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Don Wessel
Don Wessel

The Wessel Legacy

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When longtime car dealer Don Wessel, 86, died of natural causes on Feb. 6 at Cox South, those close to him say a man devoted to improving the quality of life for area residents was lost.

Wessel was a board member for myriad organizations including the Salvation Army, Cox College, Drury University, Children’s Miracle Network and Springfield Trust Co. And his legacy as an avid supporter of the arts in Springfield is something that anyone might find challenging to duplicate.

Ron Spigelman, music director for the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, said he was deeply saddened by the death of the man who convinced him to move to Springfield and take the conductor position in 2004.

“He was more than a supporter. He was the person who pretty much made us what we are today,” Spigelman said, noting Don Wessel Honda sponsored January’s concert. “Through times thick and thin he would be there with both his financial support and as board president. Even later as a board trustee … he was active. It was one of the great loves of his life, the Springfield Symphony.”

Spigelman said Wessel’s son-in-law, Randy Madsen – who just was named dealer/manager and majority shareholder of Wessel Honda, 3520 S. Campbell Ave. – had followed Wessel’s footsteps and become an active member of the symphony’s board.

Thought leader
J. Howard Fisk, owner of J. Howard Fisk Limousines Inc. and president of the Ozarks Technical Community College Board of Trustees, credits Wessel for getting him involved with the school. Wessel was a founding board member for the community college and served as a member from 1990 until his 2008 retirement, including a 1992–94 stint as president. “He said, ‘If you get a call to help, take the call. If you can help, help,’” Fisk said.

Fisk, who described Wessel as a mentor and said the two met for lunch weekly for more than 30 years, also served on the symphony board for a time due to Wessel’s influence. “He really felt the fine arts offered something to the community – a level of refinement. It was something he’d argue about,” Fisk said, calling Wessel a very gregarious person.

Fisk said Wessel was on an early governing board during the planning stages of the Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts, and once it was built, he loved to attend shows, viewing productions from a box seat near the stage. Wessel sponsored the Don Wessel Emerging Concert Series through Hammons Hall, and according to Fisk, saw the promotion of his name as a way to prompt others to back the local arts community.

“He felt like his endorsement of these activities would encourage other (business owners) to say, ‘OK, I need to get involved, too,’” Fisk said.

Hammons Hall Sales Director Enoch Morris said when he first approached Wessel about supporting a new concert and education series for young artists more than 15 years ago, Wessel jumped at the opportunity. To underwrite the expense, Wessel committed $5,000 per year initially, and in recent years had committed $8,000 annually to the endeavor. Morris said the Wessel family has funded the 2011–12 season and verbally committed to continuing its sponsorship.

Wessel also contributed $25,000 to the creation of Hammons Hall, Morris said, and he was a regular season ticket holder. Wessel served as chairman of the advisory board for the performing arts center for several years, Morris added.

“He was just taken with everything. I think he may have been a frustrated musician and may have played the violin. I think the violin was his favorite – that and the piano,” Morris said, adding that Wessel would have lunch with the emerging artists at the Tower Club and loved meeting them. “He was a super-committed person to the arts and knew what the arts meant to the community.”

Brent Dunn, executive director of the Missouri State University Foundation, said Wessel was also a big supporter of the state school – and, in particular, of Ozarks Public Television and KSMU. Wessel’s contributions to the foundation tally more than $100,000, Dunn said.

Fisk, however, said he believed much of Wessel’s financial generosity will never be known because he donated in quiet ways, too, such as helping a student waitress secure the financing she needed to go to school.

Lessons learned
Madsen said Wessel’s death made him and other family members and dealership staff realize the depth of Wessel’s community involvement.

“We always had the feeling that the two very most important things to Don Wessel were his family and his business,” said Madsen, who has worked for Wessel Honda for more than 25 years. “The thing that has come out in the last week – with all the things that have been said about my father-in-law – has made us very aware that every group he was involved with, whether it was the symphony or a bank board, everybody felt like that was the group he cared most about.”

Wessel developed his succession plan roughly two years ago, Madsen said, and the dealership is remaining family-owned. In accordance with the plan, Madsen was named majority shareholder and dealer/manager through the Honda franchise agreement, placing him in charge of day-to-day decisions.

Madsen has served the Springfield Symphony board for about five years, and he said Wessel encouraged his passions and community involvement. “One of the things that he said all along was that it’s not just about the car, it is about the relationship we have with people and how we present ourselves and our services,” Madsen said.

The company, he said, intends to continue to support the symphony, Hammons Hall and others, but he declined to disclose future commitment levels.

He doubts he or anyone can replace Wessel’s efforts, though. “No one will ever replace Don Wessel, either in this business or in this community,” Madsen said. “We are still learning from him.”[[In-content Ad]]

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