Local Ford dealership turns 50
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Shiny new trucks and cars line the parking lot at Don Aadsen Ford, but co-owner Gordon Henricksen keeps a painting of an old Ford truck on his wall as a symbol of the past. It’s something to celebrate.
“This is our 50th anniversary year,” said Ann Henricksen, co-owner of the family-run vehicle dealership located south of town on U.S. Highway 93.
The dealership is only about half as old as the original Ford trucks, but 50 years of business in a small town is still a big milestone.
“My father started this in 1966,” Ann said of Don Aadsen. Her father grew up on a farm but he had a natural inclination towards mechanics. When he was 16, he started a small mechanic shop to repair small engines.
Aadsen grew up and eventually opened a dealership on Main Street in 1966. Two years later, it was destroyed by fire. He opened back up in two locations with parts and service in one spot and sales in another building. Aadsen ran the business for two decades with the help of his family before passing away due to cancer in 1986. Ann and Gordon continued running things.
Ann didn’t think she would take over the family business. She went to college to become an elementary school teacher, and she moved to Kalispell to begin her teaching career, which is where she met her husband Gordon. By coincidence, his family owned a dealership in Kalispell. The couple moved to Ronan to help Ann’s father with the business.
“We started a family and I stayed home with the kids, but eventually my father and husband needed help, so they recruited me,” Ann said.
In 1988, the business was moved to its current location so that all departments could be under one roof. Ann’s mom, Betty Aadsen, decided to retire from the business about the same time.
Eleven years later, Eric Henricksen, the couple’s son, joined the dealership team after finishing college. He said he remembers washing cars for the business when he was in high school, but he didn’t plan on making a career at the dealership. As fate would have it, he is now in general sales and set to take over the business when his parents retire, and he is focusing on new technology.
“This is a rapidly changing business,” he said.
With those changes, he said he is making sure the dealership has vehicles with the latest technology, including a program that allows cars to avoid collisions, and maybe someday, cars that drive themselves. Eric said the technology has taken off in ways his grandfather might never have imagined.
And in the future, the Aadsen-Henricksen family might still be running the dealership.
“The grandkids just love cars,” Gordon said.
But for now, business will continue as usual with vehicle sales and projects focused on community service.
“We are very proud of the business we have built to serve our customers and community,” Ann said. “We will continue this tradition of service.”
