Roland Purifoy

Roland Purifoy was born in Mobile, Alabama in 1915. After his father’s death, he began working for a Chevrolet dealership in Missouri in 1929 at age 14. In 1940, he opened Roland’s Body Shop and ran it for two years before joining the U.S. Army. He was severely wounded during World War II and spent two months in an Austrian hospital, before returning home.

Roland’s wife owned a beauty shop in Missouri and had saved enough money for the couple to move to Colorado, where Roland opened a used car lot and rental car
company. In 1954, he became the owner/operator of Purifoy Motors in Colorado Springs. Five years later, he decided he wanted to be a Chevrolet dealer, so he bought the store in Fort Lupton. Purifoy Chevrolet was established in 1961.

He wanted his new Chevrolet dealership to be built on the foundation of integrity, honesty, ethics and more importantly, customer satisfaction. He accomplished this by doing business the “right way” and making sure every aspect of the dealership was up to his very high standards.

For the next 30 years, Roland worked hard to get his dealership to the top. He believes in the philosophy of “lead, follow or get out of the way.” That philosophy contributed to his receiving Colorado’s nomination for TIME Quality Dealer Award in 1993.

Roland was a member of the Fort Lupton Chamber of Commerce, Masonic Lodge, Rotary Club and El Jebel Shrine Club of Denver. He founded the Fort Lupton Development Corporation, and he supported the Shriners Hospital Burn Center in Galveston, Texas.

In 1972, he was appointed by Governor John Love as a Colorado Goodwill Ambassador to promote business and industry in Colorado. He, along with other dealers, started the Horn Dealer’s Association, and served as president. Also, he served as the mayor of Fort Lupton for two terms.