Owen Faricy dies; onetime Nash dealer

Owen Faricy
Owen Faricy

Owen Faricy of Colorado Springs, an award-winning Nash dealer in Pueblo almost 70 years ago, died Saturday, Sept. 13. He would have been 93 next month.

Owen Faricy, born and reared at Florence, went to work for Jackson Chevrolet in Pueblo as an 18-year-old kid in 1940. He opened a used-car lot at Pueblo on Jan. 2, 1942, and obtained the Nash franchise there in 1945. Two years after opening, Faricy had earned the Nash 10 Point Award.

Faricy, whose brother Roland worked with him, later opened a Hudson dealership in another building. Owen Faricy was a member of National Dealer Councils for both Nash and Hudson, and in 1954 was one of 27 dealers to meet in California with George Romney and Roy Abernathy to plan the merger of Nash and Hudson into American Motors.

In 1955, he bought out a Packard dealership in Colorado Springs and turned the building into an American Motors store. Faricy had moved to Colorado Springs and sold the Pueblo business to his brother, Roland.

Owen Faricy stayed active in the Colorado Springs business, which became a Chrysler Jeep store, until retiring in 1990, when sons Mike and Joe assumed leadership. Second and third-generations of the Faricy family today operate the Chrysler/Jeep business at Colorado Springs and Ford/Lincoln at Canon City.

Nash’s top award presented to Owen Faricy Motor Co. in Pueblo in 1947.
Nash’s top award presented to Owen Faricy Motor Co. in Pueblo in 1947.