Leonard Hawk, one of the founders and the first president of the American Rental Association, died earlier this month at 91 in Moline, Ill. Hawk opened United Rent-All franchises in Moline and Rock Island, Ill., in 1954 after working as a Yellow Pages advertising salesman.
Hawk later said he didn’t like the contract fee and how equipment had to be purchased as a franchise. Hawk and a few others invited franchise operators within a 500-mile radius of Moline, Ill., to meet at his two stores on March 6, 1955. Those meetings led to the creation of the National Rental Operators Mutual Association with Hawk elected temporary president. In September 1955, the group was renamed the American Associated Rental Operators and eventually became ARA. Hawk served as president of the group from 1956-1958.
“Leonard was the organizer and communicator of that original group of 21 that had the vision to create this association, hire Ziggy Siegried [ARA’s first executive director] and build the framework of ARA,” said Christine Wehrman, ARA executive vice president and CEO. “We shared great conversations that will always be remembered and ARA is forever grateful to Leonard for his leadership among his peers. ARA staff members interfaced with Leonard often and were able to record these important points of the association history. The ARA is truly fortunate to have shared these experiences first hand with Leonard, who remembered and treasured this history along with us.”
Since 2001, when Hawk was named to the Rental Hall of Fame, ARA embraced its first president and he played a major role in many of ARA’s 50th anniversary celebrations in 2005 and 2006. In 2009, the ARA Foundation honored Hawk by creating the Leonard Hawk Founders Scholarship, a $3,000 scholarship awarded to the ARA Foundation scholarship program’s top applicant each year.
Hawk’s wife Marilyn died in 2008, a few months short of the couple’s 65th anniversary. Hawk is survived by two sons, Mark and Paul Hawk, and two grandsons. Memorials in Hawk’s name may be made to the ARA Foundation.
