Butler Kia
4950 Crater Lake Ave.
Medford, OR 97504
- Sales: (800) 373-8477
- Service: (888) 259-7623
- Parts: (800) 687-2717
Staff
Click on one of the people below to find out more information.
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- Chuck Butler
- Founder & President
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- chuckbutler@butlerman.com
- 541.482.2521
Chuck wasn't born into the auto industry but it was close. Having been born in Buffalo, New York, his father moved the family to California and soon went to work in the car business, allowing 12-year old Chuck to wash cars on his lot. Because of Chuck's height at the time, he earned 15-cents for cleaning the bottom half, a quarter for the whole car. Over the next few years he worked in all departments, drove a parts truck and moved into sales. He also served six years in the Air National Guard and on active-duty in the Air Force. After graduating from L.A. Valley College and UCLA (where he played water polo) with a degree in business administration he took over his father's business in 1966.
It was at that dealership in Torrance, CA that Chuck met Linda. He recalls how he made sure he was in the right place at the right time when she stopped by to pick up a friend, and the way he was mesmerized by her waist-length blonde hair. On their first date he took her to a Neil Diamond concert. He says it took him three years and eight proposals to convince her to marry him.
Together, they bought the Ford dealership in Ashland in 1976. That endeavor has since grown into the four dealerships that currently make up the Butler Automotive Group in Medford and Ashland. Chuck is also a partner in Steelhead Finance in Medford, a nationwide commercial finance company and CPM Real Estate Services with locations in Medford, Ashland and Grants Pass. In his spare time he pours energy into a number of volunteer endeavors, including the Ashland Community Hospital, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Southern Oregon University Athletics and the YMCA.
When asked who he is when he's not working, Chuck doesn't hesitate. "I'm a captain", he says. He and Linda bought their first boat, a canoe, as newlyweds. Now, they get away from it all on a slightly bigger vessel they've named "Comme Je Trouve", which, when translated from French means "as I find things" or, "take it as it comes". Chuck's also a family man; He and Linda have four children and five grandchildren.
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- Linda Butler
- Co-Founder
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- lindabutler@butlerman.com
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- Warren Cooper
- Managing Partner
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- warrencooper@butlerman.com
- 541.482.2521
You can't miss Warren Cooper, for two reasons: At 6' 5" he towers over almost everyone. And he always has a mischievous smile on his face. Maybe that's because, as an admitted "workaholic", he loves what he does!
Warren is a Medford native and Crater graduate who played forward for the Raiders basketball team back when Southern Oregon University was Southern Oregon College. Since he "enjoys business" and has "always had a mind for numbers", he studied accounting, going to work for a CPA firm directly out of school. Warren's lightning-fast computation skills took his career to LTM (now Knife River), then into partnering in two businesses ? a video rental shop and appliance store - where he fell in love with retail.
But as fate would have it ? he wound up in the auto industry. Warren met Chuck Butler in 1978 upon buying his first new vehicle: a Ford Conversion Van. Not only did they strike up a friendship but Warren became a repeat customer when he bought a truck from Butler a couple years later. His friendship with Chuck turned into a position with the company in the late 1980s, then into a business partnership in 1998.
In the rare moments when he's not at one of the dealerships, Warren enjoys spending time with Paula, his artist wife of 30 years whom he says he married within a month and a half of meeting. They like to travel and have their sights set on South Dakota's Mt. Rushmore and Alaska. There's also lots of family to attend to: four children and three grandchildren. In his free time, Warren indulges in art appreciation, reading - he especially likes history - and golf, which he says he doesn't play nearly often enough.
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- Bill Shevlin
- General Sales Manager
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- 541.482.2521
Bill's one of those people who knows the automotive industry inside out and backwards. He'd better! He's been immersed in it for more than thirty years!
The Navy took him from his hometown of Canton, Ohio to sunny San Diego where he worked in a shipyard. Eventually, he transferred his energies into studying business/economics at Cal State Northridge and landed a gig selling car parts and commercial truck tires for Sears Roebuck. He met his wife, Anne, in Los Angeles but, when it came time to think about starting a family (twins Christine and Tim came along in 1979), they decided they'd better move north. His history with Butler dates back to 1977. We are proud to brag that Bill is one of just a handful of certified used car appraisers in Oregon.
When he's not perusing Butler's six stores or appraising vehicles, Bill likes to golf. When asked about his level of ability, he humbly responds, "Anywhere from a scratch to a 12." But he says he finds his greatest joy visiting with his toddler granddaughter and spending time with his wife.
