TAMPA, Fla. (Feb. 15, 2002)—Olin Mott, founder and president of Olin Mott Tire in Tampa, received the Tampa Metro Civitan Club Outstanding Citizen of the Year Award in a ceremony Feb. 11.
Mr. Mott, 81, was given the award for his support of Joshua House, a home for neglected and abused children he helped to found 10 years ago.
The idea for Joshua House, he said, came after a tragic accident in which a small child drowned in a toilet bowl. “There was no emergency shelter for kids to go to immediately,” he said. “We wanted to change that.”
Mr. Mott, a World War II veteran, survived the attack on Pearl Harbor, albeit with severe wounds. A career military man, he was forced to leave the service due to injury in 1953 and founded Olin Mott Tire two years later. The business now has seven stores, all in the Tampa area.