Thomas E. Love (born October 1937) is an American

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least one billion (1,000,000,000, i.e., a thousand million) units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. The American busin ...

businessman. He is the owner, founder and executive chairman of

Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores, doing business as Love's (or stylized as Loves), is an American family-owned chain of more than 500 truck stop and convenience stores in 41 states in the United States. The company is privately owned and he ...

Early life

Thomas E. Love was born in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

in October 1937, one of six siblings, the son of

F. C. Love Frank Criner Love, Jr. (April 29, 1908 – December 2, 1978)https://www.fold3.com/record/56843250/f-love-social-security-death-index was an American lawyer and president of the Kerr-McGee oil company. Early life Frank Criner Love, Jr. was b ...

, a lawyer who was later president of the oil company

Kerr-McGee The Kerr-McGee Corporation, founded in 1929, was an American energy company involved in oil exploration, production of crude oil, natural gas, perchlorate and uranium mining and milling in various countries. On June 23, 2006, Anadarko Petroleum ...

, and Margaret Eugenia Vessels Love. Thomas is the descendent of two

Chickasaw The Chickasaw ( ) are an indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands. Their traditional territory was in the Southeastern United States of Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee as well in southwestern Kentucky. Their language is classified as ...

families both named Love who were forced to participate in the

Trail of Tears The Trail of Tears was an ethnic cleansing and forced displacement of approximately 60,000 people of the "Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850 by the United States government. As part of the Indian removal, members of the Cherokee, ...

. He is a descendant of Benjamin Love, who was the official interpreter for the Chickasaw people. Aged 13, he left home to be educated as a boarder at

St. Gregory's High School St. Gregory's High School & College is a Catholic school in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It was founded in 1882, when the city was part of British India, by Gregory De Groote, a Belgian Benedictine priest. The school, located on Municipal office street of L ...

Shawnee The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...

, where he was a standout football player. Love attended St. John's University in

St. Cloud, Minnesota St. Cloud is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the largest population center in the state's central region. The population was 68,881 at the 2020 census, making it Minnesota's 12th-largest city. St. Cloud is the county seat of Stear ...

, but left after less than one semester. He then joined the

US Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

and over a three-year career, rose to the rank of corporal. When he left the Marines, he married and decided to try college once more. He dropped out of the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

in 1964.

Career

Initially, Love owned restaurants and car washes, until he discovered an opportunity in abandoned gas stations. In January 1964, Love and his wife Judy leased a self-service gas station in Watonga, Oklahoma. Love went on to open another 30 gas stations. Then in 1971, he decided to merge self-service gas stations with convenience stores, and the business continued to grow. Today, Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores is a national chain with more than 580 locations in 41 states.

Personal life

Tom and Judy Love married on December 26, 1961. They have four children and live in

, US. Three of their children work for the company. Frank Love and Greg Love are co-CEOs, and Jenny Love Meyer is the vice president of communications. Judy Love is secretary of Love's Travel Stops, and president of Love's Family Foundation. She sits on the boards of

Oklahoma City University Oklahoma City University (OCU) is a private university historically affiliated with the United Methodist Church and located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The university offers undergraduate bachelor's degrees, graduate master's degrees and doctor ...

SSM Health Care SSM Health is a Catholic, not-for-profit United States health care system with 11,000 providers and nearly 39,000 employees in four states, including Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Illinois, and Missouri. Based in St. Louis, Missouri, SSM Health owns hosp ...

, the St. Anthony Foundation,

Oklahoma City Museum of Art Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

Civic Center Music Hall The Civic Center Music Hall is a performing arts center located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It was constructed in 1937 as Municipal Auditorium and renamed in 1966. The facility includes the Thelma Gaylord Performing Arts Theatre, the Freede Little ...

, Allied Arts, Community Foundation and the University of Central Oklahoma Foundation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Love, Tom 1937 births Living people American billionaires College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University alumni University of Oklahoma alumni Businesspeople from Oklahoma City United States Marines