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- Curtis Hancock
- Service & Parts Director
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- curtishancock@butlerman.com
- 541.245.5335
Curtis has literally spent half his life at Butler Automotive Group. Born and raised in Ashland, he played Center and Middle Linebacker at Ashland High School (he says his team saw just 3 losses in 3 years). Shortly after graduating Curtis started washing cars for Butler. A couple years later, he joined the Army National Guard, service that allowed him the freedom to continue his employment. Along the way, Curtis married Jennifer, a neo-natal intensive care unit nurse. Together they're raising five kids! Curtis describes his clan as a "boating family" and says they love spending time on their houseboat at Lake Shasta. He also adores coaching Ashland Pop Warner football, and being an officer with the Ashland Football Club. And, as if that weren't enough to keep him busy, he and Jen recently took up ballroom dancing. His favorite dance is Tango.
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- Dave Wong
- Sales Manager
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- davewong@butlerman.com
- 541.776.3088
Dave is a man unafraid to commit. Take, for example, his decision to move to Southern Oregon from Napa, California in the 1990's: It was made on the spur of the moment while visiting family in Grants Pass. Although he did return to the Golden State to help his father's business during the dot-com era, he was back in Oregon within a year. He turned extensive car-lot work experience into a sales position at a Grants Pass dealership and never looked back. Now, we're proud to say that as of September 2011, Dave is the Sales Manager at Butler Kia.
The self-described "family guy" goes home to a full house. Of his 5 kids, 3 boys are still at home. Dave and wife Jackie also care for a lizard, a Chihuahua and 4 chickens. When they're not tending the zoo, the family likes motorcycle rides, camping, chillin' at local lakes (in fact, they're in the market for a pontoon boat?) and "discussing" their favorite NFL teams (Dave's a Niner's guy; Jackie roots for the Cowboys). And if they're too tired to play, there's always the movie collection stacked flush with the living room wall: close to 1300 titles to choose from. And yes, speaking of commitment, Dave says he's watched them all.
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- Guy Fowler
- Body Shop Manager
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- guyfowler@butlerman.com
- 541.482.2521 ext.354
One of 10 children, Guy hails from Ohio. Shortly after graduation he followed one of his brothers to the San Francisco Bay Area to work on cars. For a while during the late 70's and early 80's the Fowler boys serviced nothing but 1967-'69 Camaros. A self-described "tinkerer", Guy says he can fix just about anything.
Eventually he moved to Santa Cruz where he met and married his wife, Lisa. She had family in Southern Oregon so it wasn't long before they bought land in Eagle Point and built a house. Guy says, there came a time when they sold that house and moved to Northern California but, they missed Eagle Point. So they repurchased the house they'd built and, with their son and two daughters, moved back home. When he's not rebuilding the '56 Chevy in his garage or fiddling with the plumbing, Guy says he's hanging out with his family, riding dirt bikes with his son, or training his youngest daughter in competitive horseback riding, a sport he participated in when he was in school.
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- Richard Parker
- Rental Manager
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- 541.488.7285
Rich is one of those people everyone seems to know. Maybe that's because he tends to stay in one place for a long, long time. Born and raised in Medford, he went for work for Quality Market not long after graduating from Phoenix High. He stayed with Quality for 26-years, working his way up from clerk to store manager. When it came time to switch careers, Rich knew he wanted for work for another family owned business, and Butler Automotive fit the bill. We've been lucky to have him since 1999.
Rich and his wife, Donnis, have three grown kids and eight grandkids, all of whom live locally. He says his life is all about family. In fact, he spent 20 of his last 21 vacations with his family at Disneyland! Which is fitting because Rich's philosophy is what he calls "Pollyanna-ish", referring to the book Walt Disney turned into a movie in 1960 about a girl who seems to be able to find a silver lining in anything. Rich fits the bill, saying, "If you look for the good, you'll find it."
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- Shannon Young
- Spokesperson/Marketing Coordinator
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- shannonyoung@butlerman.com
- 541.482.2521
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- Kat Gfroerer
- Office Manager
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- kathleengfroerer@butlerman.com
- 541.776.3088
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- John Stafford
- Internet Manager
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- johnstafford@butlerman.com
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- Brett Pelleschi
- Finance Manager
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- 541-776-3088
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- Darren Waites
- Sales Consultant
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- 541.776.3088
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- Bob Miller
- Sales Consultant
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- 541.776.3088
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- Bob Goldberg
- Sales Consultant
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- 541.776.3088
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- Keith Devenport
- Sales Consultant
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- Mark Retter
- Service Advisor
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- 541.776.3088
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- Cliff Loy
- Parts Counterman
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- 541-776-3088
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- Allen Crawford
- Technician
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- 541.776.3088
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- Adam Decker
- Technician
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- Luke Turk
- Technician
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- Joe Rodgers
- Technician
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- Robert O'Brien
- Lot Attendant
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