Pete Honnen, 1925 - 2003
Colorado Equipment Pioneer Built His Business from Scratch

The Colorado construction industry recently lost one of its heavy equipment pioneers. Pete Honnen, founder and chairman of the board of Honnen Equipment, died Dec. 5 after a long illness. He is survived by Eileen, his wife of 51 years, and four children, including Mark Honnen, the company president.

Based in Commerce City, Honnen Equipment is the regional distributor of John Deere and Grove Cranes, in addition to several other equipment lines. The company also has branches in Grand Junction and Durango and opened its Casper store two years ago.

Pete incorporated Honnen Equipment in January 1963 after working for his father Ed at McCoy Co., a Caterpillar dealership, for 12 years.

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"Pete started his own business from nothing," Eileen said. "He had only three machine [lines] at the time, compared to over 100 now. He used to sell out of his car, calling on ranchers, construction people, anybody he could think of. He did everything himself for quite a while."

Pete opened Honnen's Grand Junction store in 1974, with the new branch led by current Honnen Equipment Vice President Erv Graham, who started with the company in 1972. "He saw an opportunity there that no one else did," Graham said. "And when Pete made a decision, it was a firm decision. It turned out to be the right one. We've done well there."

"We're now one of the oldest John Deere dealers in the country," Mark Honnen said.
"We've established ourselves as a well-respected industry leader, built on my father's strong belief in doing business with integrity and honor. A handshake and his word were all he needed to finalize a deal."

Before starting his equipment career, Pete earned a degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

He met Eileen in 1952 at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, where she was teaching figure skating. Eileen had been a member of the U.S. Olympic figure skating team in 1948. They were married in December 1952.

"I knew right away that Pete was a hard worker," she said. "And for someone who was always very careful about money, he was also generous with it. Not many people know that he gave a lot of it - and his time - away to some good causes."

Pete's busy community and charity schedule included serving on the CU Foundation and helping to develop the Fitzsimons site for the university's Health Sciences Center. A floor at the university's new Research Complex One Building was named after him - the "Pete Honnen Family Floor."

"Pete strongly supported the move out to Fitzsimons. He saw the big opportunity out there, all that land," Eileen said. "He believed strongly in community and family. He was a wonderful father."

"He was also a real character," Mark Honnen said. "My father was one of those good ol' guys from the West, a big man with a big smile who respected people on every level. He got along with nearly everyone and that's a big part of what made him so successful."

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