The History of Berry Oil

Though it only has a few hundred residents, Tetonia, Idaho’s small size doesn’t keep its businesses from thinking big. Ron and Michelle Berry, owners of Berry Oil in Tetonia, are fuel and oil distributors whose business has flourished through its rich 70-year history.

The Berry Family has been in the Petroleum business since 1936. William C. Berry began as a commission agent for Independent Oil Company at that time. He received his first contract with Standard Oil Company of California in 1942. William’s son, John C. Berry continued in the petroleum business as a commission agent for Standard Oil Company, and in 1955 he named the business John C. Berry & Sons. Standard Oil Company later became Chevron, USA. Then in 1982, John purchased the distributorship from Chevron, USA and operated the company until his death in May of 2001.

Ron and Michelle joined John C. Berry & Sons in 1982 making the total employment at John C. Berry & Sons, Ron and his father. The two of them struggled to keep the business afloat for 15 years. In addition to its long-standing Chevron account, the company became an Exxon distributor in 1997 making them one of two Exxon and Chevron distributors in Southeastern Idaho. In 1999, John C. Berry & Sons became a local bulk oil distributor for Chevron, USA and purchased a new office and warehouse in Idaho Falls, Idaho where they hired Daniel T. Spaulding to manage the facility. In 2003, Ron and Michelle purchased another fuel company out of Salmon, Idaho from Ron and Nancy Burch who have continued to run that portion of the business. Recently, John C. Berry & Sons has changed their name and image to that of Berry Oil, and currently operates under that name.

Keeping the family ties running in Berry Oil, Ron and Michelle’s son Matt will return to work in the business upon graduation from BYU-Idaho in December of 2007 making Berry Oil a fourth generation company and Chevron’s oldest jobber.