Remembering Tom Friedkin

Topics:  Tom Friedkin

Congressman Pete Olson
Congressional Record: 115th Congress
24 March 2017

(Mr. OLSON asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. OLSON. Mr. Speaker, a man loved throughout Houston, throughout 
Texas, throughout America, and throughout our world, Tom Friedkin put 
on his angel wings and flew to Heaven last week.
  Tom was the force behind Houston's largest private company, Gulf 
States Toyota. Tom put an ``open for business'' sign up in 1969. Thirty 
years later, Tom was inducted into the Texas Business Hall of Fame.
  Tom's brain made him a billionaire, but his heart was worth much, 
much more. Tom took that heart to Tanzania to protect elephants from 
being poached and killed. Tom's foundation signed a 30-year agreement 
with Tanzania to make it a better country.
  A legend Texans love, Bum Phillips, would say this about Tom 
Friedkin: Tom, you may not be in a class by yourself, but whatever 
class you are in, it don't take long to call the roll.
  God bless you, Tom.