Joe David Havens was born on a farm between Guthrie and Edmond, Oklahoma, on August 19, 1929. The timing of his birth was, to be kind, most unfortunate. Two months later, America's infamous financial calamity occurred. History calls it Black Tuesday, the Stock Market Crash of October 29, 1929. The devastating collapse was a spectacular event by any measure, particularly coming on the heels of an equally spectacular extended bull market. Barely a month after Joe's birth, the Dow Jones Industrial Average topped out at 386. It didn't return to that level until November 1954, a full quarter-century later At its worst, the Dow dropped 89%, to 40.56 in July 1932. In the first twenty years of his life, Havens would bear witness to Black Tuesday, The Great Depression and World War II.
Despite hard times, Joe persevered, becoming the first in his family to earn a college degree. He became a top propane salesman, and in 1968, started his own business, Enterprise Petroleum Company. In 1990, Joe sold out to his longtime partner, Dan Duncan. Today, Enterprise is one of the dominant mid-stream companies in the petroleum industry, and Duncan is one of America's wealthiest men.