Introduction by TADA Chair-Elect Bryan Case.
Each year at this meeting, we honor a member of the TADA Board of Directors who has made a significant contribution to the success of TADA. The recognition is the Walter B. Wainwright Key Director Award, named for the revered former leader of the Houston Automobile Dealers Association. This is the only TADA award that is kept secret until the moment it is presented.
Our recipient has always been the one that wants to know how everything works and is always the go-to person when something is broken or needs to be fixed.
Our recipient brings great enthusiasm into many numerous passions and enjoys fishing on the coast, golfing, hunting and skiing. Our recipient stands ready to travel at the drop of a hat throughout the United States and internationally.
Although from a large family with many siblings, our recipient got involved in the automotive industry when asked by their dad to step in and take over managing the dealership. Although never having managed a dealership, the recipient has never been afraid of hard work and taking on a challenge and was ready to step up and learn. It wasn’t easy, and there were many sleepless nights, but the outcomes have been rewarding for his family and the communities served.
Always looking for opportunities to expand, the family decided to do so in the early 2000s. Even though the dealerships are located in small rural communities where all your neighbors know you personally, the dealerships have also sold and delivered vehicles all over the U.S.
Our recipient’s positive attitude is exemplified in an experience when asked to move from their hometown at age 13: “Now I will have friends in both places — double the friends,” and the comment still rings true today. With such an easygoing way, the recipient makes these relationships easily.
But their work extends beyond just the dealership. There is a cattle ranch that consumes as much time as the work resulting from a Real Estate Broker License.
But most important is family, and it has been an incredibly important part of our recipient’s life. Marrying young — at age 20 — the relationship is like the Energizer Bunny and keeps “going and going and going.” The couple has been blessed with two adult children — a son and daughter — and one of them has blessed the recipient with a first grandchild and as everybody knows, grandkids are the best.
Ladies and Gentlemen … your TADA Key Director for 2023, Pat Schuchart.
