decade. In classic Oscar character, the oilman was all in.

Flowers, his partner Angel Rios and The Events Company organized the fête on behalf of the Wyatt brothers. The evening began with cocktails and an informal receiving line where the couple greeted longtime friends including Linda and Dr. Walter McReynolds, Rose Cullen, Ann Duncan, former Houston Mayor Bill White and Andrea White and Y. Ping Sun and David Leebron. Among the South Texas contingent were Laura and Billy Wells, Duval County Sheriff Romeo Ramírez and wife Sally, and Wyatt Ranches general counsel Judge Ana Lisa Garza and husband Oscar Saenz of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Multiple cameras flashed during the welcome, including that of Houston-based Rizzoli author Ronda Carman, who has been tasked by the Wyatt family to create a coffee table tome honoring Lynn Wyatt. Could any book be more glamorous or entertaining? Already three years in the making, while Carman was working on other books, the literary celebration of La Wyatt is slated to be ready in time to be presented at her 89th birthday celebration in July 2024.

While this celebration was far removed from the fabulous fêtes celebrating Lynn’s birthday at their then-home on the French Riviera, the evening was a tribute not only to the couple’s longevity but also to their perseverance through lives well-lived despite challenges met along the highway.

On this night, the Petroleum Club ballroom was awash in bouquets of orchids, peonies, poppies and roses in shades of blush. Shimmering candelabras soared atop the tables that filled the Petroleum Club ballroom. One table in particular was filled with five of the pilots and their wives, who have flown for Oscar Wyatt over the years.

Toasts were plentiful with spoken love notes coming from their sons and from Steve Wyatt’s children — Cat Wyatt in from Washington D.C. and Ford Wyatt in from Salt Lake City. Brad Wyatt in his rancher’s garb explained in his toast that after 10 years in suits with Geo. H. Lewis & Sons, he preferred the denim and Western hats of his role at the ranch.

Mayor Sylvester Turner joined the contingent of those lavishing the birthday couple with praise that included his announcement that July 28 would forever be recognized as Oscar and Lynn Wyatt Day in Houston. Trey Wyatt’s toast included a glowing proclamation from Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo.

Joining the Wyatt’s at their table were Houston Astros owner Jim Crane and wife Whitney; Trey Wyatt wife’s Mervin Wyatt-Ras, a member of Parliament in Aruba; Brad Wyatt; Dr. Sam Hunt; Flowers; and Rios. Steve Wyatt was seated next door with his children and Trey Wyatt headed a neighboring table.

Throughout the five-course dinner evening, convincing Rat Pack impersonators  — Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. — serenaded, moving from the stage to work their way around the tables. This “Martin” maintained his composure even when one guest joined him on stage and attempted to wrestle the mic away.

Perhaps the highlight of the evening was presentation of the towering birthday cake accompanied by “Marilyn Monroe,” who serenaded the birthday gent with a Mr. Wyatt version of  Monroe’s famed “Happy Birthday, Mr. President.” Flirting with Oscar Wyatt, she asked if he would meet her later. “Yes, yes, yes,” he enthused.

Lynn Wyatt took the stage to thank all who attended and those who worked to make the evening a success. She concluded with Oscar’s favorite and most often used toast.

“Here’s to the one’s who wish us well, may all the rest go straight to hell. Though they be many and we be few, to hell with them and here’s to you.”

And what would any true Texas oilman’s party be without at least one guest being ejected for rowdy behavior? Yes, it happened and my lips are sealed other than to say the offending guest was female.

Among the guests were Robert Sakowitz, Joan Schnitzer, Al Lasher, Jeanie Kilroy, Mindy Hildebrand, Cynthia and Tony Petrello, Margaret Alkek Williams, Melissa and Doug Schnitzer,  Nancy Allen, Tripp Carter, Craig Massey, Mady and Ken Kades, Bill Stubbs, Hallie Vanderhider and Bobby Dees, Celina Hellmund, and a host of friends from Coastal and South Texas.

More Wyatt Parties

The Wyatts both celebrated their actual birthdays — his July 11 and hers July 16 — with a handful of friends and family at their South Texas ranch with two lunches that were a true feast and included mariachis performing.

A very special luncheon also was held at Le Jardinier at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston where museum director Gary Tinterow hosted the annual Lynn Wyatt’s Boyfriend’s Birthday Lunch. Among those joining on this day were Gregory Boyd, Rob Melrose, Robert Sakowitz, Dr. Atilla Ertan and Richard Flowers.

Here’s to next July’s milestone celebrations.