WORKING -- Tom Sharp

-- Susan McCormack

HE IS

Pumping gas -- the old fashioned way.

A LIFETIME SPENT PROVIDING GAS

Tom Sharp, 72, began working for Union Oil Company in 1949 as a sales

representative. He said he enjoyed interacting with people so much that

he decided he wanted to run his own gas station. After serving in the Air

Force for four years -- where he continued to do part-time work at gas

stations “for the fun of it” -- Sharp returned to California, married and

made plans for his own business.

Fifty years later, he is still at it. He has owned gas stations in Orange

and Santa Ana and three Newport Beach-area stations. His last remaining

Union station, built in 1958 on Avocado Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway,

still offers full service.

CHANGING WITH THE TIMES

Gas stations in the 1950s used to be “square boxes,” Sharp said, serving

about 30,000 gallons each month. Now, stations have greatly expanded --

in size and in quantity of product, often selling more than 120,000

gallons monthly.

The super-sizing of stations has led to less-personalized service, Sharp

said.

“The customer never sees a human face,” he said.

While employees at Sharp’s full-service station pay more attention to

their customers and their cars -- such as checking under the hood --

Sharp said in the past his employees spent extra time cleaning the cars,

too, sweeping floorboards, dusting dashes and washing windows and tires.

IN IT FOR MORE THAN THE MONEY

Sharp’s nearly half-century-old investment was a smart one. He said he

bought his first gas station in 1955 for about $2,500. Now, he said, the

same business would cost up to $400,000.

Though his Avocado Avenue station will soon celebrate its 40th birthday,

Sharp said he has no plans to throw a party or exploit the accomplishment

as a sales gimmick.

“I’m just not that gregarious a person,” Sharp explained.

Indeed, his son, 42-year-old Tucker, said profits are not what motivate

his father to continue working each morning.

“[The work] gets him up and out of the house,” Tucker said. “We’ve

hounded him for years to quit. He says, ‘What am I going to do?’ It keeps

him young.”

NOT READY TO RETIRE

Sharp said he does enjoy golfing in his free time. But he has no plans of

retiring to get in more tee times. He is still reaping the rewards of a

lifetime of hard work, including the many familiar customers who still

visit the station.

“He’s been there so long that middle-aged men come in and say, ‘I had my

first job working for Tom Sharp, in the summer of ’59 or ‘60,”’ said

Tucker, who managed the station on and off in the early ‘80s and ‘90s.

“That’s always fun,” Tucker continued. “Being on that corner for so many

years, he has folks going in there all the time. Because we’re so close

to John Wayne [Airport], we get a lot of travelers from all over the

world, too.”

And, Sharp has every intention of continuing to stay on that corner.

“As long as my legs will keep me up,” he said.