Diamond Jubilee: Alto dealership celebrates 75-year partnership with Chrysler

ALTO – When J.H. Pearman Sr. returned home from Army service approximately a century ago, he tried his hand at a variety of different jobs, but kept coming back to the automotive industry, working mostly in sales and repair.

Today – June 23, 2021 – his descendants celebrate a 75-year partnership with Chrysler, one of the “Big Three” auto manufacturers in the U.S. that’s the American subsidiary of the Dutch-based automotive company Stellantis.

However, according to grandsons Bob and J.D. Pearman, their grandfather – best known to them as Pa Jewell – started Pearman Motor Company long before 1946.

“He was in the repair and parts business before that,” located at various sites in Alto, Bob said.

Today, Pearman Motor Company is located at 240 N. Marcus Street in Alto, run by his grandsons and their families.

The company’s story begins with young J.H., who hailed from the Jacksonville area, and was inducted into the Army in 1918, serving Stateside for several months before being shipped overseas.

“The war ended on Nov. 11, and he was kept in France and Germany for about 18 months as part of the Occupational Army,” Bob said.

J.H. worked a series of different jobs upon his return, including selling cars, but a desire to work for himself brought him to Alto. There, he had a small dealership located where the old International Harvester dealer had been, near the intersection of U.S. Highway 69/Texas Highway 21.

Meanwhile, a friend – Mr. S.L. Ray, who sold automobiles – “decided to go out of business and had a lot of old cars, parts and equipment that he sold to Jewell,” Bob said. “He paid Mr. Ray by restoring and selling those used cars. He had a one-mechanic garage, and he was the mechanic!”

He earned enough money to expand the business, which was located not far from the present location, and his brother Tracie moved from Jacksonville to help operate the dealership.

The brothers worked together several years before Jewell sold the dealership to his brother, and went to Jacksonville, where he operated a parts house.

Due to the Great Depression, the business struggled, so Jewell sold his inventory to East Texas Auto Supply and moved to Nacogdoches, and at one point, he returned to barbering for awhile.

By 1942, Jewell returned to Alto, deciding “he wanted a nice automobile dealership,” Bob said, noting that the elder Pearman purchased a filling station near the highway intersection, a place where both Bob and JD have memories of pitching in to help.

“We waxed cars, swept floors and worked in the body shop,” JD said.

“We did that from the time we were junior high age,” Bob added as his brother nodded.

“We learned our way from the very bottom,” JD said.

Today, the dealership’s inventory has expanded to include not only Chrysler, but Dodge, Jeep and RAM vehicles, drawing clients from Alto, Nacogdoches, Lufkin and Tyler.

As its offerings expanded at the business, so did the generations of Pearman family helping to operate it.

J.D. primarily oversees parts and service, while his brother oversees sales and operation.

Bob’s son Lee heads the company’s finance department, while his daughter Kelly works in sales. And Lee’s daughter, Lee Ellen, works in the company’s parts and service department, the fifth generation Pearman at Pearman Motor Company.

They are among the 25-member staff at the company.

Pearman Motor Company operates a car service and repair center, as well as employs a team of lease and loan specialists to assist clients. The company has also offered new and used trailer sales for the last decade. To learn more, visit www.pearmanmotor.com