Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...
from the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...
from 1970 to 1978.
Early life
LaFortune was born and raised in Tulsa. His parents, Joseph Aloysius LaFortune and Gertrude Leona Tremel LaFortune, who had moved there in 1920 from South Bend, Indiana.Schell, Kent A. "LaFortune, Robert James." ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'' Accessed February 5, 2009. Joseph, a graduate of the
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...
, worked for thirty years at Warren Petroleum Company, becoming executive vice president and a noted local philanthropist. Robert LaFortune graduated from
Cascia Hall Preparatory School
Cascia Hall Preparatory School is an Augustinian Roman Catholic coeducational College-preparatory day school in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It is a member of the Augustinian Secondary Education Association. It is one of Tulsa's two Catholic high schools, w ...
in 1944. He served in the
United States Merchant Marine
United States Merchant Marines are United States civilian mariners and U.S. civilian and federally owned merchant vessels. Both the civilian mariners and the merchant vessels are managed by a combination of the government and private sectors, an ...
Cadet Corps for two years. After receiving his discharge, he attended the University of Tulsa and then transferred to
Purdue University
Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and mone ...
, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering in 1951. He then joined Reilly Tar and Chemical Company, where he worked for five years. He then became a part owner of Reed Drilling Company.
Public sector
Robert left private business to serve three terms as Tulsa's commissioner of streets and public property from 1964 to 1970. LaFortune was elected Mayor of Tulsa in 1970, an office he held until 1978."Business Hall of Fame: Biographies of Inductees at University of Tulsa Collins College of Business website; retrieved February 5, 2009. As commissioner, he was active in developing the
Tulsa Port of Catoosa
The primary facility of the Tulsa Ports, known as the Tulsa Port of Catoosa, is near the city of Catoosa in Rogers County, just inside the municipal fenceline of Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States. Located at the head of navigation for the McClell ...
. Specifically, he secured acquisition of the site and obtained approval of development funding for the port. As mayor, he got passage of bond issues for the city's freeway system, as well as the
Williams Center
The Williams Center is a facility for intramural and recreational sports at the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater.
Uses
The college used the center to welcome the UW-W football team when it won the 2010 Division III national championship ...
and
Tulsa Performing Arts Center
The Tulsa Performing Arts Center, or Tulsa PAC, is a performing arts venue in the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma. It houses four main theatres, a studio space, an art gallery He also helped initiate the start of the Indian Nations Council of Governments (INCOG)."Gallery of Mayors." City of Tulsa. Undated. Accessed October 28, 2017.
Awards and honors
He is or has been a director of Apco Argentina Inc.,
BOK Financial Corporation
BOK Financial Corporation — pronounced as letters, "B-O-K" — is a financial services holding company headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Offering a full complement of retail and commercial banking products and services across the American Mid ...
and the
Williams Companies
The Williams Companies, Inc., is an American energy company based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Its core business is natural gas processing and transportation, with additional petroleum and electricity generation assets. A Fortune 500 company, its commo ...
. LaFortune is a member of the
National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America
The National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America governs the Boy Scouts of America organization. One source reports that there were 72 members of the board in 2001.
The board is led by the national chair, a volunteer elected by the Nat ...
, the organization's governing body.
He was a 1982 recipient of the
Silver Buffalo Award
The Silver Buffalo Award is the national-level distinguished service award of the Boy Scouts of America. It is presented for noteworthy and extraordinary service to youth on a national basis, either as part of, or independent of the Scouting pro ...
from the
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded ...
, and in 1995 the University of Tulsa granted him an honorary doctor of laws degree. He is the uncle of Bill LaFortune, who served as Mayor of Tulsa (2002–2006).
In 2017, a portrait of LaFortune was unveiled at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center (PAC). The portrait was made by Nathan Opp, professor of art at Oral Roberts University. LaFortune was mayor when the PAC was first planned, and participated in forming the public-private partnership that funded construction of the PAC.Watts, James D. Jr. "PAC unveils portrait of Robert LaFortune." ''Tulsa World.'' May 22, 2017. Accessed October 28, 2017.
On October 16, 1960, LaFortune Park was opened to the public. As the first county park in Oklahoma, the 270-acres features over 700 trees, 11 ponds, and more than 100,000 visitors a year. There is an 18-hole championship golf course, a lighted driving range, pro shop and the only lighted 18-hole par 3 in Oklahoma. It’s a spectacular setting for all occasions with indoor and outdoor event spaces. The park was originally not called LaFortune Park, but was renamed in honor of the Tulsa mayor.