Founder of Home Oil Company, Tom Shirley, PASSES AWAY at 89

Tom Shirley, the founder of Home Oil Company and a longstanding president of the company, passed away early on Sunday morning at the age of 89 due to natural causes.

According to the website of Hobo Pantry, Shirley and his wife Jo purchased Home Oil Company in 1966. Home Oil Company was a small Phillips 66 distributorship that was situated in Ashford. The Shirley family also opened their first Hobo Pantry convenience store in 1978 as a result of this purchase.

Since then, they have expanded their business to include 26 locations around southeast Alabama. In the years leading up to his passing, Shirley held the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors at Home Oil Company. He then handed over the presidency to his son Tam Shirley.

Tom Shirley also had a charitable side to him. For the past 35 years, Home Oil Company has been the host of the Home Oil Charity Golf Classic. This game has been played by hundreds of teams, and the earnings from the event are donated to the Wiregrass United Way and its 37 partner agencies.

Shirley’s friends claim that he was a friend to everyone who knew him and that he never forgot where he came from. They even added that he was a friend to everyone.

Funeral arrangements for Shirley are currently being made.