Loyola "Jake" Rivard and Anthony "Tony"
Rivard, Sr. owned the Rivard Brothers Garage, which began
business in 1922 as an authorized Ford Sales and Service agency
at 20955 Van Dyke in Baseline, Warren Township, Michigan (now
Warren, MI). Among their employees was their brother Cecil, who
did the bookkeeper for the dealership. The brothers also owned
Macomb Ford (photo),
a dealership located in a building they built (circa 1930) two
miles to the north on Van Dyke at Qualmann Ave. in Center Line.
That building became a Dodge-Plymouth dealership when it was sold
to Thomas
A. Grissom in about 1941. The Rivard brothers sold their
original Ford dealership in 1956 to new owners who operated it as
Trudell Ford.
Six of the photos below have been reproduced with
permission in Henry Dominguez's new book "The Ford
Dealership, Volume II: 1908-1970". If you enjoy looking
at these kind of photos, you will certainly enjoy Volumes I and
II of this series, which can be ordered by following the
instructions located here.
(Photo used with the permission of Lynn (Rivard)
Ferencz)
Above is the Rivard Brothers Garage as it appeared in the early
1920's. Their garage was located on the west side
of Van Dyke,
between Fisher and Jackson Avenues. The railroad tracks on the
east side of Van Dyke in this photo belonged to the Detroit
United Railway, which operated the Center Line-Harper Streetcar
between Harper Ave. in Detroit and Warren Blvd. in
Center Line. The third man from the left is Clarence "Buster"
Ruttman, who lived nearby on Fisher Ave.
The brothers' business occupied
Lots 13 through 18 of the "Rivard's
Garden Subdivision", which was
platted on March 20, 1920 by their parents Joseph and Frances
Rivard, less than one month before his death. The 35 acre
subdivision contained about 214 lots fronting on the west side of
Van Dyke and along both sides of Yacht, Fisher, Jackson and
Rivard Avenues as well as on the north side of Eight Mile Road,
all east of Winfield Ave. Jackson Avenue was apparently named
after the previous owners of the property, James and Daniel
Jackson, while Yacht Ave. was likely named after the Yacht family
who owned property just to the north.
According to the 1930 US Census, Loyola and his
family lived nearby at 7625 Jackson Ave. (lot 106) and Cecil lived with
his family at 7594 Rivard Ave. (lot 181). Here is a 1932
map showing the locations of their homes and business
and to the right is a 1949 aerial photo outlining the
dealership (large red rectangle), Loyola's house (small
red rectangle just to the left of the dealership) and
Cecil's house (the other small red rectangle a block to
the southwest).
(Photo used with the permission of Lynn (Rivard)
Ferencz)
Christmas Display
Rivard Brothers Ford Showroom - 1926
(from the collection of Mike Grobbel)
The Rivard Bros. advertisment that appeared on the
back cover of the 1927 St. Clement Parish Calendar.
(Photo used with the permission of Lynn (Rivard)
Ferencz)
Rivard Brothers Ford Parts Counter, circa 1930
(Photo used with the permission of Lynn (Rivard) Ferencz)
The management and salesmen of Rivard Brothers Ford, circa 1933-34.
From left to right: Raymond Rivard (Loyola's brother), unknown,
Anthony "Tony" Buechel, Cecil Rivard, Jr., unknown,
Frederick Peters, Loyola "Jake" Rivard, Cecil Rivard,
Clarence Wood and Anthony "Tony" Rivard, Sr.
In 1935, the Rivard Brothers
purchased a gas station at the southeast corner of Van Dyke and
McNichols. Two years later, the "Ford Dealers News" wrote an
article about it. Click here to read "This Neighborhood Station Was Big
Surprise to the Dealer" and view photos of it taken
over the years.
(Photo used with the permission of Lynn (Rivard) Ferencz)
The owners and salesmen of Rivard Brothers Ford pose in this
undated photo that was apparently taken in the late 1930s.
It is known that a group of them went on a trip together to
Mexico and it is believed that is where this photo was taken
while they were aboard a sailing vessel of some kind. Back row,
left to right: Loyola Rivard, Anthony Rivard, unknown,
Clarence Wood and Joe Weidenbach. Front row: Frederick Peters,
Raymond Rivard, Anthony Buechel and
Alfred Rivard (son of Anthony).
(Photo used with the permission of Lynn (Rivard)
Ferencz)
This 1941 photo shows the 1939 Ford panel truck driven by Tony
Surdam to pickup and deliver parts for the service department.
Call SLocum-7220 for parts pickup and delivery!
Bump Shop Project
The Hazelton brothers (Bob, Butch and Jerry),
turn a customer's damaged 1940 Ford into a 1941 model.
Click on an image to enlarge it.
(Photos used with the permission
of Lynn (Rivard) Ferencz)
(Photo used with the permission of Lynn (Rivard)
Ferencz)
Rivard Brothers Ford parts counter, June 1946.
(Photo used with the permission of Lynn (Rivard)
Ferencz)
The mechanics who worked in the Rivard Brothers Ford service
department, circa 1945-50.
