12 Facts About Tom Bolack

On May 18,1918, Tom Bolack was born in Cowley County, Kansas.

Tom Bolack was a self-educated oilman who learned geology from correspondence courses.

Tom Bolack was a rancher and owner of the Albuquerque Dukes minor-league baseball team from 1956 to 1963.

Tom Bolack was Mayor of Farmington, New Mexico from 1952 to 1954 and a member of the New Mexico House of Representatives from 1956 to 1958.

In 1960, Tom Bolack was elected lieutenant governor by a margin of 279 votes, becoming the first Republican lieutenant governor in New Mexico since 1928.

Governor Edwin L Mechem was defeated in his bid for re-election and, when he resigned on November 30,1962, Bolack became governor, serving the remainder of Mechem's term.

In 1976, Tom Bolack co-chaired a bipartisan group that aimed to reform New Mexico's election legislation, after the state was included on a list of several states with unfair elections.

In 1985, Tom Bolack suffered a stroke and had to use a wheelchair.

On May 20,1998, Tom Bolack died in Farmington, New Mexico.

Tom Bolack's body was cremated and his ashes were scattered over his Farmington ranch using 16 specially-made fireworks on Fourth of July, 1999.

Tom Bolack's ranch is the site of the Tom Bolack Museum of Fish and Wildlife, which displays over 4,000 stuffed animals including many of rare species.

Tom Bolack, an accomplished big-game hunter and recipient of Safari Club International's Fourth Pinnacle of Achievement Award, shot most of the animals in the collection himself.