Saturday, Bruce V. Petro, 75, of Leesburg, died at Peabody Retirement Community, North Manchester.
Petro's career selling automobiles started more than 50 years ago.
From 1952 to 1972, he was employed by the Oaklandon Sales Co. in various managerial positions and was partial owner.
In 1972, he purchased McKown Olds, Cadillac and GMC dealership, Warsaw.
In 1976, he built the current Petro GM Showplace in Warsaw.In October 1977, Petro went to Cincinnati, Ohio. There, he acted as a spokesman for fellow dealers of his district at a meeting of the GMC Truck Dealer Council. Petro was elected to the council by GMC truck dealers of his district under a nationwide program.
In June 1979, Bruce Petro Oldsmobile-Cadillac received its sixth award of merit plaque in recognition of its service department. Petro was among 135 dealerships to receive the award from General Motors out of the more than 3,500 dealers across the nation.
A dream came true for Petro in January 1981.
One of the biggest car dealers in Kosciusko County, Petro acquired two new dealerships and a new line of cars began rolling onto his business property.
Petro had sold Cadillacs, Oldsmobiles and GMC trucks for several years up to that point. The deal to sell Buicks and Pontiacs was finalized Jan. 21, 1981, in Indianapolis and Jan. 15 in Chicago.
Petro eventually retired in 1988.
He was a member of the North Webster United Methodist Church; Masonic Lodge, Fort Wayne Valley Scottish Rite, Fort Wayne; Mizpah Shrine Temple, Fort Wayne; Kosciusko County Shrine Club; and the Warsaw Elks Club, Warsaw.
He served with the Indiana National Guard from 1951 to 1961.
He is survived by his wife, two sons, a sister and two grandchildren. His obituary appears on page 3A of today's newspaper.
