NW Ohio auto dealer involved in civic affairs

BRYAN - William Stanley "Stan" Pepple, Sr., who owned and operated General Motors car dealerships in Bryan and Hicksville, Ohio, died Monday in the Ohio State University Medical Center, Columbus, of complications from leukemia. He was 82.

Mr. Pepple began selling automobiles after World War II, starting as a salesman at C.J. Maxton's General Motors dealership in Butler, Ind.

In 1954, he bought a General Motors dealership in Hicksville and named it Stan Pepple Motors. He owned it until 1970, when he sold it and bought a General Motors dealership in Bryan.

He retired in 1985, but retained ownership until his death.

A native of LaOtto, Ind., Mr. Pepple graduated from Avilla High School in Avilla, Ind. in 1941, After obtaining an athletic scholarship, he enrolled at Manchester College in Manchester, Ind., later that year. But his studies were interrupted by Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941, which made him enlist in the Navy's officer school at Columbia University, New York, his son, Bill Pepple, said.

Mr. Pepple graduated in 1942 and was a junior officer assigned to a Landing Ship Tank in the South Pacific until he was honorably discharged in 1946. He used the GI Bill to complete his undergraduate studies at Manchester in 1947 and later coached basketball and taught economics and social studies at Butler High School in Butler.

Mr. Pepple's teaching career was cut short by the Korean War. He was recalled to the Navy and fought until 1953, when he was honorably discharged with the rank of lieutenant commander. He stayed in the Navy Reserve until 1963, when he retired with the rank of commander, his son said.

In Bryan, Mr. Pepple was involved in business and civic affairs. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he served on the boards of directors of the First National Bank of Northwest Ohio and MidAm Inc., and was a member of the Bryan Development Corp. He was president of the Bryan Area Chamber of Commerce in 1977, his son said.

His other memberships included the Rotary Club in Bryan and the Orchard Hills Country Club.

In retirement, Mr. Pepple enjoyed fishing Lake Erie and small inland lakes in the tri-state area, and playing cards.

Surviving are his wife, Loella Pepple; daughters, Jane McMaster, Janet Yoder, Joyce Pepple, Judy Greffin; sons, Bill Pepple and Scott Pepple, and 10 grandchildren.

Visitation will begin at 2 p.m. tomorrow in the Oberlin-Ford Funeral Home, Bryan. It will continue at 10 a.m. Saturday in Trinity Lutheran Church, Bryan, where funeral services will begin at 11 a.m.

The family suggests tributes to the Trinity Lutheran Church Foundation or the Stan and Loella Pepple Scholarship Fund, which supports area scholar athletes, in care of the Bryan Area Foundation.