Dan Shaver

Dan Shaver
Mr. Shaver, 56, of Charlotte, died peacefully Tuesday, January 2, 2007 at his home after a heroic battle with cancer. He was born on June 6, 1950 in Charlotte and was a graduate of South Mecklenburg High School. Dan attended Central Piedmont Community College and served in the United States Army Reserve.
Dan left a Texaco distributor in 1979 to start his own petroleum wholesale firm, Carolina Petroleum Distributors. The ambitious entrepreneur meticulously learned every aspect of the oil business, from sales to home heating delivery. The company expanded under Dan's keen business sense to cover not only North Carolina but the entire Southeast as well.
A visionary, Dan quickly saw that the rapid growth of the Charlotte region would need some retail convenience stores to support it. Within a few years of founding Carolina Petroleum, Dan dove into the cutthroat world of convenience stores by opening the first Petro Express, which Carolina Petroleum still services today. Petro Express started with the purchase of all Unocal 76 locations in the Charlotte market in 1986, followed by the 1995 acquisition of Conoco's local operations, and many privately financed locations. The two companies shared the same building and common ownership, but were run as separate, standalone privately owned businesses. The two firms, which encompassed a retail side and a wholesale side, complemented each other. Since that ambitious endeavor, Dan has helped grow Petro Express to sixty-six stores spanning two states.
Dan was featured in the July/August 1998 issue of SIGMA Magazine Independent Gasoline Marketing for his commitment to serving his local area of Charlotte with products and services that represent a high standard of quality. Dan was instrumental in industry-wide promotions such as automatic car washes, the Beer Cave, credit card and cash acceptors at-the-pump, and bounce-back pricing. Dan was familiar with meeting the CEO's of the major oil companies, as well as the day-to-day customer at Petro Express.
A multidimensional person, Dan enjoyed many passions, a few of which were motor sports racing, scuba diving and traveling. Dan first started racing in 1992 as not only the driver, but also the car owner and sponsor under Shaver Motorsports. Dan competed in Busch Series, ARCA Series, and SCCA Series races. Racing led Dan into another facet of motor sports, engine building. His passion for how things worked and how to make them work better enticed him to open an engine shop within Shaver Motorsports. Dan's success attracted the attention of NASCAR and Busch racing team owners. Shaver Motorsports' engines performed so well that they were used in research and development by several racing teams.
Even with Dan's success, he was a generous man. He chose to give, but to give quietly. Serving the community and giving something back is represented by Petro Express' involvement with local children's charities, cancer wards, the American Cancer Society, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, local chambers of commerce, little league baseball teams, and other community efforts to solidify the position as a corporate citizen that cares.
On-line memorials and tributes may be made at www.mem.com. In honoring Dan's wishes, funeral services will be private. Contributions may be made to the Dan Shaver Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 240606, Charlotte, NC 28224 or to Hospice and Palliative Care, Charlotte Region, 1420 E. 7th St., Charlotte, NC 28204.
It has been said that life is not a spectator sport; that it should be enjoyed. That's just what Dan Shaver did. He made his life and he enjoyed his life; he enjoyed the ride. Life was much more exciting and enjoyable with Dan around; there wasn't a dull moment to be had. Dan was immensely loved, greatly admired and will be deeply missed.
Harry and Bryant Company is serving the family of Dan Shaver.