‘Bless others.’ Fresno car dealership owner, hospital donor who started in shoe repair dies
Prominent Fresno businessman and philanthropist Louis Herwaldt credited the integrity of his father for the foundation of his own life – one marked by generosity, faith and hard work.
Herwaldt was 9 years old when he started working at his dad’s shoe repair shop in Chicago while his older brothers fought in World War II.
His dad, who immigrated from Russia as a boy, moved the family to Fresno in 1945 in search of a drier climate because of asthma. His young son would grow up to have a big impact on the city.
Herwaldt died in Fresno on Dec. 23 at the age of 88.
“We were married 68 years,” his wife JoAnn Herwaldt said. “He was such a precious man. His Lord came first and then his family. He will be missed so much.”
Herwaldt went to work in the automobile industry in Fresno after graduating from Edison High School in 1950. He worked in numerous departments, learning the business “from the ground up.” He became owner of the Sierra Chrysler Plymouth dealership in 1969, and that expanded into many other franchises, including Herwaldt Mercedes-Benz, Herwaldt Saturn of Fresno, and Herwaldt Oldsmobile GMC Truck.
As his success grew, so did his philanthropy. He gave to many charities and organizations throughout his life.
His wife said some asked him, “How can you be a car dealer and a Christian, too?”
“He started out telling them, ‘You have it all wrong. The truth is I am a Christian who is a car dealer,’” she recalled. “He was always ready to help someone. His employees were very special to him. He knew and cared about their family. He was a caring and loving gentleman.”
Hospital benefactor and leader
Herwaldt was a past chairman of Community Medical Centers’ Board of Trustees. He helped what was Fresno Community Hospital grow into the network of facilities that it is today.
“We are mourning the loss of one of Community’s family members today,” said Craig Castro, president and chief executive officer of Community Medical Centers.
Herwaldt invested in the hospital system in many ways, giving to centers serving cancer, cardiac, burn and trauma patients, and helping expand Clovis Community Medical Center. A street on the Community Regional Medical Center campus in downtown Fresno was renamed Herwaldt Drive in his honor.
“Lou served on our Board of Trustees for more than a decade and became chairman in 1991,” Castro said. “He was part of our vision for a first-class medical center in Clovis and served on our Board when Community acquired the property for Clovis Community Medical Center’s current location. Lou and JoAnn will forever be an important part of Community’s history and legacy.”
Herwaldt said serving on the hospital board was “the greatest experience of my life” in an interview shared by Fresno State after he received the 2009 Leon S. Peters Award. The prestigious annual award from the Fresno Chamber of Commerce recognizes outstanding business leadership and community service.
‘You can’t quit,’ Herwaldt said of Fresno giving
Herwaldt was also past president of the North Fresno Rotary Club and served in many other capacities, including on the board of the Better Business Bureau.
Herwaldt’s name is known not only in the auto industry, but in the community for honesty, integrity and caring, said the late Peter Mehas, a former Fresno County Superintendent of Education and CSU Board of Trustees member, during the interview he did with Herwaldt.
“We were taught if you’re blessed, to bless others,” Herwaldt said.
In that interview, Herwaldt, then 76, said he had a lot of plans for the future despite having had cancer and open-heart surgery.
About Fresno’s future, he said, “We’re going to have to come together, and we’re going to have to think about relationships and stewardship as we move forward. We cannot come to a place where we say we’re going to retire and not keep on moving to help someone else in this community. ... It’s easy to start, but you can’t quit. You’ve got to keep on going regardless of what happens.”
Herwaldt said he hoped people would remember him as fair, honest, a good employer who cared about others – “that I did my best.”
“Those that come behind us, will they have found us faithful?” he said. “Did we keep on moving? Did we keep on giving of ourselves and of who we are? And will we lift up somebody who’s down on the bottom and help them to get started again?”
Louis Herwaldt
Born: Nov. 30, 1932
Died: Dec. 23, 2020
Occupation: Car dealership owner and philanthropist
Survivors: Wife JoAnn Herwaldt; son Danny Herwaldt and his wife, Joanie; daughter Patty Higton and her husband, Bruce; five grandchildren and their spouses; and 12 great-grandchildren
Services: A private memorial service for family will be held
