Born on May 22, 1928, Pickens was the 昀椀rst baby born via cesarean section in Holdenville. His father, Thomas Boone Pickens, Sr., was an attorney for the land acquisitions department of Phillips Petroleum Company. His mother, Grace Pickens, ran the Of昀椀ce of Price Administration for three Oklahoma counties during World War II, rationing Main Street in Holdenville, Oklahoma. Aerial view of Holdenville, Oklahoma, the goods that were low in supply. The Photo by the Oklahoma Publishing Company. hometown of T. Boone Pickens whose home Pickens grew up in had been built Courtesy Oklahoma Historical Society. childhood home was located at 217 N. by his grandfather, and his maternal entered the oil and gas industry, taking his Kelker Street. Holdenville was named for grandmother and aunt lived next door. The J. F. Holden, general manager of the 昀椀rst job as a geologist at his father’s former Choctaw, Oklahoma, and Gulf Railroad. tight-knit family instilled in Pickens lifelong employer—Phillips Petroleum. Photo by Aero Photo Company. August 25, values, morals, and business ethics. In Pickens, however, soon became 1930. Courtesy Oklahoma Historical Society. 2019, longtime friend and Oklahoma discontent with Phillips Petroleum, mostly State University President Burns Hargis as a result of boredom and disagreement said of Pickens, “Boone could keep you with the company’s bureaucratic ways mesmerized with stories of Holdenville and of doing business. He stayed with them small-town America. The in昀氀uence of his for about three years before deciding to family in his rural community was profound. leave to start his own company. Using The Holdenville life lessons of honesty and $2,500 in cash from his savings, along hard work set the pace and trajectory of with a substantial $100,000 in borrowed his life.” money, Pickens established Petroleum As a young boy, Pickens operated Exploration with two other investors in a successful newspaper route on his 1954. The company’s primary operations bike. His customer base began with 28 were in locating and supplying oil. In 1959 households, but he grew his business he formed his second company, Altair Oil through acquisitions. The additional & Gas, which performed similar operations T. Boone Pickens graduated from Oklahoma neighboring routes he acquired grew his in western Canada. Pickens took both State University in 1951. Photo by Meyers Photo delivery route to 154 papers a day, six Shop. Courtesy Oklahoma Historical Society. days a week, resulting in $38 a month. His grandmother repeated messages about 昀椀scal responsibility to the twelve-year-old Pickens, important lessons in the midst of the Great Depression. He saved the money accumulated from his paper route under a 昀氀oor board in his closet. In 1944, when Pickens was in his teens, his family moved to Amarillo, Texas, where he attended high school and excelled in basketball. He enrolled at Texas A&M on a basketball scholarship. After the scholarship was not renewed, Pickens transferred to Oklahoma A&M College, known today as Oklahoma State University, to pursue a bachelor’s degree in geology. Pickens fell in love with the campus and the culture of the university. He graduated in 1951 and immediately T. Boone Pickens shakes hands with Gulf Oil Chairman James Lee before a special shareholders meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on December 2, 1983. Courtesy Oklahoma Historical Society. 31