Dan Colglazier loved to have fun.
He had a passion for motorcycles, and the enjoyment he felt while riding them led to the start of his own business.
Colglazier and his first wife, Sandra, were the co-founders of Dan’s Cycle Sales in Seymour. Sandra passed away in 1994.
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He was born in Bedford in 1932 to the late George and Eva Hall Colglazier and served in the U.S. Army in the Korean War from 1953 to 1955 before moving to Jackson County. He also had a vocational teacher license.
On Feb. 16, 1957, Colglazier married Sandra Sue Miller, and that same year, they moved to Seymour, and he started working for the railroad.
Tammy Riordan, Colglazier’s daughter, said she remembers when her dad started the shop 58 years ago and then moving the business to Tipton Street in Seymour.
Tammy’s brother, Gary Colglazier, said the motorcycle repair shop started at their house out of their garage in 1962, and he started helping his dad there in 1965.
“Mayor (Chris) Moritz told Dad he needed to move it out in 1971 because of too many neighbor complaints,” Gary said. “That’s when Dan’s moved to its current location and opened for business in January 1972.”
After Gary graduated, he joined his dad and went to work at the new location in 1972. Then two years later, Tammy joined them.
“We were really a jack-of-all-trades here, but I did the bookwork and ran the parts department for a lot of years,” Tammy said. “Gary did service work, and all of us did some sales.”
Whatever it required, they did it, Gary added.
Tammy said they added onto the building to make room for a machine shop and a section for the parts department in the early ‘80s.
Then in 2000, the U.S. 50 widening project that ran through Seymour cut into the cycle shop, causing it to lose part of the showroom.
After that, the cycle shop underwent some remodeling and additions, which led to a whole new look, revealed in a grand reopening that fall.
Although the shop has always been a family-run business, Eddie Madden and Scarlet Henry were two longtime employees. There were other employees over the years, too.
“Dad liked motorcycles, and that got me and Tammy involved,” Gary said. “He liked to have fun, and we had fun doing it, and we loved riding motorcycles and dirt riding and just playing.”
Gary said his dad had his pilot’s license in the ‘60s and ‘70s and liked to fly airplanes.
“We went boating a lot and water skiing, too. His life was about having fun, and that’s what we did as kids,” he said. “Motorcycles were a fun sport, but the industry isn’t what it used to be.”
Tammy said things have just changed, and it’s not much fun for them anymore.
“It used to be fun to come in and sell all of this stuff,” she said. “The best part was all of us working together and being with family all the time, and it was a big deal.”
She said they all worked together six days a week and then spent Sundays together riding motorcycles.
Gary and his dad both raced motocross from 1968 to 1975.
“Dad and I did the racing while Mom and the girls watched and rode around in the pits,” Gary said. “It sure was a family affair. We raced in Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, and it sure was good times.”
Colglazier retired from the Pennsylvania and Conrail Railroad on Aug. 4, 1995, after 39 years of service. He was a block operator and changed the signals of the train so they could pass through, Gary said.
At the beginning of that same year, Colglazier married his second wife, Alicia McCashland, on Jan. 2.
“The cycle shop is all that Dan ever did besides working at the railroad,” Alicia said. “The shop was his hobby, and it was a job for us, but it was all fun to him.”
Colglazier found pleasure with his hot rod cars, especially driving his Ford Model T in all of the parades, and he also enjoyed being a part of Cars and Guitars Inc.
“He was the original founder of Cars and Guitars, and we hope we get to have it again next summer,” Gary said. “This would’ve been the 16th year for the event.”
Alicia said the event was basically started as something to get people involved in the downtown.
The annual car show and concert has become one of Seymour’s most popular events, attracting around 300 vehicles of all makes and models.
The car show raises money to equip Seymour parks with playground equipment for physically challenged children.
Dan and Alicia both enjoyed going to hot rod conventions, and one of their favorites was the Hot Rod Power Tour.
With Dan’s passing in February at the age of 87, the family has had to make some hard decisions.
Dan’s Cycle Sales closed its doors for business Sept. 25, and the building is now up for sale.
The Colglaziers are in the process of selling the items that are still at the store.
Gary said one thing he will miss about going to work at the cycle shop is the friendships he has made over the years.
“I started out with Dad when I was 11 years old, so I’ve done this for 55 years now,” he said. “All these years later, my fingers hurt, back hurts, and so it’s time to retire.”
Gary also is a bus driver for Seymour Community School Corp.
Riordan said she’ll miss the people, too, and all of the interactions every day.
“This is almost like getting rid of a family home,” she said. “Coming back and dealing with all this hasn’t been easy.”