Founder and longtime president of Home Oil Company, Tom Shirley, passes away
(WDHN) — Founder and longtime president of Home Oil Company, Tom Shirley, died early Sunday morning at 89 of natural causes.
According to the Hobo Pantry website, Shirley and his wife Jo purchased Home Oil Company, a small Ashford-based Phillips 66 distributorship, in 1966. This purchase also led to the Shirley’s opening their first Hobo Pantry convenience store in 1978, now growing into 26 stores across southeast Alabama.
Our purpose at Hobo Pantry is to fuel our community so that every family prospers. We are committed to Faith, Family, Team, and Community.
Hobo Pantry staff
Before his death, Shirley served as the Chairman of the Board of Home Oil Company and passed on the presidential duties to Tim Shirley.
Tom Shirley also had a philanthropic side to him, as for the past 35 years Home Oil Company hosted the Home Oil Charity Golf Classic, which fields dozens of teams, and proceeds from the event each year go to the Wiregrass United Way and its 37 partner agencies.
Friends of Shirley say he was a friend to anyone to all who knew him and that he never forgot where he came from.
Funeral services for Shirley are pending.
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