Bill Ward with his granddaughter, Georgi, and his grandson, Harper
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Sometimes an interview becomes much more
than just an interview. As we have learned in our conversations with
Rex Willett of Northstar and Doug Sieler of S&S, there’s a lot of
blood, sweat, and tears behind these multi-generational RV businesses.
For the Wards, the journey has been bitter sweet and goes all the way
back to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. In short, this is a truck
camper history lesson. And thanks to Bill Ward, we can now share this
amazing history with you.
TCM: Let’s start at the beginning. Tell us about your father, Hubert Ward, and how he got into the RV business.
Bill: My father enlisted to the Navy in 1940. He was on the West
Virginia in Pearl Harbor in 1941. The West Virginia was immediately
sunk, so dad became a machinist refitting guns on other ships. He
learned a lot of machine and aluminum work. After the war, dad was
stationed in Corpus Cristi, Texas. The country had a lot of scrap
materials, mostly aluminum from airplanes. He and a bunch of other guys
on the base were trying to see what they could do with the scrap that
they were almost giving away. My father built a collapsible trailer
called the Tortuga. He began taking his trailers around to the five and
dime stores and picking up orders.
TCM: When did he make the move to Colorado?
Bill: It became evident that Texas was out of the main stream in the
early 1950’s. So dad started working with Red Dale in Colorado as an
engineer and driving back and forth to Texas. In 1961 we moved to
Longmont, Colorado.
TCM: Is that when he started Warhawk?
Bill: In the mid ‘60s, Red Dale was sold to a snowmobile manufacturer.
My father collected his piece of the pie and left. He then started
Warhawk with Robert Hawkings. The name Warhawk was a combination of
Ward and Hawkings. They were shipping their RVs all over the country.
Then Robert Hawkin's son died in Vietnam and he became very distraught.
My father closed Warhawk, moved to Boulder, and opened Aspen with Carl
Fetig, a German immigrant who had just come to Boulder. At that time,
Boulder was known for racecars and Carl Fetig was working on Porches.
Carl started a company called Modern Specialists in the front of their
building and dad was running Aspen in the back. Then Carl's wife went
into surgery and had many complications. Carl's interest of course
turned to his wife and he left Modern Specialists and Aspen to fend for
themselves. Dad then closed Aspen and got together with an heir to the
Security Life National Bank who put the money up to start Hallmark. In
six months, the investor quit Hallmark leaving it to dad.
TCM: Wow. That sounds like a very tough time. When did you get involved with the RV business?
Bill: Probably sweeping the floor once we moved to Colorado. I could
have cared less about the RV business except that I wanted to spend
time with my father. And I wanted to make money to buy a motorcycle. I
went on to college to get an engineering degree. Later I found out that
I enjoyed campers more than engineering. It’s in the family blood. When
father left Aspen he was a little bit frustrated. My brother and I
said, “Hey dad, let’s do this together.” I was two years into college
at this time and my brother was just about to graduate from high
school. We both left school and joined dad at Hallmark in 1969.
TCM: Was there ever a time when you thought about doing something else?
Bill: Yes. When I got married in Iowa, I had a lot of passion for
farming. I thought I would raise corn, grain, and hogs. My
father-in-law was a farmer and I would visit and learn what I could. My
kids were young and enjoyed running around and having fun on the farm.
What a neat way to live. I toyed with it, but always came back to
campers.
TCM: At what point did you get involved with Winnebago?
Bill: My father-in-law lived where they built Winnebago and was a good
friend of John K. Hanson. John was getting out of the camper stuff and
said that we could take whatever we wanted. He was a very good person
and didn’t care. We got a lot of equipment from Winnebago, brought it
home, and designed a better camper.
TCM: When did you get into the pop-up business?
Bill: An outfit called Four Wheel Campers was building campers for the
little Japanese trucks that were in demand during the 70’s gas crisis.
So we started getting into the pop-up business and it took off. We
built lots of pop-ups for import trucks. Soon after that, we built a
larger showroom and larger plant. It was keeping us quite busy. Then
people started buying Fords and Chevys and we started building hard
sides again.
TCM: When did you get out of the hard wall camper business?
Bill: About 1986, Ron Mertes, the then owner of Lance Campers, sold
Lance to Jack Cole and moved to Colorado to sell Lances. He was a
really nice guy. He opened his dealership about ten miles south of us
in the middle of nowhere and did quite well. Jack supported him and
turned Colorado into a Lance store. Lance made a major impact and put
me out of the hard wall business. We tried to catch up, but Lance had
gotten too far ahead of us. We let Lance do their thing and we
concentrated on pop-ups.
TCM: Are you still hands-on?
Bill: I do a little of everything. My nephew, Randy, does more of the
office and purchasing work now. My son, Matt, does the computer stuff.
I looked into the computer stuff, but I let it go too long. I thought,
“Who’s going to mess with computers? It’s not important.”
TCM: What’s the story behind you with Hallmark and your brother with Outfitter?
Bill: My brother and I were very close, but after a number of years we
realized we had fundamental differences in our approach to business.
TCM: Do you see your grandkids following in their father’s, grandfather’s, and great grandfather’s footsteps?
Bill: Actually, I probably don’t. It’s hard to be truthful, but I see a
major change in manufacturing in this country and it’s angered me a
bit. The truth is it’s just not as much fun as it was when I was a kid.
Maybe that’s because I’m 60, or maybe it’s because the government
hasn’t made it as much fun. I see the United States more as a service
oriented country now. If my grandkids want to learn, I’ll show them
how, but otherwise I’m not so sure.
For more information about Hallmark, visit www.hallmarkrv.com
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