No retirement wheels in motion for this 91-year-old car salesman

Williard L. Davis presented 2020 President’s Award by the Ohio Independent Automobile Dealers Association

RICHMOND -- Selling cars has been a longtime preoccupation for Williard L. Davis and still is for the 91-year-old Richmond man who doesn't see retiring as any kind of New Year's resolution.

Accolades for the owner of SPM Fleet Services Inc. at 1795 state Route 43 came earlier this year from the Ohio Independent Automobile Dealers Association, recognizing him with the 2020 OIADA President's Award.

Though it was not presented with formality or fanfare because of COVID-19 precautions, the Reynoldsburg-based association nonetheless applauded Davis for his "outstanding dedication, support and commitment" to the association.

The OIADA was founded in January of 1985 by a group of six independent auto dealers and the owner of an auction as the Auto Dealer Alliance of Ohio. According to its Facebook page, the original members "believed that used car dealers should band together to form a new organization which would serve the needs of independent dealers statewide." Its mission is "to promote, educate and advance the independent automobile dealer in Ohio and surrounding states by offering educational opportunities to members that enhance and better their business and to lobby for legislation, regulations and policies affecting our industry."

Born in 1929, Davis grew up on a farm in Unionport, graduating from Hopedale High School, Class of 1947 with one simple goal.

"I just wanted a job," Davis said with a chuckle, reviewing his work history prior to that.

"When I was 14 years old, I worked as a mechanic in a garage in Annapolis during the summer," Davis said of his employment at Leas Garage.

He didn't know much about repairing cars, but it didn't matter. "They were so desperate for help with all the boys being in the service and so I was able to change the battery and fix tires and all that stuff," he said as a youthful self-taught mechanic. "Mr. Leas taught me everything he could."

The following summer, the youngest son of Lloyd and Maude Davis said he tamped ties on the Pennsylvania Railroad.

"I had five brothers in the Second World War, and all of them made it back," Davis said. "There was actually seven of us," he said of the total sibling count, noting the eldest brother died before turning 1.

"We grew up in horse and buggy (times). We were 3 miles from Unionport. We'd milk the cows at night and bottle the milk and put the bottles down in the basement in the cool spring water that was in the basement and then milk in the morning, bottle the milk, and then horse and buggy, 3 miles to Unionport. My brother and I would run from house to house delivering the milk before school," he said of the milk-route routine of his youth.

"It was kind of interesting because people wouldn't pay their milk bill at Christmas because they would spend the money. When my brothers and I got up on Christmas day and went to our stockings, they were hanging on the tree, and each of us got a banana for Christmas.

"A banana was a big deal then for us," he said, arching his eyebrows.

Davis' car selling days began 65 years ago when he started working at his brother Glenn's car lot on Canton Road -- West End Motors, where State Park Motors is today.

"My brother was one of a kind," Davis said. "My brother taught me so much -- how to work with people and everything. He took better care of the customers than anybody did and had free loaners for them if they had a car problem and needed a car."

Such customer-friendly treatment generated repeat business, according to Davis, who resides with his wife Norma. They've been married for 71 years and have three children -- Brenda Stine of Carrollton, Sam of Mingo Junction and Peggy Ross of Phoenix. Add to that eight grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren.

Around 1972 when son Sam turned 18, father and son formed a 50-50 partnership -- State Park Motors on county Road 54, Richmond.

"We started our own dealership," Davis said of their wholesale operation that ran out of what they called "the barn" located next to their home. The inventory totaled about 30 cars.

"Specializing in fleet remarketing, (Davis) would go to different conventions and build relationships that would become some of their biggest accounts," according to the association.

"His true talent and passion were people and relationship building. Some of their biggest accounts were Hertz, Hallmark, McDonald's and Ashland Oil. These weren't just regional or local accounts, they were national. One of his longtime employees remembers her husband traveling to California to pick up cars. At the time they were some of the only ones in the industry focusing on fleet accounts," the award announcement notes.

The 1980s marked a turning point for the business, according to the association.

"They started venturing into exports, selling thousands of vehicles overseas each year, they would ship from the East Coast to Saudi Arabia. They got into the rental business and sold franchises of the U Save Rental business. They started Steel Valley Leasing, a company on Stoney Hollow Boulevard, Steubenville, that leased trucks to steel companies across the United States. Davis also had an Oldsmobile and GM franchise.

"At the peak of their business, they were selling 3,000 vehicles a year, wholesale and retail," the association award announcement continues.

Throughout his automobile career, what Davis has enjoyed the most, he said, are the customers.

"It was just the people that I dealt with -- they were just such fantastic people," said Davis, whose first car was a '31 Chevy. "I think I paid $250 for it."

Davis' contributions are not only to the automotive industry, according to the association.

"He viewed his business more as a service and a way to give back to his community. Service to the community has always been a priority. Loaner cars were available to customers so they had a way to get around while their vehicle was being repaired," the association noted.

"It just made so much sense to take care of the customer," Davis said.

Davis' lot always has a box truck at the ready. "If he sold one, they had to go buy another one quickly -- how else could the local churches transport food to the local food banks?"

And as a dedicated Gideon, Davis has given out thousands of New Testaments, the association notes.

"At the age of 91, Willard still has more work ethic than most people half his age. He works six days a week and shows up at the office by 7 a.m.," association award announcement on Facebook reads.

It thanks Davis for his "many years of service to the community, the industry and to the association of independent automobile dealers of Ohio."

"I've been very blessed beyond belief," Davis said.

(Kiaski can be contacted at jkiaski@heraldstaronline.com.)