Friends and clients called Ralph Luke's office Monday to offer praise and condolences. One called Luke "classy." Another said the 75-year-old worked with a 25-year-old's energy, said Tom Collins Jr., Luke's grandson.

It wasn't that Luke -- who died Saturday in Florida -- was just a good salesman, Collins said. The founder and chief executive officer of Luke Oil Co. and part owner of Zel's Roast Beef and Duke of Oil had a "great personality," Collins said.

One person who called Monday, Collins said, judged Luke this way: "They don't make 'em like that anymore."

Luke, a Hobart native who moved to Valparaiso 28 years ago, died of a heart attack the night before he planned to attend Sunday's Daytona 500 stock car race with Tom Collins Sr., his son-in-law and president of Luke Oil.

Luke founded Luke Oil in 1967, after buying a home heating business from his retiring boss. He expanded the company into a chain of gas stations. Luke Oil recently bought the County Line Orchard in Hobart, a property Luke loved to visit on weekends, Tom Collins Jr. said.

Luke, who served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War, leaves behind his wife, Lois, four children, 10 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. His four children all live in Northwest Indiana.

Tom Collins Sr. will run the businesses, Tom Collins Jr. said.