ICONIC SALESMAN HAS DIED AT 82

ron tonkin 122nd
Ron Tonkin auto dealership located “Out 122nd way”

                                ron tonkin  
                             Ronald Barry Tonkin  

                    May 4, 1931 – January 17, 2014

In 1960, Ron Tonkin, a native of Portland, became the youngest Chevrolet
dealer in the nation. He had had an early start in the auto industry when, as 
a boy, he began doing odd jobs at his father’s used car lot. After World War 
II, Edward Tonkin opened one of the first Kaiser-Frazer dealerships in the 
United States, and that is where Ron, who did not yet have his driver’s
license, learned the car sales business. 

In 1954, Ron Tonkin, then a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army and graduate
of the University of Washington with a B.A. in business administration, officially
joined the family business, following in the footsteps of his brother, Marv. Ron
died Friday of end-stage renal failure.

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posted by Bob Karm in Automobiles,CURRENT EVENTS,DEATH,DEBUT,HISTORY,New release,PORTLAND'S PAST and have No Comments

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