LSU Alumni Association News
Traditions of Giving John and Rose Ann Shelton
By Ben Wallace Photo by Larry Hubbard
John and Rose Ann Shelton in the Shelton Gift Shop.
John T. Shelton, Jr., has given his share of pennies to the University, but he would be the first to tell you the copper colored coins are almost 98 percent zinc. The 1994 LSU Alumni Association Alumnus of the Year served as vice chairman, vice president, director, and chief operating officer of the Texas-based petrochemical firm Texas Olefins Company until his retirement in 1996. Now, he divvies up his time among board meetings, the golf course, and Tiger football games. “Rose Ann and I have held season football tickets for longer than I can remember,” says Shelton. The Fayette, Miss., native graduated from high school in a class of ten, but his smalltown roots provided the foundation for a forty-plus-year career in the petrochemical industry, where he served as plant manager for both Texas Olefins and Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO), the same company for which another notable LSU alumnus, Lod Cook, served as chairman and chief executive officer. The John & Rose Ann Shelton Gift Shop welcomes visitors to The Cook Hotel, allowing Shelton and Cook to share more than careers at ARCO. Shelton, of Houston, graduated from LSU in 1953 with a bachelor’s degree. in chemical engineering. Post-graduation, he fulfilled his two-year Army ROTC commitment before attending night business classes at the University of Houston and gaining experience in the petrochemical industry. He also earned a J.D. from the South Texas College of Law. But Shelton has never forgotten his home in Baton Rouge. He still shares LSU season football tickets with his former roommate, longtime friend, and fellow Hall of Distinction member Robert “Mac” Wallace. The Sheltons have three children, Sharon, Shirley, and John “Tom” Shelton III. Sharon earned an M.B.A from the University of Southern California and currently resides in Los Angeles. Shirley and Tom are attorneys residing in Houston and Austin, respectively. Shirley and her husband, John Meredith, have two children, Ben and Mason, whom John and Rose Ann enjoy seeing as often as possible. “We are very fortunate to live only five minutes away from our two grandsons,” says Shelton. “And although we often see them during their sporting events and other activities, the highlights of the year are trips to Baton Rouge and LSU.” Shelton says his grandsons learned at an early age to enjoy the electric atmosphere of a Saturday night in Tiger Stadium. “Anytime they know they’re going to stay with us for a few days, the first question they ask is, ‘Are we going to LSU?’” Ben Wallace, a student in the Manship School of Mass Communication, is the entertainment director/producer/ anchor of “The Ramen: The Soup for College Students” on Tiger TV.
10 LSU Alumni Magazine | Winter 2011