Jack Lamb, the first professional fleet manager employed by Exxon and the first-ever winner of Automotive Fleet's Professional Fleet Manager of the Year Award in 1985, passed away in Houston Sept. 16. He was 85.

Lamb got his start in fleet in 1962, working for the fleet management company ARI. Between 1963 and 1967, as an ARI employee, Lamb was contracted to Humble Oil & Refining Company, which was renamed Exxon in 1973.

Lamb's first responsibility at Humble was to help organize a captive leasing company, called Humble Leasing, where he served as supervisor of operations. Another venture at Humble Oil was the creation of Esso Rent-A-Car, where Lamb was also the operations manager. At Esso Rent-A-Car, Lamb’s task was to develop a neighborhood car rental program, where vehicles were rented to the public at Esso gasoline stations.

In 1968, Lamb became an Exxon employee, where he managed a 6,200-unit fleet comprised of 3,200 cars, 2,500 trucks, and 500 large tractor-trailers. He retired from Exxon in July 1986.

From 1953 to 1957, Lamb served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army.

In 2009, Lamb was inducted as one of the 20 founding members of the Fleet Hall of Fame. In a 1985 interview with AF, Lamb summed up his career saying, "Fleet is the only business I’ve been in and I sure had lots of fun doing it."