William “Volvo Man” Franklin Congleton, 79, of Crawfordsville passed away Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020.
He was born Nov. 8, 1940, at Hillsboro, to Clifford Riley and Mahayla Evelyn Rowland Congleton. He attended Hillsboro School, after which he joined the Navy, where he served four years traveling the world. This ignited a passion for traveling, thus upon exiting the Navy he continued to travel across Europe and beyond.
Upon returning to the United States he moved to California, where he attended college. Later he was a police officer for the LAPD in Watts, California. There, he befriended members of the musical group, “The Mamas and The Papas” (inlcuding Mama Cass, herself). After that he lived in Las Vegas for a while, where he became a taxi driver. He met Frank Sinatra during this period of time, having given him a ride from a casino to his hotel. His stories of life and travel were vast, and proved thathe lived life to the fullest.
Bill returned to Indiana in the late 1960s, married and took up driving acorss the U.S. Finally, settled down in Crawfordsville where he began working on diesel trucks. He started his own business, All Cash Truck Repair, and later went on to work on foreign autos, where he became dubbed “Volvo Man.” People came from across the U.S. to have him work on their foreign automobiles. Bill was highly intelligent, honest, fare and true. A one-of-kind that will be missed by many.
He was married to Mary Ann Hay. She preceded him in death June 20, 2015.
He is survived by his daugther, Kelli (Jason) Stacey of Crawfordsville and three grandchildren, Vaughan, Gabriel and Rosemary.
He was preceded in death by his siblings, Jack, Judy, Beverly Jane, Doris, Robert and Mikey.
A celebration of his life will take place at a later date. He will be interred in Oak Hill Cemetery Grant Avenue in a private family service.
Online condolences and memories may be shared at www.huntandson.com.
