Civic leader. He was a longtime leader with the Connecticut Grange organization and was instrumental in its 1930s campaign for improvements to state roads. He was a graduate of Lewis High School and Hunter's Business School in Hartford. He was a fruit grower expect for a brief time when he was a motorman on the trolley line from Meriden to Lake Compounce and when, in his 30s, he traveled the country as a representative for the Corn Industries Foundation of Washington and New York. During World War I, he was a member of the State Guard, commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. Mr. Tolles was a Republican selectman in Southington during the Depression (1930-1934) and served in the state legislature for one term during the 1943 session. He was also the Southington fire warden from 1925 until his retirement in 1955. He was a member of the Connecticut State Grange for nearly 30 years and served as Master (president) from 1930 to 1933. While leading the Grange, the organization initiated its efforts to get the state to upgrade and maintain its roads. As a result, he organized the Rural Roads Improvement Association, a significant catalyst for state aid to road improvements. He served as its first and only president. He and his wife, Harriette, personally traveled upwards of 55,000 miles up, down and across state getting the word out and seeking support for the Association's work. Mr. Tolles is credited with originating the slogan, "Get Connecticut Out of the Mud," and – once the work of the Grange and the Rural Roads Improvement Association proved successful – "Keep Connecticut Out of the Mud." As a result of his efforts, the state legislature passed the Town Aid Bill, allocating $3 million from the Highway Fund to be divided equally among 169 municipalities for road improvements; Governor Wilbur Cross signed the bill in April 1931. Mr. Tolles was additionally a director of state Chamber of Commerce for six years and a member of Governor Cross' Economic Advisory Council. In 1952 he organized the Union Grange Fair in Southington and served as its general chairman for the first two years. In recognition of his years of service, the portion of Route 10 that runs through Southington is named the Louis G. Tolles Memorial Highway. The road was dedicated on Aug. 6, 1960 and rededicated on Oct. 6, 2007 (with new signs having been installed by the DOT on Aug. 3, 2007).