Daniel H. Polett, prominent auto dealership owner and lifetime Temple trustee, has died at 89

Daniel H. Polett, 89, of Gladwyne , award-winning auto dealership owner, honorary lifetime trustee at Temple University , board chair, philanthropist, mentor, and community advocate, died Wednesday, Oct. 2, of heart failure at his home.

Mr. Polett purchased Wilkie Buick on Broad Street in North Philadelphia in 1971 and, over the next 35 years, expanded to 12 dealerships in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Florida, and West Virginia. He was a popular chair and president for auto dealership organizations, celebrated trustee and hospital board chair at Temple for decades, and tireless financial supporter of nonprofits, charities, nursing homes, and the Catholic Church.

His smiling face was featured in hundreds of newspaper car ads in The Inquirer and other publications, and he showed up fairly often until recently at Wilkie Lexus in Haverford and Lexus of Chester Springs.

He was two-time chairman of the Philadelphia Auto Show and two-time president of the Auto Dealers Association of Philadelphia. He served on many boards and the President's Advisory Council for General Motors, and won auto dealership service awards from Buick, Lexus, and Time and Sports Illustrated magazines.

He sold the Wilkie Buick property at Broad and Montgomery Avenue to Temple in 1988, and the Liacouras Center opened in its place in 1997. A former colleague at Wilkie called him "a great mentor and employer" in an online tribute . "He fostered a family dealership," they said.

He joined Temple Hospital's Board of Governors in 1978 and served as its chair, and chair of the school's Board of Trustees. He earned the hospital's 1994 Diamond Award and the university's 1993 Acres of Diamonds Award, 1995 Russell H. Conwell Award, and 2009 Musser Award for leadership and service.

In 1998, he received an honorary Temple degree. In 2009, Polett Walk, a sidewalk stretch on campus between Broad and 11th Streets, was named in his honor. He became an honorary lifetime Temple trustee in 2022. "In every way, Dan was a giver," Phillip C. Richards, vice chair of Temple's Board of Trustees, said in a tribute .

In addition to his Temple awards, Mr. Polett's contributions were recognized by Modern Healthcare magazine, Chester County , Magee Rehabilitation Hospital, the Arthritis Foundation, Eagles Fly for Leukemia, Episcopal Academy, and Hill Top Preparatory School. "He was humble and kind, an example to everybody around him," said longtime friend and former Eagles coach Dick Vermeil. "I know a lot of leaders, and he had no limitations. No matter what it was, he would excel."

Through the Catholic Church, Mr. Polett was appointed Knight of the Order, and Knight Commander of St. Gregory the Great. He was the St. John Vianney Church Parishioner of the Year in 2005 and longtime chair of the cardinal's Christmas party for children. "His life was marked by his dedication to business excellence, community service, and his devout Catholic faith," his family said in a tribute.

Inquirer columnist Frank Rossi interviewed Wilkie employees about Mr. Polett in 1983, and they told tales of his loyalty and kindness. "The average worker" at Wilkie, Rossi said, "has been there 11 years. ... That's what you call spreading the faith."

Daniel Howard Polett was born July 14, 1935, in Madison, N.J. He grew up in North Jersey and graduated from high school in 1953.

He joined the Army in 1954, served as an honor guard for two years, and earned a bachelor's degree with distinction in English at Fordham University in New York in 1960. He was hired as a district manager trainee by General Motors and assigned to Buick dealerships in the Philadelphia area in 1962.

He joined Wilkie Buick as vice president in 1968 and was elected president and chief operating officer seven months later. He bought the business in 1971. "He was the friendliest guy in the world," said his son Marc. "He went out of his way to care."

He met Margo Barry at a dance at Rosemont College. They married in 1963, and had sons Daniel, Marc, Robert, and Christopher, and daughter Margo. "He was very caring and smart," his wife said. "He brought out in people what they didn't know they had."

Mr. Polett and his wife traveled the world together and vacationed nearly every summer with family and friends in Avalon . He shared whatever he had wherever he was, she said, and friends noted his "sincere, compassionate, caring leadership" in a tribute . A colleague said: "We could all learn from this man about how to be better."

His wife said: "He gave, gave, and gave. For me, married to him, it was a wonderful life."

In addition to his wife and children, Mr. Polett is survived by three grandchildren and other relatives. Two brothers died earlier.

Services were held on Oct. 8.