Longtime automobile dealer, civic leader Coward dies

Wednesday, May 19, 2004 | 8:23 a.m.

Tom Coward knew the automobile industry inside and out, from tool and die making at the Ford Motor Co. trade school in Dearborn, Mich., in 1939, to the sales floor of his two Lincoln-Mercury dealerships in Las Vegas in the 1990s.

And although he was in business locally just 18 years, starting in 1979, Coward changed the way Las Vegas car dealers do business. He put sales offices around his showroom to better monitor salesmen and provided an air-conditioned service area desk so customers would not have to stand in the heat of the garage.

Thomas A. Coward, who also was former owner of Thrifty Car Rental and Ford dealerships in Oxnard, Calif., Oak Park, Ill., and Milwaukee, died Sunday at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center. He was 80.

Services for the Las Vegas resident of 25 years will be 2 p.m. Saturday at Palm Mortuary-Downtown.

"Tom was an intelligent businessman -- unbelievably intelligent," said longtime friend and attorney John Moran Jr. "He was a very ethical man who would roll up his sleeves and get out there on the sales floor and work. Tom showed young people who went into auto sales how to do it right."

In 1989, Moran and Coward were appointed to the Colorado River Commission by then-Gov. Bob Miller. Moran later became chairman and said Coward was among his strongest supporters.

"Because Tom was such a good businessman, he understood the importance that water played in the growth of the southern end of our state," Moran said. "He was wise on water issues and he was concerned about what the lack of water meant to our community. He was a valuable commissioner."

When Coward's term on the commission ended in 1996, he was replaced by former U.S. Attorney Lamond Mills, who died March 26.

Born Aug. 6, 1923, in Detroit, Mich., Coward left the Ford Motor Co. trade school and factory during World War II to serve as a master sergeant in the Army Air Corps in Europe.

He returned to Detroit after the war and got a job in Ford's sales division. In 14 years with the company Coward climbed the ranks to Midwest district manager for Ford's Lincoln-Mercury Division.

In 1960 Coward opened his first Tom Coward Lincoln-Mercury dealership in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park. He operated that dealership and one in Milwaukee for 10 years before selling them to open his Oxnard Ford dealership in 1970. He sold that business in 1986.

In 1979 Coward entered the Las Vegas market, buying Haden Lincoln-Mercury at 3030 E. Sahara Ave. Eight years later, Coward opened his 4-acre, $2 million dealership at 5750 W. Sahara Ave., that, in its time, was revolutionary.

The sales offices around the showroom minimized the intimidation of traditional large glass showroom windows. The facility also featured a centralized parts and service area for customer convenience and lush landscaping, including 38 palm trees.

A civic leader, Coward was a founding member of the Las Vegas Invitational golf tournament, former president of the Las Vegas Country Club, a member of Zelzah Shrine Temple and past director of Zelzah's Royal Order of the Jesters Court No. 181.

He also is a past recipient of the Las Vegas Variety Club Man of the Year award.

In August 1997, Coward, who long preferred the title general manager, sold Tom Coward Lincoln-Mercury -- name and all -- to Republic Industries Inc.

"I am going to miss dealing with the people most," Coward told the Sun on his pending retirement after 58 years in the business. "It was a lot of fun."

Coward is survived by his wife, Roberta Coward of Las Vegas; two daughters, Debrah Strang and Lorena Korbel, both of Las Vegas; a son, Brian Coward, of Henderson; a brother, James Coward of Kirkland, Wash.; six grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.

The family said donations can be made in Tom Coward's memory to the Zelzah Shrine Temple's Patient Transportation Fund.