John Groendyke became president and CEO of the Oklahoma-based company following the death of his father, Harold, who founded the carrier in 1932. (Groendyke Transport)
key takeaways:
- John Groendyke, former chairman and CEO of Groendyke Transportation and former chairman of NTTC, died on June 13 at the age of 81.
- Groendyke led the Enid, Okla.-based tank truck carrier’s national expansion with an emphasis on safety, service, employee engagement and quality management.
- He remained Chairman of the Board after assuming daily leadership in 2001 and is survived by his wife, four children, 12 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
John Groendyke, former chairman and CEO of Groendyke Transportation and former chairman of National Tank Truck Carriers, died June 13. He was 81 years old.
Groendyke became president and CEO of the Enid, Okla.-based company following the death of his father, Harold, who founded the carrier in 1932.
Over the next few decades, Groendyke transformed the company and its culture – building on his father’s earlier and later achievements – to create a tank truck carrier with a national footprint.
According to current CEO Greg Haugen, who is Groendyke’s son-in-law, the company expanded largely through organic growth during Groendyke’s time as its top executive.
John and Harold. (Groendyke Transport)
Hodgen, who first met his future father-in-law in 1989, said, “He had a vision of what he wanted to turn Groendyke Transport into. And he started hiring people who could do that. One of the nice things about John was that he was not difficult to help. He could take advice from people. He took advice from people he thought could give him good input. And I think he helped shape the future. “Helped him shape the company for.”
Safety and service were key to Groendyke’s vision. Groendyke introduced a formal Deming Quality Management System, among other developments.
The company’s second-generation owner also tried to understand what was happening in all parts of the business.
According to Haugen, Groendyke had a saying that “the best fertilizer for a farmer’s land is his footprints”, reflecting his belief that the best way to learn what was going on in a business was to get among the employees, visit the terminals, and watch the trucks.
“He loved equipment,” said Haugen, who is also president of the American Trucking Association. “He wanted to talk to the mechanics. ‘Hey, tell me, we bought this truck and we were expected to do this. Tell me what it’s like to work on it.’ Talk to the driver: ‘Tell me what it’s like to drive this truck.’ He wanted to know because he wanted them to have the right tools to succeed.”
“He had a vision of what he wanted Groendyke Transport to turn into,” Haugen said. (Groendyke Transport)
It was an ethos that never left Groendyke, even after handing over day-to-day responsibilities to Hodgen in 2001.
Groendyke continued to frequent the company’s head office – he remained chairman of the board – even as he managed other ventures, including an antique car business and a farm. According to Haugen, he would go to employees’ desks, ask how a particular team member was doing on a task, empower them, and describe the ownership team’s involvement.
“He was a collector of relationships,” he said. “He valued knowing people – knowing something about them and people knowing something about them – and so the relationships that exist today even after he’s passed away are a tribute to how much he valued people, and that bodes well for the family business. It’s made us very successful.”
In addition to the family business, Groendyke was a collector of antique cars, watches and firearms, as well as an avid outdoorsman, cattleman and conservationist. He served as Oklahoma Wildlife Commissioner for 44 years – the longest tenure in United States history, according to a obituary Ladusseau-Evans Funeral Home and Crematory – and worked with The Nature Conservancy to protect the state’s landscape.
Groendyke also served as president and member of the board of directors of the Grand National Quail Club and Foundation, helping to pioneer the annual Grand National Quail Hunt in his hometown.
Born in Enid, Grondyke spent most of his life in the state of his birth, earning a bachelor’s degree from Oklahoma State University and a law degree from the University of Oklahoma.
(Ocestat AG via YouTube)
He was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame and the OSU Hall of Fame and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the NTTC in 2024.
Groendyke is survived by his wife, Virginia; children Shawn, Melanie, Hayden and Tucker; 12 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
