The collective community of Michigan’s Great Southwest has lost a business leader who was amazingly comfortable at one and the same time as both a dynamic leader in the automotive industry and a guy with a dry sense of humor who just loved working the showroom floor chatting with customers every day. Ed Siemans passed away last Friday, April 24th, 2020, surrounded by his family.
Ed was asked many a time by friends and customers when he was going to retire. He never did.
Ed Siemans and his wife Joan moved to Bridgman 45 years ago in 1975 after they had purchased the Dave Bauschke Ford dealership, located next to the railroad tracks in downtown Bridgman. They both fell in love with what Southwest Michigan had to offer, and together, they founded Siemans Ford, a very small dealership with a total of eight employees.
Just four years later in 1979, with much bigger plans for their enterprise, Ed and Joan purchased vacant land across from the Navajo restaurant on Red Arrow Highway on the north side of Bridgman and proceeded to build a new building.
Barely three years later, in 1982, they launched the sister dealership of Siemans Mazda, which was located on Niles Avenue in Saint Joseph where Honor Credit Union’s St. Joe branch now resides.
A year later, in 1983, they added the Chrysler, Plymouth, and Dodge franchises, and over the years, they have had Pontiac, Daewoo, Isuzu, and Eagle nameplate franchises as well. Steady exponential growth turned the Siemans family of dealerships into a powerhouse and one of the largest such enterprises in Southwest Michigan.
When you’re Ed Siemans, you’re never too big or too busy to mix it up with the people who buy your cars, trucks and SUVs. In fact, Ed was known for his interaction with customers and staff, and he found great joy in the business by talking to his customers. Ed’s daily routine was to talk to customers in the waiting room, and he developed a great relationship with his customers over those many years.
While Ed had a pretty dry sense of humor, it was not uncommon at all to wind up with the customers laughing as well. Ed also enjoyed his hard-working staff, which he considered to be just like family. He made it a point to walk through his Service Department every day, because Ed was very proud of his team.
Ed’s unique sense of humor was displayed through the years in many of his radio commercials, where he would find something amusing to talk about and always end with “Thanks for listening – Bye.”
Ed was recognized by colleagues within the automotive industry for his outstanding leadership and performance. He received the Time Magazine Quality Dealer Award in 2006. He also received the Northwood University Automotive Dealer Education Award in 2016, and he was currently a Regional Director for the Michigan Automobile Dealers Association.
When he was honored by the Northwood University award in 2016, they had this to say about him, “Ed Siemans’ strong belief in supporting education is witnessed through the variety of organizations with which he and his dealership are continuously involved. While some organizations are national, he prefers to support those programs and organizations that truly impact and benefit the local community. Siemans is an advocate and supporter for the Blossomtime Festival, Gateway Services, Lory’s Place, Lakeshore Excellence Foundation, Five Pines Ministries and the Lake Michigan College Foundation’s Winner’s Circle Benefit Auction, to name a few. He is an active member of the Michigan Automobile Dealers Association, serving as a director and Group II Chairman for the organization. With more than 60 years of automotive experience, Siemans runs the dealership alongside his three sons.”
For more than 45 years, Ed Siemans and his crew worked their plan of continuous improvement. Never letting up, they once again garnered national recognition for the work they do on behalf of their customers every day, when they were named one of only 387 Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Ram & Fiat dealerships in the world to earn certification as Customer First Award for Excellence winners in 2017. When he won that honor, Ed told me, “This is a great award representing the hard work that our staff contributes each and every day,” and added, “We are the first to admit that we cannot be complacent. Each day brings a new challenge and a new technology. We need to continuously improve.” He certainly fulfilled that challenge in every regard.
As noted, many would ask Ed when he was going to retire, but he truly loved what he did. Truth is, he worked on the day that he died. As many of us know, it’s not work if you enjoy what you do, and Ed thoroughly enjoyed what he did.
Ed’s three sons, Jack, Craig, and Eric, are all active in the dealership business. They were lucky and blessed to spend time with their father every day.
Another thing that Ed frequently told radio listeners over the years was, “Stop by and see me, you might be really glad you did.” For those of us who knew and loved Ed Siemans, we can honestly say it was a good thing we stopped by one day, and “we’re really glad we did!” Rest in peace, my friend.
