Frank C. Videon Sr., 88, car dealer, funeral-home owner
Frank C. Videon Sr. was known as a bit of a showman. To promote his car dealerships, he rode an elephant down West Chester Pike in the early 1960s and later in the decade landed in a helicopter on the closed roadway.
Frank C. Videon Sr. was known as a bit of a showman.
To promote his car dealerships, he rode an elephant down West Chester Pike in the early 1960s and later in the decade landed in a helicopter on the closed roadway.
"It landed on the median," a son, David, said with a chuckle of the copter stunt, but despite that, "they still had to close it."
At a few of his new-car showings, band leader Lawrence Welk and former Eagles quarterback Sonny Jurgensen were in the spotlights.
And for the 1957 National Boy Scout Jamboree in Valley Forge, his son said, Mr. Videon provided more than 150 Plymouth Furys.
On Monday, Jan. 17, Mr. Videon, 88, a former principal in his family's Delaware County funeral home and car dealerships, died of pneumonia at his Newtown Square home.
Born in West Philadelphia, Mr. Videon was a 1942 graduate of Upper Darby High School and, from 1942 to 1945, served as a Navy pharmacist's mate, mostly in Washington.
A 1947 graduate of Eckels College of Mortuary Science, he was licensed as an undertaker in 1949 and began his career working in the Drexel Hill funeral parlor opened by his father in the 1940s.
Simultaneously a part-time salesman for a Clifton Heights car dealership, in 1953 he became its full-time sales manager and left his funeral-home job.
In 1954, he and a former employer opened a Newtown Square dealership, which, in 1957, became Frank C. Videon Chrysler-Plymouth.
In 1982, he and his wife, Edna, bought and renamed what is now the Frank C. Videon Funeral Home in Broomall, operated by son David.
In 1983, he bought a Dodge dealership, which is now operated by sons Steve and Wayne as Videon Chrysler Dodge Jeep in Edgmont.
In 1984, he and son Frank Jr. bought a Chevrolet dealership in Newtown Square, which his son managed until its 2009 closing.
And in 1986, Mr. Videon bought what is now Jones Limousine Service Ltd. in Holmes, operated by daughter Vicki Kline.
Mr. Videon had time for some other responsibilities.
He was a chairman of Haverford Community Hospital and of the Garrett-Williamson Foundation in Newtown Square, which operates a child-care and learning center.
In the 1970s, he helped establish, and was a president of, the White Horse Village retirement community in Newtown Square.
He was a president of the Newtown Square Rotary Club and the Newtown Square Business and Professional Association, and was a president of the Marple Newtown Fourth of July parade.
Among his citations, Mr. Videon was Marple Newtown Man of the Year in 1972 and Marple Newtown Citizen of the Year in 1985. He was a member of the Marple Newtown Sports Hall of Fame and the Upper Darby High School Wall of Fame.
A president and board chairman of the Pennsylvania Automotive Association, he was a president of the Delaware County Dealers Association and a director of Commerce Bank.
He was also a Mason, and an honorary life member of the Marine Corps League and the Broomall Fire Company.
In addition to his wife of 68 years and his children, Mr. Videon is survived by 18 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren.
A 5:45 p.m. Masonic service was set before a viewing from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Jan. 21, at the Frank C. Videon Funeral Home, Sproul and Lawrence Roads, Broomall.
A visitation was set from 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 22, at Marple Presbyterian Church, 105 N. Sproul Rd., Broomall, before an 11 a.m. funeral there. Burial will be private.
Donations may be sent to Garrett-Williamson Foundation, 395 Bishop Hollow Rd., Newtown Square, Pa. 19073.