{{Short description|American politician (1927–2024)}} {{Infobox officeholder | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Robert James LaFortune | birth_date = {{birth date|1927|1|24}} | birth_place = Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2024|3|27|1927|1|24}} | death_place = Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S. | other_names = | occupation = Engineer, politician, philanthropist | office = 31st Mayor of Tulsa | term_start = May 5, 1970 | term_end = May 2, 1978 | predecessor = James M. Hewgley Jr. | successor = Jim Inhofe | alma_mater = Purdue University | spouse = Jeanne Morse | father = Joseph Aloysius LaFortune | relatives = Bill LaFortune (nephew)<br> G. T. Bynum (grandson) | party = Republican }}
'''Robert James LaFortune''' (January 24, 1927 – March 27, 2024) was an American philanthropist and politician from the U.S. state of Oklahoma. LaFortune was mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma from 1970 to 1978.
==Early life and education== LaFortune was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on January 24, 1927, to Joseph Aloysius LaFortune and Gertrude Leona Tremel LaFortune, who had moved there in 1920 from South Bend, Indiana. Joseph worked for thirty years at Warren Petroleum Company, becoming executive vice president and a noted local philanthropist.<ref name="EOHC-LaFortune">{{cite web |last1=Schell |first1=Kent A. |title=LaFortune, Robert James (1927– ). |url=https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=LA004 |website=okhistory.org |publisher=Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture |access-date=28 March 2024}}</ref> Lafortune was Catholic.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Banzet-Ellis |first1=Gail |title=Q&A: Robert LaFortune |url=https://www.tulsapeople.com/tulsa-people/march-2019/q-a-robert-lafortune/article_93dbdc2d-f9a1-58f1-ad2e-8be6af5ee6be.html |access-date=1 April 2024 |work=TulsaPeople Magazine |date=25 February 2019 |language=en}}</ref>
LaFortune attended Marquette Elementary School and graduated from Cascia Hall Preparatory School in 1944. He served in the United States Merchant Marine Cadet Corps for two years.<ref name="EOHC-LaFortune" /> After receiving his discharge, he attended the University of Tulsa from 1946 to 1948 and then transferred to Purdue University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering in 1951.<ref name="Okla HOF">{{cite web |title=Robert J. LaFortune, Class of 1975 |url=https://www.oklahomahof.com/hof/inductees/lafortune-robert-j-1975 |website=oklahomahof.com |publisher=Oklahoma Hall of Fame |access-date=26 May 2024}}</ref>
==Early career== LaFortune then joined Reilly Tar and Chemical Company, where he worked for five years before becoming a part owner of Reed Drilling Company. He also served in the U.S. Air Force Reserves for 10 years, reaching the rank of Captain.<ref name="EOHC-LaFortune" />
==Tulsa politics== LaFortune, a member of the Republican Party, served three terms as Tulsa's commissioner of streets and public property from 1964 to 1970.<ref name="TW-Obit">{{cite news |last1=Stanley |first1=Tim |title=Former Tulsa mayor, civic leader Robert LaFortune dies at 97 |url=https://tulsaworld.com/obituaries/localobituaries/former-tulsa-mayor-civic-leader-robert-lafortune-dies-at-97/article_3146152a-ed2f-11ee-851d-3b55914f94cf.html |access-date=28 March 2024 |work=Tulsa World |date=28 March 2024 |language=en}}</ref> In 1966, he became the first person elected to the city commission without opposition.<ref name="Okla HOF" /> As commissioner, he was active in developing the Tulsa Port of Catoosa.<ref name="EOHC-LaFortune" />
===Mayor of Tulsa=== LaFortune was elected Mayor of Tulsa in 1970, and sworn in on May 5, 1970.<ref name="Swearin">{{cite news |title=LaFortune Becomes Mayor |url=https://www.newspapers.com./image/451759717/ |access-date=1 April 2024 |work=The Daily Oklahoman |date=May 6, 1970 |page=41 |url-access=subscription |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> As mayor, he got passage of bond issues for the city's freeway system,<ref name="EOHC-LaFortune"/> as well as the Williams Center and Tulsa Performing Arts Center in downtown Tulsa.<ref name="collins">[https://web.archive.org/web/20090515122059/http://www.collins.utulsa.edu/HallOfFame/bios/default.asp "Business Hall of Fame: Biographies of Inductees], at University of Tulsa Collins College of Business website; retrieved February 5, 2009.