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<br /> ('��A/1�� Country Club.He also was active very sharp businessman. $
<br /> v •• + in state and national new-car You know, there are a lot of • 9 w a m
<br /> dealership associations and was jokes about used-car salesmen E a S 2 '
<br /> Continued from of a 32nd degree Mason, and car salesmen," McKeegan ;owl .m � d c7 c
<br /> John Geer at 640 N.El Dorado St. Longtime friends said Gab- said. "He was so sharp that °
<br /> He also acquired one of the bard mastered everything he nobody perceived him as that //�l�� � � g
<br /> fust Honda dealerships in the ever tackled,whether it was get- type of person.That is a comph- �I/
<br /> state. ting a private pilot's license, mens" iu d a o
<br /> One of Gabbazd's sons, Gary, boating, woodworking or golf- Marian Jacobs,longtime com- U Y E $W "
<br /> said that when the Honda Motor mg' munity activist end public-rela-
<br /> Co. wanted to open an auto 10
<br /> He owned a 40-foot yacht,but tions consultant in Stockton, ° �v
<br /> franchise in Stockton, it was only for three weeks. He then said Gabbard was an entrepre- a >° a
<br /> turned down by three dealers bought and restored a surplus neur from an early age. She o a I~ m v
<br /> before they went to Gene Gab- Navy motorized sailboat and recalled his story of collecting 3:� 106 ��d
<br /> bard. started taking friends on boat wire coat hangers from family ° c y
<br /> "Dad said he'd take the for- trips. and friends and selling them
<br /> The stately home of Gene back to dry cleaners at 2 cents " ° 8
<br /> eign-car franchise on two condi- Gabbard and wife Dorothy was apiece. W E$ ffi n.n�n
<br /> tions. One, that his 280-pound featured in an April 1970 article He was always driven to be ; Q•5 o
<br /> sales manager could fit in a in The Stockton Record. The the best,she said. ° o a
<br /> Honda sedan, and second, that O ,^ p° io
<br /> Honda give the Gabbard agency story noted that many of the fur- "When he teamed to play golf, 44
<br /> a $2,500 credit on car arts," mshins were"heirlooms of the he had to be the best golfer and y c o
<br /> Gary Gabbard recalled. p future woodwork produced then after he became really
<br /> Honda agreed and the dealer- by Gabbard's self-taught hands, good, he just got interested in y�h c
<br /> ship that no one else wanted Featured was a huge octagonal somethinelse.' -❑a o 0.8 9
<br /> was added to the Gabbard deal- table of walnut-finish mahogany (The Record also noted that at O a Z a p
<br /> wasershlieu —seating 12 — that had stereo age 79, golfer Gabbard had shot
<br /> p p—the 13th Honda speakers in its pedestal base, an his Ire) � u 5 W 5
<br /> agency in the nation and one of octagonal drum. "The guy was just incredibly to 5'E o 3
<br /> the first in California to sell He also made clocks, buying talented, and incredibly gener- c"O 4 O
<br /> Honda cars. y o U t t 3
<br /> the battery-powered works, ous and giving," Jacobs said. $ c o a
<br /> That proved to be a boon, fashioning the cases from "The thing I liked about him the y 3 p
<br /> Gabbard told a Record reporter mahogany and using unusual best was the fact that when the 3 v 8 0 d a
<br /> in 1994, when soaring gasoline things to mark the hours, such husbands of their friends passed a°' n o W.0
<br /> prices started cutting into the as dollar and half-dollar coins or away, he always made sure that " y �'o a�
<br /> sales of big domestic cars dominoes. Many of the clocks the wives and all the sinpJe girls 0 �3 a °pQ r
<br /> because Hondas were account- were given away to friends as in the nei hborhood were " ° 9 E 5 � a5
<br /> ing for about half his sales by gifts. included in(social)activities." o x 0 x E y
<br /> then. y $ �
<br /> The secret of success,accord- Gabbard is survived by his
<br /> Rights to the Honda franchise ing to Gabbard, was having the sons Gary and John of Stockton;
<br /> later were sold for $1 million, best possible tools. a sister, Irene T ert of Michi- %1, o
<br /> Gary Gabbard said. Stockton developer Alex gan; grandchildren Gene Gab- 0 d= o°
<br /> Gene Gabbard was one of the Spanos knew Gabbard over the bard and Julie Shea and Megan a 0 w °v
<br /> original supporters of a plan to decades as a "good citizen to and Michael Gabbard of Stock-
<br /> •a a
<br /> create an auto center in the early Stockton," he said. "He couldn't ton; and three great grandchil- 01614
<br /> 1990s,but he steadfastly wanted do enough for everybody." dren.
<br /> to have it in downtown Stock- For instance,many years ago,, He was preceded in death by W 3 o s d
<br /> ton. Gabbard sponsored Spanos as a• his wife of 51 years, Dorothy, P a
<br /> "I really do believe that in new member to the Stockton and son James. .0 3 0 3 C
<br /> business,you should give a little Golf and Country Club. A memorial service will be C a y° 0 C
<br /> back to the town," he told The "He was a very, very unique held at 11 a.m. Friday at De- o x
<br /> Record. individual;'Spanossaid."Every- Young Shoreline Chapel, 7676 O C c w 9
<br /> His dealership remained the body loved him. I dont know Shoreline Drive,Stockton.Com- �T , cj W p3 o c7
<br /> only new-car franchise in down- anyone who didn't have good mittal is private. Memorials: 1�1 9 °o
<br /> town Stockton until he sold the things to say about him." Hospice of San Joaquin,2609 E.
<br /> business. Tom McKeegan, a retired Hammer Lane; the Parkinson's
<br /> Gabbard was a two pres- longtime Stockton men's-cloth- Institute, San Jose; or charity of e
<br /> ident of the Stockton Golf and ing retailer, said Gabbard was a donor's choice. ¢
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