John Pulsifer, who became southern Maine’s largest car dealer before being forced to declare bankruptcy in 1991, died Saturday of pancreatic cancer in a Scarborough hospice.

Pulsifer, 74, known as “Jolly John,” for decades was one of the most recognizable people in the state, known for goofy car ads that always ended with the line, “I’m not Jolly unless you’re happy.”

He parlayed a job selling cars in Biddeford beginning in 1958 into a string of six car dealerships that dominated the southern Maine market in the 1980s. But the dealerships were heavily leveraged and both his business and personal finances were hit hard by the deep recession of the early 1990s.

Pulsifer, who lived in Cape Elizabeth, was forced to declare personal bankruptcy in 1991, listing assets of $1.55 million and debts of $9 million, and losing homes in Maine and Florida.

But ever the salesman, Pulsifer could find a positive note even in the midst of that setback, saying, “I’ve still got to be a millionaire because you can’t owe millions without being a millionaire,” his son-in-law, Peter Gordon, said Sunday.

Pulsifer bounced back quickly from bankruptcy, buying a dealership on Route 1 in Saco and turning it into a Chrysler store that soon set sales records.

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But the parent company has changed hands several times since then and Chrysler was demanding improvements to the buildings that dealerships operated in, Gordon said. Pulsifer always believed that “buildings don’t sell cars, people do,” he said.

The death two years ago of Pulsifer’s wife, Paulyne, hit him hard and Pulsifer sold his Chrysler dealership in November, tired of the demands of the manufacturer, Gordon said. Eager to go back to just selling cars, Pulsifer planned to open a used car dealership that he could operate without interference, but felt ill and went to see a doctor, who diagnosed cancer in mid-November, Gordon said.

Doctors determined it was pancreatic cancer in mid-December and Pulsifer went to Gosnell Memorial Hospice House in Scarborough a few weeks later. A big football fan, Pulsifer was determined to live to see the Super Bowl earlier this month, Gordon said, but his condition declined rapidly since then.

Pulsifer’s business was built on his high-energy persona in television commercials, opening with a jaunty, “Hi-Ho!” Gordon said Pulsifer himself came up with the “Jolly” nickname during a slow period at a dealership years ago.

The phone rang, Gordon said, and Pulsifer answered, “Jolly John Pulsifer speaking, the Polish prince of happiness. How may I help you?”

Pulsifer’s happy-go-lucky exterior and the corny ads hid a man who loved to help people, Gordon said. He supported the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the Salvation Army and other groups. At one point, he provided a small scholarship to every high school in Cumberland and York counties — aimed not at the brightest students, but those determined to succeed in life.

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His most outrageous commercial wasn’t aimed at selling cars, Gordon said. After Hurricane Andrew hit southern Florida in 1992, Pulsifer heard there was a shortage of diapers.

He went on TV, clad in a big diaper secured with a giant safety pin, a bonnet — and nothing else — and encouraged people to bring in a box of diapers to donate. Soon a truck was rolling down from Maine to Florida, filled with diapers.

Pulsifer was a mentor who gave employees a half-hour every week, on company time, to read a self-help book or listen to a motivational tape, Gordon said. He said the goal was to make them better than when they came to work for him.

But Pulsifer’s dominant trait, Gordon said, was perseverance. Despite the setbacks, he kept plugging — and selling.

He often said, “When you see me at Hobbs (Funeral Home), you’ll know I’ve retired,” Gordon said.

Staff Writer Edward D. Murphy may be contacted at 791-6465 or at:

emurphy@pressherald.com

 


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