Several of Garff’s children work for the dealership group and his daughter, Melissa Garff Ballard, followed in her father’s political footsteps. Garff Ballard represents North Salt Lake in the Utah House.
In a Facebook post, Garff Ballard shared a photo of her and her father inside the Utah State Capitol.
“My loving dad passed away peacefully today from COVID-19. He has lived a long and happy life, full of vigor and love for our state and our families. I count myself blessed to be serving in the Utah House of Representatives just as my dad did,” she wrote.
“It was really unexpected,” Garff Ballard told the Salt Lake Tribune. “And my mother is still battling this at home.”
When Ken Garff died in 1997, the dealership group had 10 stores. Robert Garff had plans to expand, and found a solution revolutionary for its time.
Now prevalent in automotive ownership, joining forces with equity partners was largely in its infancy when Garff struck a deal with Leucadia, a public investment company, in 2006. The joint venture — undertaken with the purpose of buying dealerships — allowed Ken Garff Automotive to consistently rest among the 10 biggest dealership groups in the country ranked by new-vehicle sales. The partnership dissolved in 2018.
Though lucrative, the partnership had limitations. It was important to Garff that he never lose management control over the group. He told Automotive News in 2007 that his wish of passing along the family business to his two sons and son-in-law drove that strategy. Garff himself swept floors in his father’s body shop when he was 13 years old.
Automakers were hesitant at the time to accept franchise ownership that included nonindustry backing, though Garff predicted his business model would be widely adopted in time.
“The factories want one person they can call who is in charge,” Garff said in 2007. “In our company, that’s me.”
