{{Short description|American oil man and philanthropist (1902–1985)}} {{Infobox person | name = Jake L. Hamon Jr. | image = | caption = | birth_name = Jake Louis Hamon | birth_date = July 24, 1902 | birth_place = Lawton, Oklahoma, U.S. | death_date = 1985 | death_place = Amsterdam, Netherlands | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | nationality = | other_names = | known_for = | education = | alma_mater = University of Chicago | employer = | occupation = Oilman | title = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | political_party = Republican | boards = | spouse = Nancy Blackburn | children = 2 sons, 1 daughter | parents = Jake Louis Hamon<br/>Georgia Perkins | relatives = Olivebelle Hamon (sister) }} '''Jake L. Hamon Jr.''' (July 24, 1902 – 1985) was an American oilman and philanthropist.
==Early life and education== Jake L. Hamon Jr. was born on July 24, 1902, in Lawton, Oklahoma.<ref name="smupapers">{{cite web|title=Jake and Nancy Hamon Papers|url=http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/smu/00259/smu-00259.html|website=University of Texas Libraries|publisher=SMU|accessdate=May 11, 2016}}</ref><ref name="texashandbookhamon">{{cite web|last1=Maxwell|first1=Lisa C.|title=HAMON, JAKE LOUIS|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fhaej|website=The Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|accessdate=May 11, 2016|date= June 15, 2010}}</ref> He was named after his father; his mother was Georgia Perkins.<ref name="texashandbookhamon"/> He spent his childhood in Ardmore, Oklahoma.<ref name="smupapers"/>
Hamon attended the University of Chicago for two years.<ref name="okhalloffame">{{cite web|title=Jake L. Hamon, Jr.|url=https://www.oklahomahof.com/Portals/0/PDF%27s/HOF%20bios/Hamon%20Jr.%2C%20Jake%20L..pdf|website=Oklahoma Hall of Fame|accessdate=May 11, 2016|archive-date=April 18, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418014048/http://www.oklahomahof.com/Portals/0/PDF%27s/HOF%20bios/Hamon%20Jr.%2C%20Jake%20L..pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> He dropped out of college in 1920, when his father was shot to death.<ref name="texashandbookhamon"/>
== Career and philanthropy == Hamon started his career in Ranger, Texas, in 1920 and drilled his own well a year later.<ref name="smupapers"/> He subsequently partnered with oilman Edwin B. Cox (Edwin L. Cox's father), and established a corporate office in Dallas, Texas, in 1932.<ref name="okhalloffame"/> The two men worked together until 1950.<ref name="okhalloffame"/>
Hamon served on the board of directors of the American Petroleum Institute in 1934.<ref name="texashandbookhamon"/> 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.<ref name="texashandbookhamon"/> During World War II, he served as a member of the Petroleum Industry Council for National Defense.<ref name="texashandbookhamon"/> He was inducted in the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1968.<ref name="okhalloffame"/>
Hamon founded the Hamon Oil Company in 1984.<ref name="okhalloffame"/>
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.<ref name="smupapers"/> He was also on the board of the Cotton Bowl Athletic Association.<ref name="smupapers"/>
==Personal life== Hamon married Nancy Blackburn on March 28, 1949.<ref name="texashandbookhamon"/> They had two sons and a daughter.<ref name="texashandbookhamon"/> Hamon was a personal friend of former President George H. W. Bush.<ref name="bush41aportrait114">{{cite book|last1=Bush|first1=George W.|title=41: A Portrait of My Father|date=2014|publisher=Ebury Publishing|location=London|isbn=9780553447781|oclc=883645289|page=[https://archive.org/details/41portraitofmyfa0000bush/page/114 114]}}</ref> Hamon and his wife visited the Bushes in China when Bush served as Envoy to China in March 1975.<ref name="bush41aportrait114" />
Hamon died in 1985 while he was on vacation in Amsterdam.<ref name="texashandbookhamon"/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamon, Jake L. Jr.}} Category:1902 births Category:1985 deaths Category:People from Lawton, Oklahoma Category:Businesspeople from Dallas Category:University of Chicago alumni Category:Businesspeople from Oklahoma Category:American businesspeople in the oil industry Category:20th-century American businesspeople