By just about any measurement, Tony Martino was a healthy
man. In his mid-70s, he was still active in the day-to-day operations
of Maaco Enterprises Inc., the company that runs the eponymous
auto body paint and repair shop chain he started in 1972. He was
a highly successful, self-made businessman whose start-up credits also included co-founder of AAMCO Transmissions Inc. in the
late 1950s as well as a Philadelphia-area recording studio and
record labels.
Nothing kept his father down for long, says Mark Martino, so
when he had trouble recovering from a series of colds last year, it
drew some concern from those close to him.
“It was uncanny that it would take him two to four weeks to get
over a cold,” Martino says. “In December, he caught a cold that
was so bad it developed into pneumonia. He wasn’t a guy who ran
to the doctor all the time, but he went to get some antibiotics for
the infection. But they drew some blood, and when the tests came
back, they found a few leukemia cells.”
Tony Martino spent 25 days in the hospital battling the disease.
“We thought he was going to make it right up until the last few
days,” Martino says. “But right at the end, he took a turn for the
worse.”
He died on Jan. 27, less than three weeks after his 75th birthday.
Though Mark Martino says his father was diligent about legacy
planning, carrying on a business empire after the death of its
founder is a daunting task, compounded by the personal grief of
losing a parent.
Mark Martino succeeded his father as chairman and CEO of
Maaco — which generated approximately $450 million in systemwide sales last year — and immediately began the task of
piloting his family’s company through a difficult period.
“You have to work hard at every level,” he says. “Everybody
is in a state of shock and mourning. You have to kind of cling
onto each other as you evolve out of that stage.”