Standing, from left to right: Loyola "Sonny" Rivard (son
of Loyola "Jake" Rivard's brother, Raymond), Gene
Rivard,
Butch Hazelton, Jerry Hazelton, Bud Ruttman (Buster's son),
Julius Vanderbrook (married Mildred Grobbel, the
2nd cousin of Rosella (Snoblen) Rivard). Kneeling, left to right:
Frank Oberliesen, Stan Ackley, Bob Hazelton.
(Photo used with the permission of Lynn (Rivard)
Ferencz)
Cecil Rivard with his secretary, Marie Sherman, circa 1946-47.
Cecil was the dealership's bookkeeper.
(Photo used with the permission of Lynn (Rivard)
Ferencz)
Rivard Brothers Ford, circa 1946.
Their facilities included a stand-alone Sunoco gas station, shown
in greater detail below.
(Photo used with the permission of Lynn (Rivard)
Ferencz)
Rivard Brothers Sunoco gas station, circa 1946.
(Photo used with the permission of Lynn (Rivard)
Ferencz)
A closer 1946 view of the Rivard Brothers Ford Dealership.
Note the "Rivard's Mkt." panel truck parked to the left
of the two 1946 Fords. Rivard's
Market was in Center Line at
25258 Van Dyke and was owned by Aurelius "Real" Rivard,
the younger brother of Loyola, Anthony and Cecil. Another brother,
Joseph, owned the Rivard
Appliance and Sport Shop at 21045 Van Dyke in Baseline.
(from the collection of Mike Grobbel)
This February 1949 ad appeared in the Center Line, Mich.
Metropolitan Club Spirit #54 Yearbook.
The brothers also operated two used car lots, one at the
southwest corner of Eight Mile and Van Dyke and
another on the northeast corner of Van Dyke and Fisher Ave.
(Photo used with the permission of Lynn (Rivard)
Ferencz)
Rivard Brothers Ford managers and salesmen at a Christmas party,
(circa 1950s).
From left to right: Tony "Sparky" Rivard, Jr., unknown
salesman, Tony Buechel, Tony Rivard, Sr., Cecil Byrd,
Cecil Rivard, Loyola "Jake" Rivard, Gerald Rivard (son
of Loyola's brother Raymond),
Ford Motor Company representative (name unknown).
(Photo used with the permission of Lynn (Rivard)
Ferencz)
Rivard Brothers Ford , circa 1954.
Raymond Rivard (Raymond's son) was a Service
Manager at Rivard Brothers Ford and he said that often when he
would arrive in the morning there would be several cars lined up
outside the service entrance door with keys left in the ignition
and notes on their windshields indicating what was wrong with
their car. He would drive them inside, write them up and
get them fixed for the trusting customers. Every Friday the
dealership would cash checks for anyone who needed this service.
The dealership did a lot of business on credit and this made it
convenient for those who bought their cars on credit to make
their car payment as they got their check cashed.
(Photo used with the permission of Lynn (Rivard)
Ferencz)
Members of the bowling teams sponsored by the Rivard Brothers
Ford Dealership, circa 1953-56.
They bowled at Linden
Recreation (8529 E. Eight Mile Rd. in Baseline, Mich.), which
is where this photo was taken.
From left to right: Bud Ruttman, unknown, John Sopoliga, Stan
Ackley, Tony Rivard, Jr.,
Tony Surdam, Tony Buechel, Bill Susick, George Jackson and Kenny
Rivard.
"It's the end of
model-year round-up!"
(Photo used with the permission of Lynn (Rivard)
Ferencz) The managers and sales staff of Rivard Brothers Ford
strike a light-hearted pose in this undated photo.
Left to right: unknown, Tony Buechel, Raymond Rivard, Cecil
Rivard, Joe Weidenbach,
Loyola Rivard, Clarence Wood.
Clarence Wood was a salesman at Rivard Brothers
Ford during its entire existence from 1922 through 1956. He
stayed on for a short time with Trudell after the dealership was
sold and then left to join the staff at Clem Rinke Ford on Van
Dyke at Chicago Road. Clarence's son Barney and grandson Tom have
continued what is now an 88 year long sales relationship with
Ford Motor Company through their ownership of Northgate Ford in Port Huron,
Michigan.
(Photo used with the permission of Lynn (Rivard)
Ferencz)
Rosella and Loyola Rivard in the front yard of their home on
Jackson Ave.
in Baseline, Warren Twp. The Rivard Bros. dealership is in the
background.
Two events contributed to Loyola and Anthony
Rivard's decision to eventually sell their business in 1956. The
first involved a confrontation with union organizers. Several
carloads of union men drove up the the dealership and they exited
their cars with baseball bats held in their hands. They made it
clear that they were going to "encourage" the
dealership employees to sign authorization cards so that their
union could represent them. Loyola went out to meet them
with the night watchman's handgun that was normally kept in a
drawer and told them to "get the hell off this property".
The organizers left without further incident. All who
knew Loyola said that kind of response was uncharacteristic of
him, but that he had reacted instinctively against the threat to
his employees, who according to his nephew Raymond Rivard, were
very satisfied with their working conditions and had no desire to
join a union. The final straw came when the Ford Motor Company
told them that they needed to relocate their dealership. Loyola
and Anthony were nearing retirement age and felt that would be
too much effort for too little return so they put the business up
for sale, ending a family-run business that had served many
customers in the area for 34 years.
