Our titan, patriarch, pioneer, father, and coach passed away peacefully January 27, 2021. Knowing the big life available to Phillip, God broke the mold after he was born to the late SFC. Nestor Artemio Rivera Sr. and Trinidad Idalia Garcia-Rivera on October 28, 1948 in San Antonio, TX.

Phillip grew up an army brat, hopping from Germany to bases across the US and eventually settling in Killeen, Texas.  He graduated class of 1967 from Killeen High School, home of the Kangaroos! There, he played guard and middle linebacker, and followed his brother Nestor to Tarleton State for college.

He moved to Houston, TX with "$100 and a can of beans" as he would always tell anyone who would listen. Working shift after shift as a welder in refineries and plants all over Houston, his entrepreneurial spirit could not be subdued. He bought his first welding truck and Rivera's Welding Service was born in 1969. One day when welding in the Port of Houston, he was approached by a prominent drilling rig manufacturing company to be a subcontractor. "Have you ever built a Derrick before?" he was asked. "Hell yeah I have!" He exclaimed. Walking back to his truck with a deposit check in hand, he told himself, "Man, I better figure out how to build one of these things."

He used that opportunity to springboard himself as a pioneer in the drilling rig industry. He started instituting his own designs, and developed the hydraulically raised substructure in 1978, a design that has become the worldwide standard still used today. By 1980, he was in the upper echelon of wealth in Houston, but you would never know it by meeting him. Likely wearing dirt stained coveralls and a welding cap, Phillip was a man of the people. Drilling Structures International was his home, and his employees were his family. He would fit, grind, and weld just like everyone in the shop. No matter how tough he was on people one day, he would give the shirt off his back the very next.

Phillip loved football!  He started playing football with Youth Activities in Fort Hood, Texas as a middle and outside linebacker in a 4-3. Eventually Youth Activities needed a coach and Coach Rivera was born.  Phillip coached for over 40 years - his players were all his boys; if you played for him, he looked out for you. Whether they needed help, guidance, or a kick in the behind, you better believe he was there! He coached the local youth football team, Klein Jets for a total of 19 seasons winning championship after championship, as well as the Hamilton Lions who won 2 championships. He always had a rule, if his team would score 20 points and shut out their opponent, on Monday the team would watch game film and go to Fuddrucker's. He would pay for the team's meal, and give all the boys seemingly unlimited quarters for the arcade games. He was once honored at a Klein Forest High School banquet for developing so many successful young football players that eventually made their way to the Golden Eagles. If you ever watched a Pro football game with him, between yelling at plays and cheering on runs, he'd tell you where the players went to college, high school and middle school.

Only one other passion could rival his love for football; the outdoors. There wasn't a gun or bow or fishing pole he didn't own. His ranches were named after his loving mother, Trinidad. Rancho Trinidad featured exotic animals of all kinds, and provided a place for family to gather, hunt, drive 4 wheelers, and just be part of the outdoors. If you were watching TV with him, you were undoubtedly watching football, hunting, or fishing on the screen.

Phillip split time between Houston and Barranquilla, Colombia in the latter stages of his life. He established a company in Barranquilla and in true Phillip fashion, it was the largest manufacturing facility in the country. He had a deep love for the people and culture of Colombia. He spent most nights dancing and entertaining his friends.

Phillip had a way of turning the most unsettling situations into a party and walking away with life-long friends. It's what turned him into a man who could go anywhere in the world and run into someone he knew. His stories were legendary, from spending a year in the jungle in Ecuador to being kidnapped in Colombia to fishing with Willy Nelson and hunting with Johnny Cash, Phillip had a life fully-lived and with few regrets. Always the father to the fatherless, Phillip was truly loved and will be forever missed.

Phillip is survived by his children: Phillip (PJ) Rivera Jr. and his wife Heather Rivera and their children Alyssa, Karter and Parker. Shannon York and her husband Elton York, and their children Tyler and Trinity. Nycholas Jaquette and Tabitha Vigliotti. His dear sisters: Idalia Rivera-Gonzalez, Ursula Rivera-Muro and her husband Alfonso Muro, and Sofia Howard and her husband Philip Howard.

Details of memorial services:

Wake, Thursday, February 4, 2021

5:00pm-6:00pm - Family visitation

6:00pm-9:00pm - Open visitation*

8:00pm-9:00pm - Optional story sharing about Phillip Rivera

Klein Funeral Home

16131 Champion Forest Dr.

Spring, TX  77379

(Please send any flowers to this location)

Please wear a face covering while inside the building and at the cemetery.

*capacity limited to 50 people at one time.