Pub. 54 2013-2014 Issue 3

12 THE LEGENDARY JIMMY CAVENDER O n Monday, April 28, 2014 at the TADA Annual Conference at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in San Anto- nio, JamesM. (Jimmy) Cavender III will be inducted into the TADAHall of Legends. Only fourteen dealers in the ninety-eight year history of the association have been so honored. Jimmy Cavender was born on March 14th, 1930 to James M. Cavender, Jr. and his wife Nancy along with his twin brother William B. “Billy” Cavender. As young boys the twins enjoyed playing in their Alamo Heights neighborhood on Rose- mary Drive and attending Alamo Heights High School. Jimmy was president of his senior graduating class in 1948. The family loved taking road trips up to the Frio River in Leakey, Texas where they still have a residence to this day. Jimmy’s grandfather Dr. James M. Cavender, Sr. was from the small town of Sabinal where he worked as a dentist for the area surrounding this hill country community after retiring from his dental practice in San Antonio. Jimmy’s father James M. “Big Jim” Cavender was busy raising twin boys and working as a sales manager in the Chev- rolet Motor Division in the late 1930’s in Houston. Prior to that, he attended Main High School in San Antonio and later worked as a salesman for Goad Cadil- lac which was located at 317 Lexington Avenue. During that time he met his wife Nancy when her brother brought her in to buy her a Cadillac. Big Jim moved from Houston to San Antonio in 1939 and became a Sales Manager for E.A. Kinsel Motor Company which sold Oldsmobile’s at its downtown location at 801 Broadway. In 1939, Mr. Kinsel sold his interest to Jim Cavender and the legacy of the Cavender family of dealerships began. After graduating from Alamo Heights High School in 1948, the two boys at- tended the University of Texas in Austin where they were members of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Jimmy served as the President of the fraternity in 1952 and was a member of the Texas Cowboys on the university campus. He married Judith Gosnell in 1954 and they will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary this year. Judy Cavender is daughter to the late Bishop Harold and Marjorie Gosnel. Bishop Gosnell served as Rector for St. Mark’s Episcopal Church from 1968 until 1988. Thereafter, he presided as Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese for West Texas. Both Jimmy and Billy grew up work- ing in a variety of positions around the Oldsmobile dealership. From parts stock boys to service advisors and later to sales, they could literally tell every employee that “I know what you do because I did it too”. And through the years the boys began lifelong relationships with their valued cus- tomers in San Antonio and South Texas. And it can be said after you meet Jimmy, if you didn’t know him before he will make you feel like he has known you for life! In 1979 the Cavender twins purchased Riata Cadillac from Mr. Frank Late. The two brothers flipped a coin and Billy took the position of dealer at Cadillac while Jimmy stayed at Oldsmobile. Billy also took his twin sons Billy and Bobby and later his youngest son Stuart with him to work in the store. Jimmy invited his sons Rick and Stephen to join him at Oldsmobile. His oldest son Mark decided to venture out and now is President of Cavender and Hill Properties a successful Commercial Real Estate company. Today the Jimmy Cavender family legacy in San Antonio lives on with son Stephen operating Cavender Toyota and son Rick, the boss at Cavender Audi. Dad Jimmy can be found at both stores greeting customers and working with employees that he hired twenty and thirty years ago. The Cavender history of leadership continues as well, with Stephen serving as TADA Chairman of the Board in 2011 and Rick currently leading the association as Chairman. Jimmy’s nephews Billy, Bobby and Stu- art have dealerships of their own in San Antonio and Boerne, with Texas Dealer Academy leaders, Jimmy’s great nephews Lee and W.B. coming up as the fourth generation of this amazing dealer family. With literally thousands of dealers serv- ing Texas since TADA’s establishment in 1916, it is incredibly difficult to name only one dealer each year as a TADA Legend. Jimmy Cavender is one of those men whose life’s work for his industry, his community and his fellow dealers makes him a true living example of a TADA Legend. 