Greensburg area car dealer remembered as a 'people person'

Frank Schimizzi opened Hillview Motors Inc. in Hempfield in 1961 and eventually handed the dealership to his sons and grandchildren.

“He was a very personable person. He liked people and dealing with people and that made him good at it,” said his son, Paul Schimizzi, who manages Hillview with two of his brothers. The dealership also employs several grandchildren.

“If you take care of the customer, the dollars will take care of themselves,” was one of Frank Schimizzi’s sayings, Paul Schimizzi said.

Schimizzi, 94, of Greensburg, died Friday, June 24, 2022, at his home.

He was born Jan. 31, 1928, in the Apollo area, the sixth of nine boys born to his Italian immigrant parents, Frank and Frances (Malaspina) Schimizzi.

He worked on the family farm in the Washington Township village of Mamont, alongside his eight brothers. When his three older brothers went to serve in the military during World War II, Schimizzi had to spend more time working on the farm. Because of the chores he had to do, Schimizzi missed a lot of school one year. Faced with either going to summer school or repeating the grade, Schimizzi opted to drop out of school at age 15 and help his family.

When the United States entered the Korean War, he was drafted into the Army and shipped to Korea, Schimizzi said. He was promoted to sergeant and earned his general equivalency diploma. It was not until 2018, however, when he was 90, that he was awarded his high school diploma from Kiski Area High School under the Operation Recognition program.

After returning home from the war, he married his girlfriend, Rosemary Lang of Renton, and they moved to the Greensburg area. He worked at various car dealerships, in the parts department and in sales.

By 1959, he decided to partner with George Ziff in opening Westmoreland Auto, a used car dealership. He then went into business with his brother, Joseph, in opening Hillview Motors in 1961. They named it Hillview because it was next to the Hillview Manor Restaurant just outside Greensburg, Schimizzi said.

They later moved the used dealership to its current location along the westbound lanes of Route 30 in Hempfield, and acquired an AMC dealership in 1970. He served as president and general manager of the dealership for 35 years.

In 1987, Hillview Motors had the distinction of being the country’s number one sales volume leader for the AMC Eagle. He served as a National Dealer Council member and president of the Pittsburgh AMC Dealer Advertising Association. Today, the dealership offers the Chrysler family of products.

He loved to play golf, fish, hunt and go snowmobiling, but Schimizzi said he really loved spending time with his family at Deep Creek Lake in Western Maryland.

He and his wife bought an authentic log cottage in 1968 in Beckman’s Peninsula along Deep Creek Lake that became the heart and soul of their family. They built a second home in 1983 next to the log cottage and his father finished the interior, doing all of the woodwork, Schimizzi said.

“My father had a love of family that he instilled in us,” Schimizzi said.