PARADISE VALLEY, AZ - N. Bud Grossman, co-founder of General Leasing Company (later named Gelco) and past president of the American Automotive Leasing Association (AALA), passed away Jan. 11 from Alzheimer's disease at his home in Paradise Valley, Ariz. He was 88.

Grossman was also an inductee into the Fleet Hall of Fame awards in 2008.

Born in Minneapolis, Grossman attended North High School, and graduated with a B.A. from the University of Minnesota in 1941. From 1942 through 1945, Grossman served as a pilot in the Army Air Corps, testing planes and teaching instrument flying. Returning to Minneapolis after World War II, he went to work in the family retail automobile business, and with his brother Harold Grossman, operated a chain of car dealerships for the next 32 years. The Grossmans founded General Leasing Company in 1956, which eventually became Gelco Corporation, one of the largest transportation leasing companies in the world. The company was sold in 1987 to GE Capital.

In addition, Grossman was also a co-founder and chairman of the board of Dyco Petroleum Corporation.

Grossman is survived by his second wife, Beverly, whom he married in 1992; sons, Richard, Thomas, Andrew, and Joseph; 13 grandchildren, Max, Abraham, Charles, Elizabeth, Benjamin, Matthew, Alene, Noah, Eliana, Jared, Alexandra, Jacob, and Rosa; and seven great-grandchildren, Casey, Robyn, Zachary, Jack, Max, Annie, and Zoe. He is preceded in death by his first wife, Alene Lorberbaum, who died in 1988; son, John; brother, Harold; and sister, Marion Cohen.

Click here for Bud Grossman's full obituary.