Randy Daugherty sits at a desk that will soon belong to someone else and he ponders how much this place, this business, means to him.

He can recite the numbers, dispassionate though they are.

Randy’s father, Glen, started working here at Baker Garage, one of the oldest General Motors dealerships in Oregon, in 1954.

The business opened in 1913 and has operated ever since.

Randy himself earned his first paycheck right here, 51 years ago, when he was 16.

But statistics can’t explain how Randy is feeling in this, his final week as Baker Garage owner.

Only words can accomplish that.

“It’s a little strange, since I grew up in it,” he says on the afternoon of Tuesday, Oct. 25. “There’s a lot of memories.”

Daugherty is sitting in his wood-paneled office, the autumn sunshine streaming through the showroom windows on the north side of Washington Avenue.

Who can say how many new cars have been parked here, their unblemished paint gleaming, since the building was finished in 1917.

(Baker Garage dates to 1913; its first location was a few blocks to the south, at Auburn and Resort.)

They were parked here while World War I was playing out, cars that in some cases wouldn’t run until someone cranked a handle jutting out of the front.

They were parked here during the Depression and during another world war and during two pandemics — Buicks sold during the flu pandemic of 1918-19 and they sold a century later when COVID-19 wreaked its havoc on society.

Daugherty feels the weight of this legacy.

He feels the responsibility of honoring his father, who sold his first car for Baker Garage 68 years ago. Glen Daugherty died in June 2014 at age 89.

And he feels an obligation to Baker County and its residents, who have supported this business since a time when automobiles were still so rare and so unreliable that most people figured a horse was the better way to get around.

And so, although Daugherty decided a few years ago to start contemplating retirement, he said his ultimate goal was to ensure that Baker Garage stayed open.

“I wanted to retain the employees and the business in this community because I think it’s needed,” said Daugherty, who, after earning a degree in accounting at Eastern Oregon University and working for a Portland construction company, returned to his hometown in 1983 to become a co-owner of Baker Garage with his dad.

In looking for a successor, Daugherty started by talking to dealership owners locally and around the region.

That was just before the pandemic started.

Daugherty said he wasn’t surprised that these discussions didn’t yield any serious interest.

Earlier this year, with the effects of the pandemic easing, Daugherty renewed his efforts.

While exchanging vehicles at the Chevrolet dealership in Walla Walla, Washington, he met Justin Henning, the owner.

In May they reached an agreement.

Henning will assume ownership of Baker Garage on Nov. 1, the same day Daugherty officially retires.

Daugherty said he’s excited about the changes, and optimistic about the future of the business to which he and his dad were devoted.

“It’s a win-win deal for this community,” Daugherty said. “Justin is aggressive, and he knows what’s coming.”

In a letter to his customers and friends, Daugherty wrote that “Justin is committed to bringing many new resources to Baker Garage with expanded new and used vehicle inventories, including Corvette, GMC Hummer, and a full line-up of EV vehicles. Baker Garage will become Baker City Chevrolet, Buick, GMC with the same familiar staff, friendly service and small town feel.”

Daugherty said that although he was already pondering retirement, his decision to sell Baker Garage was solidified by what he described as the most significant change in the auto industry since the business started 109 years ago.

The shift to electric vehicles, he said, is monumental.

GM’s CEO, Mary Barra, has said the company’s goal is to build 2 million electric cars in North America and China by 2025. The automaker’s even more ambitious plan is to go all electric by 2035.

“Where that’s going to take us, I have no idea,” Daugherty said.

But about one thing he is certain — nearing the end of his career, he was not willing to invest the time, or the estimated half-million dollars, needed to remain a licensed GM dealer in the EV era.

GM will require dealers to spend a considerable amount of money to be prepared to sell and, more notably, service and repair electric vehicles, Daugherty said.

“It’s a huge commitment, and at my age I didn’t want to make it,” he said.

Fortunately, Daugherty said Henning is ready to move into the new era.

As most people do when retirement is imminent, Daugherty has been fielding the predictable question — what are your plans?

He chuckles.

“I have no plans, I really don’t,” he said. “The farthest thing from my mind is what I’m going to do now.”

He said he will continue to play golf — “a little” — and fish — “a little.”

Daugherty said he and his wife, Mary Ellen, who have two grown daughters, will probably travel a little more frequently.

He smiles a little more broadly at this topic.

It’s not the vacations, per se, but when he plans to take them.

“I’m going to be getting out of Baker County in January and February — not long trips, but to somewhere warmer,” Daugherty said. “I’ve spent enough winters here, clearing snow off cars. I won’t miss that at all.”

“It’s been good to me, and it was good to my dad.”

— Randy Daugherty, who joined his father, Glen, as co-owner of Baker Garage in 1983

This is the text of a letter that Randy Daugherty wrote to Baker Garage customers, dated Oct. 26.

“It is with many emotions I announce my retirement and sale of Baker Garage to Justin Henning of Walla Walla effective November 1, 2022. Justin currently owns Chevrolet and Nissan of Walla Walla, Windy Chevrolet in Ellensburgh, West Coast Auto Brokers in Moses Lake, as well as a working relationship with Clickit RV in Pasco.

“Justin is committed to bringing many new resources to Baker Garage with expanded new and used vehicle inventories, including Corvette, GMC Hummer, and a full line-up of EV vehicles. A win win for the citizens of Eastern Oregon and beyond. Baker Garage will become Baker City Chevrolet, Buick, GMC with the same familiar staff, friendly service and small town feel. Gail, Mark, Dale and our well trained technicians will be there to assist you with all your automotive needs. You will remain in good hands!

“I also need to inform you that effective November 1, 2022, your Baker Garage charge account will be closed and we would ask your cooperation to receive final payment of your account no later than November 30, 2022.

“I would like to personally thank you and let you know how much we at Baker Garage appreciated you being a loyal customer of Baker Garage over our 109 year history.”