Jake L. Hamon Jr.

Jake L. Hamon Jr. was born on July 24, 1902 in Lawton, Oklahoma.[1][2] He was named after his father; his mother was Georgia Perkins.[2] He spent his childhood in Ardmore, Oklahoma.[1]

Hamon attended the University of Chicago for two years.[3] He dropped out of college in 1920, when his father was shot to death.[2]

Hamon started his career in Ranger, Texas in 1920 and drilled his own well a year later.[1] He subsequently partnered with oilman Edwin B. Cox (Edwin L. Cox's father), and established a corporate office in Dallas, Texas in 1932.[3] The two men worked together until 1950.[3]

Hamon served on the board of directors of the American Petroleum Institute in 1934.[2] He subsequently served as the president of the National Stripper Well Association, the Texas Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association, and the Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association.[2] During World War II, he served as a member of the Petroleum Industry Council for National Defense.[2] He was inducted in the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1968.[3]

Hamon founded the Hamon Oil Company in 1984.[3]

Hamon made charitable contributions to the Dallas Museum of Art, and he served on the board of trustees of the Dallas Zoological Society and Southern Methodist University.[1] He was also on the board of the Cotton Bowl Athletic Association.[1]

Hamon married Nancy Blackburn on March 28, 1949.[2] They had two sons and a daughter.[2]

Hamon was a personal friend of former US President George H.W. Bush.[4] Hamon and his wife visited the Bushes in China when Bush served as Envoy to China in March 1975.[4]

Hamon died in 1985 while he was on vacation in Amsterdam.[2]