Our company founder, M.E. “Bus” Whitehead, graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1950. Bus was a standout basketball player, leading the Huskers to a Big Seven conference championship his senior year.
After he graduated, Bus went to work as a sales trainee for Phillips 66 and played for their acclaimed AAU amateur basketball team. In 1959, still working as a salesman for the Phillips 66 Company, Bus took advantage of the opportunity to buy the Phillips 66 direct operation in Lincoln, which included 14 service stations. By 1965, Whitehead Oil grew to 24 service stations and a bulk products distribution plant.
Whitehead Oil founder Bus Whitehead was a leader of two of the best teams in NU history in 1948-49 and 1949-50
During the gas shortages of the 1970′s, many service stations went out of business. In fact, the total number of gas stations in the nation decreased by 50 percent. But Whitehead Oil Company continued to grow and prosper.
As the 70′s turned into the 80′s, it was apparent that new marketing strategies were necessary for the company to continue its success in the Lincoln market. “Full-Service” stations became “Self-Service” and soon began to offer consumers convenience items: pop, snacks, and groceries.
In 1982, after graduating from Kansas State University, son Mark joined the company and opened the first U-Stop Convenience Shop at the corner of 27th and South. Now there are 19 U-Stop convenience stores in the Lincoln area with five more in western Iowa. Mark Whitehead, now president of the company, continues the mission set by his father to “be aggressive and try to keep abreast of the trends.”
Bus passed away in June of 2010 at the age of 82. He left behind a legacy built on sound management, energetic marketing and a commitment to employees and community. As Bus always said, “when you have good people, there’s nothing you can’t do.”