</ref> He also helped initiate the start of the Indian Nations Council of Governments (INCOG).<ref name="Mayoral Bio" /> He was a delegate to the 1972 Republican National Convention.<ref>[http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/ladislas-lair.html The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians]</ref> He left office in 1978.<ref name="Mayoral Bio">{{cite web |title=Gallery of Mayors |url=https://www.cityoftulsa.org/government/mayor-of-tulsa/gallery-of-mayors/ |website=www.cityoftulsa.org |publisher=City of Tulsa |access-date=28 March 2024}}</ref> His successor, Jim Inhofe, was sworn in on May 2, 1978.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Marler |first1=Ralph |title=Swearing In Ceremonies Today for City Officials |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/890262246/?terms=%22Inhofe%22&match=1 |access-date=27 February 2023 |work=Tulsa Daily World |date=May 2, 1978 |url-access=subscription |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
==Later life== LaFortune was a director of Apco Argentina Inc., BOK Financial Corporation and the Williams Companies.<ref name="EOHC-LaFortune" /> LaFortune was a 1982 recipient of the Silver Buffalo Award from the Boy Scouts of America, and in 1995 the University of Tulsa granted him an honorary doctor of laws degree.<ref name="Okla HOF" /><ref name="collins" />
In 2017, a portrait of LaFortune was unveiled at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center. The portrait was made by Nathan Opp, professor of art at Oral Roberts University. LaFortune was mayor when the building was first planned, and participated in forming the public-private partnership that funded its construction.<ref name="Watts">[http://www.tulsaworld.com/blogs/scene/arts/pac-unveils-portrait-of-robert-lafortune/article_89d4e4df-f3eb-5bd1-b3ea-17d31a24ae50.html Watts, James D. Jr. "PAC unveils portrait of Robert LaFortune." ''Tulsa World.'' May 22, 2017.] Accessed October 28, 2017.</ref>
==Family and death== Jeanne Morse LaFortune, Robert's wife, died November 15, 2003. Born August 25, 1929, she was a native of Missouri. She and Robert married in 1951. They had six children, three sons and three daughters, and 16 grandchildren.<ref>{{cite news |title=Matriarch of LaFortune political family dies at 74 |url=https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/2003/11/17/matriarch-of-lafortune-political-family-dies-at-74/62015545007/ |access-date=28 March 2024 |work=The Oklahoman |date=November 17, 2003}}</ref> He was the uncle of Bill LaFortune, who served as Mayor of Tulsa (2002–2006).<ref name="TW-Obit" /><ref name="Mayoral Bio" />
LaFortune died in Tulsa on March 27, 2024, at the age of 97. His death was announced the following day by his grandson G. T. Bynum, mayor of Tulsa at the time.<ref name="death">{{cite news |last1=Hill |first1=April |title=Former Tulsa mayor has died |url=https://www.krmg.com/news/local/former-tulsa-mayor-has-died/DI2GFDDS2FAUBNKIUCZIGLC2IU/ |access-date=28 March 2024 |work=102.3 KRMG |date=28 March 2024 |language=en |archive-date=28 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328213043/https://www.krmg.com/news/local/former-tulsa-mayor-has-died/DI2GFDDS2FAUBNKIUCZIGLC2IU/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==External links== *[http://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interview/lafortune-robert-j/ Voices of Oklahoma interview with Robert J. LaFortune.] First person interview conducted on March 5, 2013, with Robert J. LaFortune.
{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before=James M. Hewgley Jr.}} {{s-ttl|title=31st Mayor of Tulsa| years=1970–1978}} {{s-aft|after=Jim Inhofe}} {{end}}
{{Mayors of Tulsa}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lafortune, Robert J.}} Category:1927 births Category:2024 deaths Category:Mayors of Tulsa, Oklahoma Category:Purdue University College of Engineering alumni Category:National Executive Board of Scouting America Category:20th-century American philanthropists Category:20th-century mayors of places in Oklahoma Category:Philanthropists from Oklahoma Category:Cascia Hall Preparatory School alumni Category:Catholic politicians from Oklahoma Category:Tulsa, Oklahoma, city council members Category:LaFortune family