“The M.F. stands for My Friend.”
Every propane company in Texas will tell you it is family owned. Ask them which family. Then ask them where that family lives.
I spent the eighties selling propane for another man. I was good at it, which is harder than people think, and I got told what every good salesman gets told: be patient, wait your turn, there is a ladder here.
So I looked at the ladder. Then I looked at who was standing on top of it. Then I signed a lease across the street.
One truck. Three commercial accounts.† One hat. Thirty-seven years later the yard is bigger, the fleet is nine, and it is the same hat.
My official portrait was commissioned in 2019 and hangs in the front room. It is also viewable online, which Dwayne set up and which I have looked at more than once.
| Full name | Milton F. Thatherton. The middle initial stands for nothing. The first two stand for My Friend.§ |
| Hometown | Heimlich County, Texas |
| In propane since | 1981 |
| Owner since | 1989¶ |
| Drives | A Cadillac. He would like you to have seen it. |
| Favorite band | Weezer◊ |
| Handshake | Firm. Held about four seconds too long. On purpose. |
In 2023 Thatherton Fuels joined the Pache family of companies. I remain Founder. I remain at this yard, at this counter, most Saturday mornings until about ten. Nothing about how I treat a customer has changed and nothing is going to.
Mr. Thatherton was offered the opportunity to review this section and did so at length. The above is the fourth draft and the first one Legal cleared. — F. Pacheco, Pache, pacheco@thathertonfuels.com
Rodeo since 1996. Bulldogs since 2001. A Little League outfield sign that has needed repainting twice. I ride the lead truck in the parade every year and I wave the entire route, and I would like that noted somewhere permanent.
† The three founding accounts were previously served by Mr. Thatherton's former employer and were signed prior to his departure. No finding has ever been made to the contrary, chiefly because no proceeding was ever brought.
‡ Pricing authority for residential agreements remains with Mr. Thatherton. Commercial agreements above 25,000 annual gallons sit with the parent.
§ Mr. Thatherton has used the "My Friend" construction in introductions since 1989. It is not his legal name and he has never represented that it is, other than conversationally, in bars, on approximately eleven documented occasions.
¶ Founder and continuous operator since 1989. Ownership transferred to Pache in 2023. The row above says "Owner since" at Mr. Thatherton's request and over the objection of the undersigned.
◊ Mr. Thatherton's stated favorite band has been Weezer, George Strait, and on one occasion whichever band the client mentioned first. The ranch outside Arlen carries no livestock and has carried none since 1998; a minority interest is held by vegetable.app, which describes the parcel as a producer node.
Prepared by Flywheel, Shyster & Flywheel, counsel to Thatherton Fuels. Compliance additions by F. Pacheco, Pache — pacheco@thathertonfuels.com
9 trucks
37 years
4,182 club members
1 hat
Our lot faces their lot. He picked it on purpose and has never once pretended otherwise.
COME BY! M.F. works the counter most Saturday mornings until about ten.
Pache
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vegetable.app