Respected auto dealer Van Burkleo dies

McALLEN — James “Jimmy” Van Burkleo, who started in the parts department on his path toward owning a car dealership and eventually forged a reputation in the auto business for his professionalism and honesty, died Saturday. He was 86.

The son of eastern Hidalgo County sharecroppers, Van Burkleo found an affinity for automobiles when he started working in the parts departments at a Plymouth dealership in Mercedes, his son, Terry Van Burkleo, said. After working his way into management, he
became known as a person who could solve problems at faltering dealerships.

And when he had a chance to build a McAllen dealership from scratch for a retired oilman, he accepted the challenge. The move turned fortuitous when the oilman died a year into building the business, allowing Van Burkleo to purchase the dealership from his heirs.

“It was a great opportunity because he always had a dream of having his own business,” Terry Van Burkleo said. “He started from nothing, built a nice profession in the business and went on to become a successful auto dealer in the Valley.”

Jimmy Van Burkleo, who graduated from Mercedes High School in 1942,  where he was captain of the football team and president of his senior class, spent most of his adult life in the auto business.

He learned the business while working for other South Texas dealers, where he started in parts, moved his way to service and sales and eventually became a general manager.

But he could have never foreseen in 1963 that his decision to build a dealership that started with five employees would lead to owning it a year later. Van Burkleo had agreed to start a dealership for Rambler, a now-defunct automaker, that he later expanded with a Lincoln-Mercury franchise.

He purchased the downtown McAllen business called Glascoe Motors when its namesake died, and he changed the name of the dealership to Van Burkleo Motors when he relocated to North 10th Street seven years later.

Van Burkleo remained in the business for 34 more years, until he sold it in 2005 to his son, Bill, who later died of leukemia. The old site of the Van Burkleo Motors is now a BMW dealership, and the Lincoln-Mercury franchise was sold to Bob Boggus, owner of the Boggus Auto Group.

But even after Van Burkleo left the auto business, Boggus said, he still regularly stopped by Boggus’ office to talk about cars.

“He was a car guy, and he never lost his passion for them,” said Boggus, who counts Van Burkleo as a mentor. “He loved automobiles as much as he did the business.”

Van Burkleo was a respected member of the McAllen business community and the automobile industry, receiving numerous awards that included the Ford Motor Company’s highest recognition.

He enjoyed playing golf — even though he admitted he couldn’t play well — and teed off at top courses like Pebble Beach. He traveled to 48 states and every country in Europe during his life, taking a couple of weeks off during the summer for the trips with his wife, Dorinda.
He, of course, opted to drive for each of his U.S. vacations.

But his passion was always his auto dealership, friends and family said. He was a people person and saw the business as a service.

“During my years working for other dealers, I made up my mind that I could be honest and take care of customers and still be successful,” Van Burkleo himself wrote in a 12-page essay. “Long before it became a trend to   strive for customer satisfaction, I think I always made that a priority.”

Terry Van Burkleo said his father was satisfied with being known for his professionalism and honesty in the auto industry.

“There were a lot of things he saw throughout the years (at other dealerships) that he didn’t
want to do,” Terry Van Burkleo said. “He wanted to do things at his dealership the right way.”