Robert J. LaFortune
| Robert J. LaFortune | |
|---|---|
| Mayor of Tulsa | |
|
In office 1970–1978 |
|
| Preceded by | James M. Hewgley, Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Jim Inhofe |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Robert James LaFortune January 24, 1927 Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| Political party | Republican |
| Occupation | Engineer, politician, philanthropist |
Robert J. LaFortune (born January 24, 1927) is a Republican politician from the U.S. state of Oklahoma. LaFortune was mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma from 1970 to 1978.
LaFortune was born and raised in Tulsa. His parents, Joseph Aloysius LaFortune and Gertrude Leona Tremel LaFortune, who had moved there in 1920 from South Bend, Indiana. Joseph, a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, worked for thirty years at was an Warren Petroleum Company, becoming executive vice president and a noted local philanthropist. Robert LaFortune graduated from Cascia Hall Preparatory School in 1944. He served in the United States Merchant Marine Cadet Corps for two years. After receiving his discharge, he attended the University of Tulsa and then transferred to Purdue University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering in 1951. He then joined Reilly Tar and Chemical Company, where he worked for five years. He then became a part owner of Reed Drilling Company.
Robert left private business to serve as Tulsa's commissioner of streets and public property from 1964 to 1970). LaFortune was elected Mayor of Tulsa in 1970. He was active in the development of the Tulsa Port of Catoosa and the city's freeway system, as well as the Williams Center and Tulsa Performing Arts Center in downtown Tulsa.
He is or has been a director of Apco Argentina Inc., BOK Financial Corporation and the Williams Companies. LaFortune is a member of the National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America, the organization's governing body.
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