Thomas E. (Tom) Love (Deceased)

Industry: Convenience stores
Primary Company: Love’s Travel Stops & Country Store
Age: Born October 1937.¹“Tom Love,” SMEI Academy of Achievement. Archived September 28, 2006. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/Fdvyu
Location: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Estimated Worth: With wife Judy Love, a combined $7.8 billion (According to Forbes, as of July 20, 2019.)²“#209 Tom & Judy Love,” Forbes, July 20, 2019. Archived July 20, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/LAmGf

Background

Thomas Eugene (Tom) Love and his wife, Judy Love , are the founders of Love’s Travel Shops & Country Stores. In 1964, the Loves incorporated Musket Corporation, the predecessor to Love’s Country Stores. By 1981, Love’s had grown to more than 100 convenience and gasoline filling stations, and continued to expand into Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas and Arkansas.³“Tom Love,” SMEI Academy of Achievement. Archived September 28, 2006. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/Fdvyu Tom Love passed away on March 7, 2023.⁴“Thomas Eugene Love,” The Oklahoman. Archived August 7, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/DVlgM

Tom Love was elected vice president of the National Oil Jobbers Council (NOJC) in from the South-Central Region in October 1971. In 1973 he became NOJC senior vice president, and in October 1975 the group’s president.⁵“Tom Love,” SMEI Academy of Achievement. Archived September 28, 2006. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/Fdvyu

Funding

Political Contributions

Below is a snapshot of Thomas E. Love and Judy Love’s political spending, via campaign finance data exported from the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Note that while efforts are made to ensure the accuracy of this data, errors may have been introduced in the original finance records.

Tom Love contributed a combined total of $16,100 to committees supporting Sen. James (Jim) Inhofe (R-OK). As a senator, Inhofe consistently promoted the idea that climate change was a hoax.⁶“Colorado Climate Scientists Tell Ken Buck: Global Warming Is Not A ‘Hoax’,” Thinkprogress. Oct 24, 2010. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/WoEKO

View the attached spreadsheet for a complete list of Thomas E. Love and Judy Love’s political spending by year (.xlsx).

Koch Events

June 2010

Tom Love attended the June 2010 meeting of the Koch network in Aspen, Colorado. A list of attendees and a schedule for the Aspen summit was obtained by ThinkProgress.⁷“MEMO: Health Insurance, Banking, Oil Industries Met With Koch, Chamber, Glenn Beck To Plot 2010 Election,” ThinkProgress, October 20, 2010. Archived July 10, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/KUNp3

Affiliations

• Love’s Travel Shops & Country Stores  — Co-founder.⁸“Tom Love,” SMEI Academy of Achievement. Archived September 28, 2006. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/Fdvyu
• Musket Corporation/Musket Oil Company — Predecessor to Love’s Travel Shops & Country Stores.⁹“Tom Love,” SMEI Academy of Achievement. Archived September 28, 2006. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/Fdvyu
• National Oil Jobbers Council (NOJC)  — Vice chairman from 1971 until becoming senior vice president in 1973. He then became president in 1975.¹⁰“Tom Love,” SMEI Academy of Achievement. Archived September 28, 2006. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/Fdvyu
• Oklahoma Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association (OPMCA) — Former president (1975).¹¹“ABOUT OPMCA,” Oklahoma Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association. Archived July 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/y1rIc

Other Resources

• “Tom Love” on Wikipedia.

Sources

• 1
  “Tom Love,” SMEI Academy of Achievement. Archived September 28, 2006. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/Fdvyu
• 2
  “#209 Tom & Judy Love,” Forbes, July 20, 2019. Archived July 20, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/LAmGf
• 3
  “Tom Love,” SMEI Academy of Achievement. Archived September 28, 2006. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/Fdvyu
• 4
  “Thomas Eugene Love,” The Oklahoman. Archived August 7, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/DVlgM
• 5
  “Tom Love,” SMEI Academy of Achievement. Archived September 28, 2006. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/Fdvyu
• 6
  “Colorado Climate Scientists Tell Ken Buck: Global Warming Is Not A ‘Hoax’,” Thinkprogress. Oct 24, 2010. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/WoEKO
• 7
  “MEMO: Health Insurance, Banking, Oil Industries Met With Koch, Chamber, Glenn Beck To Plot 2010 Election,” ThinkProgress, October 20, 2010. Archived July 10, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/KUNp3
• 8
  “Tom Love,” SMEI Academy of Achievement. Archived September 28, 2006. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/Fdvyu
• 9
  “Tom Love,” SMEI Academy of Achievement. Archived September 28, 2006. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/Fdvyu
• 10
  “Tom Love,” SMEI Academy of Achievement. Archived September 28, 2006. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/Fdvyu
• 11
  “ABOUT OPMCA,” Oklahoma Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association. Archived July 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/y1rIc