Remembering Dick Vlist, a longtime supporter of Port Orchard, Navy and more

David Nelson, Kitsap Sun
·4 min read
Dick Vlist, shown here speaking at his 90th birthday party, was passionate about the Navy, the community of Port Orchard, and cars, which he sold from the dealership he established on Bay Street in 1968. He died Aug. 22 at age 97.
Dick Vlist, shown here speaking at his 90th birthday party, was passionate about the Navy, the community of Port Orchard, and cars, which he sold from the dealership he established on Bay Street in 1968. He died Aug. 22 at age 97.

For decades drivers through Port Orchard have known the name Dick Vlist, even if they'd never met the man. Who could miss the sign and blue awning with his name displayed along Bay Street, just west of where Port Orchard's main drag bends to pass city hall and enter its downtown waterfront district, advertising "Dick Vlist Motors" for now nearly 70 years.

Fortunately many people did meet Vlist over his decades of business and service to the community, and knew him as much more than just a name on a sign. His legacy will be the impact to Port Orchard, the Navy and more that Vlist, who died Aug. 22 at home, surrounded by his family, he left over his 97 years.

The namesake dealership, now run by his son Van Vlist, the president, another son, Vaughn Vlist, in sales, and with his widow, Shirley Vlist, now 87, still doing the accounting, is the heart of Dick Vlist's legacy. Another Vlist sibling, Vic, works just adjacent to the family business, in auto wholesales. Even in recent years, Van Vlist said, Dick was still coming into the dealership three or four days a week, talking to customers and staff, and giving recommendations on cars.

"He'd still ask about inventory, and what was available," Van Vlist said this week. "I'd say, 'Dad, you can't drive,' and he'd say 'I don't care, I just want to sit and look at it.'"

Vlist may be the last of an era of car salesmen in Kitsap County, who started his career in the business when downtown Bremerton was a hub for auto dealerships. Vlist's first job was as an apprentice mechanic at Kerr Motors, on Fourth Street in the 1940s. After serving in the Navy he returned and moved through the ranks of journeyman mechanic, sales and management, eventually branching off with some partners on a new dealership, which became his ownership of Vlist Motors in 1968. He was close friends in a cohort of dealers made up of Chuck Haselwood, Eddie Dunn, and Bud Thomas, to name a few. The original Vlist Motors was on the water side of Bay Street, and moved across the street and half a block down to its current location in 2000, passing on the opportunity to find a larger footprint to sell from in the city's growing Sedgwick/Bethel business corridor.

"He didn't want to leave downtown," Van Vlist said. "This community has been so fantastic to my family."

There's a list of honors that says Vlist was also very good to his community.

He was a member of the Elks Club for 72 years, 65 in the Eagles and 57 in the Kiwanis Club, served as president of the Navy League's local and regional chapters and as a national director emeritus, spent thousands of hours volunteering at the Puget Sound Navy Museum, donated clothes and books to the Retsil Veterans Home, provided cars for the city's annual Fathoms of Fun parades and helped stage big events like The Saints Car Club's annual "Cruz" in Port Orchard.

"They were here early, and there were here often, as far as the community is concerned," Matt Murphy, president of the South Kitsap Chamber of Commerce, said about Vlist and his family, who've been members of the business and economic organization for decades. "They have always been a staple of support."

In 2017 Vlist was honored as one of a handful of residents to earn the Governor's Volunteer Service Award, and invited to Olympia for a ceremony at the governor's mansion and then to throw the first pitch at a Seattle Mariners' game. He was hospitalized at the time the call came from Gov. Jay Inslee's office, Van Vlist said. Van Vlist grabbed a baseball and paid his father a visit right away.

"You got to pull through this," Van Vlist remembers saying. "I just signed you up to pitch at the Mariners' game."

Vlist made it to SafeCo Field for the honor, and made it through the dinner with Inslee, a politician he didn't necessarily agree with all the time, said Van Vlist.

"I told him 'You gotta be on your best behavior," he said, noting his dad was known to speak his mind.

Vlsit was also instrumental through the Navy League in bringing the Lone Sailor statue to the breakwater at the Bremerton marina, which was installed in 2008.

According to Kitsap Sun archives, Vlist followed his father and stepfather in the U.S. Navy. His dad was a prisoner of the Japanese when Vlist enlisted in 1943 at the age of 17. Vlist served aboard the troop transport USS Sirona during World War II. He didn't know until the end of the war that his father had survived. He was then recalled from the Naval Reserve to active duty for the Korean War and served aboard another troop carrier, USS Telfair.

Vlist is survived by his wife, Shirley, his three sons, six grandchildren, and one great-grandson.

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Dick Vlist remembered for family car dealership, community support