The co-founder and executive chair of Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores, Tom Love of Oklahoma died Tuesday, March 7, 2023.
He was born in October 1937 in Oklahoma City.
A story carried on 'The Trucker' newsite reported the reflections of Shane Wharton, president of Love's, the company Tom and his wife Judy founded in 1964.
“Tom Love was a man of conviction who never wavered from the principles of honesty and integrity in the 59 years he spent developing the company he started with his wife, Judy,” Shane Wharton, president of Love’s, said.
“These tenets still guide our company and will as we move forward. Tom always listened and was sincerely interested in knowing the stories of employees and customers. He wanted to hear their thoughts, ideas and hopes for them, their families and the company.
“He credited the company’s success to the people who worked for us. He could relate to all employees but had a soft spot for those on the frontline at stores. In many respects, he was an ordinary person who built an extraordinary business alongside his wife Judy and his family, who he loved deeply.”
The first tribute from a political leader received at The City Sentinel came from U.S. Representative Stephanie Bice of Oklahoma City.
She said, “It is impossible to overstate the impact Tom Love has had on Oklahoma and across America. He was a gifted business leader and strong family man committed to serving and bettering our community. I am deeply saddened to hear of his passing, and I have Judy and the entire Love family in my thoughts and prayers.”
Mr. Love was a graduate of St. Gregory's High School, a Catholic school in Shawnee.
Well-educated and cultured, he never graduated from college -- dropping out of St. John's University (a Benedictine institution in Minnesota) and the University of Oklahoma.
In private moments with friends, he would joke about his lack of certification from an institution of higher education, but no one who knew ever doubted his erudition and appreciation for schooling.
A direct descendant of Benjamin Love, an interpreter for the Chickasaw Nation in the old days. He and wife Judy are the parents of four children.
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