What year did Loves change their name to Loves Travel Stops and Country Stores? How did Love’s Truck Stop get its name?

Thomas E. Love was born on October 1937  and lived until March 7, 2023.

He was an American billionaire businessman. He was the owner, founder, and executive chairman of Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores.

Aged 13, he left home to be educated as a boarder at St. Gregory’s High School in Shawnee, where he was a standout football player.

Love attended St. John’s University in St. Cloud, Minnesota, but left after less than one semester. He then joined the US Marine Corps 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 in 1964.

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.

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, SSM Health Care, the St. Anthony Foundation, Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Civic Center Music Hall, Allied Arts, Community Foundation, and the University of Central Oklahoma Foundation.

Tom Love died in Oklahoma City on March 7, 2023, at age 85.

What year did Loves change its name to Loves Travel Stops and Country Stores? How did Love’s Truck Stop get its name?

1978: Love’s Country Stores Inc. is established. 1981: The first Travel Stop opens in Amarillo, Texas. 1986: The company is renamed Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores, Inc. 1990: Love’s adds major branded fast-food franchises to travel stops.