SPRINGFIELD, MO — Charles H. “Chub” O’Reilly, co-founder of O’Reilly Auto Parts, died Wednesday, April 20. He was 92.

The business O’Reilly and his father, Charles F. O’Reilly, started in 1957 with 13 employees is today a multimillion-dollar corporation with 1183 stores in 18 states.

According to a report in the Springfield News-Leader, O’Reilly was still active in the company when it went public in 1993, offering common stock on the Nasdaq market under the symbol ORLY. It closed on Wednesday’s stock market at $46.68 per share. The company experienced strong growth after Charles H. O’Reilly allowed his children to become involved in the company, the article noted.

Described as a kind person and a gentleman, O’Reilly instilled in both his family and his company’s culture a desire to help the community.

“I remember him saying you have to look out for your employees. Look after your own first, and when they believe in you, then they would look out for the customer,” his son David O’Reilly told the newspaper. “We took the concept of family teamwork and extended it into a management teamwork and it was a formula for success.”

O’Reilly is survived by his wife, four children, 11 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

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