Schomp Stories: Richard Reeder and the Sessom Family

Words by Caroline Schomp

It’s just shy of 40 years since Richard Reeder “bought my very first silver Honda Civic. Bought it from [Ralph Schomp] on Broadway in 1977.” That was when Schomp Honda was located at 2949 South Broadway, which is where the original dealership opened in 1943 in a converted gas station.

Reeder, who’s an HR recruiter for Cherry Creek Properties by day, and a musician with Cup-a-Jo at night and on weekends, remembers, “That little Civic took me through a lot. Playing all over the place. We were all over the road. It definitely served the purpose. I ran the tires off it.” He started performing as a singer and percussionist in 1965, and has appeared with some locally and nationally known groups, including the Freddy-Henchi Band, Otis Taylor Band and Sugarloaf.

As Reeder started to make a little more money, he traded up to larger cars. He drives a V-6 Honda Accord now, his second and one of four Hondas purchased from Schomp. “They’re great cars, just superb cars. I could buy them in a number of places, but the reason I keep coming back centers around…Everybody’s very professional and honest. I’ve received the best deals I could get. That’s really it.”
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“We’ve had other technicians elsewhere work on our car and they screwed it up. I won’t have anyone else work on it other than Schomp,” says Wayne Sessom. Wayne and JoAnne Sessom started doing business with Schomp Honda 25 years ago when they moved to Colorado from Southern California. Both of them drive Hondas, and since their cars both are more than a decade old, high-quality maintenance and service is important to them. “They give us exceptional service,” Wayne says, calling out “the team the last couple of years – Shaun Lewis and his group,” for particular praise.

One of the Sessom’s Hondas, a 1990 Accord, was purchased from JoAnne’s mother, when she could no longer drive. It has 126,000 miles on it.  The other, a 1994 Accord, was a year-old loaner purchased from Schomp. It has 215,000 miles on it, and according to Wayne, “We’ve had people want to buy it from us…the managers want to buy it from us.” Both Hondas have been repainted and, “They both run like tops,” he boasts.

Both Wayne and JoAnne Sessom say they appreciate the small touches that make Schomp Honda a pleasant place for customers to visit, including clean and comfortable rest rooms and waiting rooms. “I give them glowing marks all the way around,” Wayne says.