John T. Oxley (polo)
John Thurman Oxley | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 26, 1909 near Bromide, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Died | September 19, 1996 (aged 87) |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, polo player |
| Known for | American entrepreneur and accomplished polo athlete |
John Thurman Oxley (July 26, 1909 – September 19, 1996) was a prominent American entrepreneur and accomplished polo athlete.
Early life
Oxley was born in 1909 on a cattle ranch near Bromide, Oklahoma. At the age of seventeen, he relocated to Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Career
His professional journey commenced at Warren Petroleum in 1935, where he advanced to the position of secretary by 1948. He later established the Texas Natural Gasoline Corporation, which he sold in 1961 to initiate Oxley Petroleum alongside his son, John C. Oxley. This enterprise focused on natural gas operations and was eventually acquired by Allied Corporation, a company that later became part of Honeywell.
Polo
Oxley took up polo at age 46 and achieved significant success, securing two U.S. Open Polo Championship titles as well as victories in the USPA Rolex Gold Cup and Silver Cup, the Monty Waterbury Cup, multiple Sunshine League championships, and twenty-seven medium-goal tournaments. At 83 years old, he set a record as the oldest player to claim the International Gold Cup.
He owned the Royal Palm Polo Club located in Boca Raton, Florida and operated Greenhill Farm near Owasso, Oklahoma, recognized as one of the largest commercial breeders of polo ponies in the United States.
Legacy
On March 17, 1994, Oxley was inducted into the Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame. Additionally, he was posthumously honored by the Tulsa Historical Society Hall of Fame in 2003. The Mary K. Oxley Nature Center, a wildlife sanctuary situated within Mohawk Park in Tulsa, commemorates his late wife.
Personal life
Oxley was married to Mary from 1935 until her passing in 1987; they shared passions for horseback riding and polo. The couple divided their residence between Tulsa and winter months spent in Delray Beach, Florida. Their sons, Thomas and John C. Oxley, both engaged in polo; Thomas survived a critical brain injury sustained in 1968. They also had a daughter named Mary Jane Tritsch.