John Oldham cutting the ribbon on his new pool business in the winter was intentional. He wanted to get his feet wet — literally, I guess — and a fuller understanding of the business in time for the busy season beginning in March.
It was darn near pool weather in December. For some with heated options, it was. Only in Texas is there a need for a pool guy at Christmastime.
“I’m getting into it at a time when I can really get a handle on the business and take care of my customers on a smaller scale and ease my way into that March time period when I expect things to really start taking off,” Oldham said.
Plus, he has a few construction projects he is finishing up.
Oldham is a new franchisee, owner of a local Pool Scouts, a pool cleaning and maintenance outfit. His business operates in and around Burleson — south of Fort Worth — down to Alvarado and then across to U.S. 287 down to Waxahachie.
Pool Scouts is based in Norfolk, Virginia.
Oldham describes himself as a man of modest means “who always kept his ducks in a row.” He isn’t new to entrepreneurship. He was part of a family-owned construction company for the past 20 years or so. As it was described to me, the company made a deliberate decision not to use a credit facility to support expansion. When COVID hit, the company took a hit.
Oldham, 58, left to take a job with a larger, competing company.
“Man, it just didn’t feel right for me,” he said. “I just didn’t have the passion I used to have with something of my own and something I had control of.”
He leaned on advice from family members with franchises. One owns a Chicken Express. Another owns a Little Gym. After exploring a few options, Oldham said he felt most comfortable with Pool Scouts. Dave Mele, the company president, and the corporate office and staff seemed most invested in seeing him succeed, Oldham said.
“It’s a family atmosphere with a desire to see me succeed,” he said. “That was really the thing that drove me to Pool Scouts.”
He was also looking for something in the service industry.
Oldham was born in DFW. He spent the early part of his life in Arlington and Mansfield. His father was a Texas DPS trooper, first assigned to Del Rio in 1973 and then transferred to Baird in January 1974.
“My dad was stationed in Baird at that time, just outside of Abilene,” Oldham told me. “He had a gentleman pulled over on I-20. He had him outside of his vehicle and was talking to him. It was a split-second time period. My dad kind of moved the pedestrian out of the way, but he didn’t have time to get out of the way himself.”
Not only had the pulled-over gentleman parked in the center median, he didn’t pull all the way over. As a result, part of his car was in the roadway.
John David Oldham, 26, was struck and killed by a suspected drunk driver in the early morning hours of July 7, just east of Clyde. According to news reports, Oldham was killed instantly. Another officer on scene, 38-year-old Harold Hambrick, suffered a heart attack and later died.
A monument to the officers was dedicated at the site in 1996.
John David Oldham, the son of mother-and-father Marines who served in WWII, was laid to rest in Calvary Cemetery in Mansfield.
Oldham’s mother eventually remarried and moved the family to Del Rio. Oldham graduated high school there, but in due time moved back up here.
“I’m very, very proud of being John David, too,” said Oldham, who was 7 at the time of his father’s death. “We’ve got a long family history there.”
Like the construction company, his Pool Scouts operation will be family run. His 26-year-old daughter and his son-in-law are coming onboard in January. Bringing them on was one of the reasons he said he got into this business.
“I’m very family-oriented,” he said.
His daughter, he jokes, is “a lot more knowledgeable on social media stuff than I am.” His son-in-law will be making calls.
Said Oldham: “Tech stuff to kind of help me get things going.”
I haven’t checked the Farmer’s Almanac, but they might be making more calls than they expect before March.