Longtime car dealer Warthen dies at 76

Monday, March 8, 1999 | 11:08 a.m.

John Edward "Ted" Warthen, a former bishop in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a longtime owner of a Las Vegas car dealership, died Friday at the age 76.

In 1961 Warthen moved to Las Vegas from St. George, Utah, and opened Warthen Buick on 10 acres of land on San Francisco Avenue, which is now East Sahara Avenue.

The dealership was originally staffed by 28 people, but when he got to the valley he didn't know if it was the right place for him.

In his first week in business police were chasing a man that had stolen a car and were shooting at him in front of the lot, Warthen said on his 35th anniversary as a Buick dealer in 1977.

"One of the bullets hit a car parked on our front line, right next to me," Warthen said. "It made me wonder if I wanted to stay in business in Las Vegas."

Warthen was born in Cedar City, Utah, May 8, 1922, the son of Emma and Mark Warthen. He married Norma Jane Hassen in 1943, and two years later opened a General Motors dealership in St. George.

Warthen served as a member of the St. George City Council for several years.

He is survived by his wife; sons Russel of Las Vegas and Merrill of Henderson; daughters Judy Lally, Carla Thompson and Linda Tucker, all of Las Vegas, and Lauri Sherratt of Cedar City; sister Betty Carlton of Salt Lake City; 21 grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be 5-8 p.m. today at Davis Paradise Funeral Home and at the LDS Sunrise Villa Ward on Tuesday from 10 to 11 a.m. Services will be 11 a.m. Tuesday at the Sunrise Villa Ward.