Love’s Journey Stops Founder Tom Love Dies at 85
Tom Love by Love’s Journey Stops
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Love’s Journey Stops & Nation Shops founder Tom Love, who grew the corporate from a single service station to a sequence of greater than 600 truck cease places nationwide, died March 7, the corporate introduced. He was 85.
Love and his spouse and enterprise companion, Judy, in 1964 invested $5,000 to lease an deserted service station in Watonga, Okla., a small rural city northwest of Oklahoma Metropolis. Over the subsequent eight years, the corporate then generally known as Musket Corp. opened 40 shops throughout western Oklahoma.
In 1972, Love introduced a brand new idea to the enterprise — the nation retailer — which mixed current grocery and comfort shops with a self-service gasoline station. A location in Guymon, Okla., turned the primary to deploy this mannequin, which featured prolonged hours and was open seven days every week.
The corporate expanded additional in 1981, opening its first journey cease alongside Interstate 40 in Amarillo, Texas. This location catered to skilled truck drivers with the addition of expanded scorching and recent meals gadgets, truck upkeep and showers.
It’s with heavy hearts, we announce Tom Love, founder and govt chair of Love’s Journey Stops has handed away at age 85. https://t.co/AedWYy13gA pic.twitter.com/zasGNdT08n
— Love’s Journey Stops (@LovesTravelStop) March 7, 2023
The corporate opened its 600th location in October 2022.
“We’re deeply saddened by the passing of our beloved husband, father and grandfather,” stated the Love household. “He liked individuals, and that was evident in how he guided our household, operated the enterprise he began in 1964 and gave again to our neighborhood and organizations throughout the nation that serve others. He was all the time dedicated to serving to others succeed and opening the door for leaders, together with his kids and grandchildren, and we look ahead to constructing upon his legacy. Whereas the grief we really feel is unmeasurable, we have fun his life and can proceed his legacy of dwelling a life full of integrity, honesty and religion.”
“Tom Love was a person of conviction who by no means wavered from the ideas of honesty and integrity within the 59 years he spent creating the corporate he began along with his spouse, Judy,” stated Shane Wharton, president of Love’s. “These tenets nonetheless information our firm and can as we transfer ahead. Tom all the time listened and was sincerely considering figuring out the tales of workers and clients.”
Born in 1937 in Oklahoma Metropolis, Tom attended St. John’s College in Minnesota earlier than enlisting within the Marine Corps in 1954. He and Judy married in 1960.
At present, Love’s Journey Stops operates in 42 states.
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