Serving Washington, Oregon & Idaho

Frank Hanna Memorial

Learn about Frank Hanna memorial and past recipients of Frank Hanna Award.

Frank Hanna Memorial

Frank Hanna

Frank Hanna

The Frank Hanna memorial was established with a bronze plaque that is on display in the ASA State Office. The Board of Directors dedicated the ASA State Office to the memory of Frank Hanna in 1996. Owning our ASA State Office was a long time goal of members who were active in the early days of IGO (Independent Garage Owners), those who joined after the merger that saw the association become ASC (Automotive Service Councils), those who weathered the trials and tribulations of self-insurance that almost destroyed the association, and those who had the foresight to hire Pete Hunt as the Executive Director to bring our association to the professional level needed for the 80’s and beyond.

One person in particular had the dream, the foresight, the vision and the dedication to keep the association going forward. He used his own personal financial resources to see that it stayed viable. He used his personal talents and considerable knowledge to hold together this association when it was most in need. That person was Frank Hanna. For those of you who did not know Frank, he was the owner of Allied Transmission in Bellingham.  He served in most leadership positions in his unit and served four terms as Washington State President. He was the originator of the ASA newspaper, better known today as the “Dateline”. Frank was the only member to twice receive the ASA-WA Outstanding Member of the Year, once in 1972, and again in 1975. In 2010 the ASA-WA Board of Directors wanted to make sure that the future generations know the history and the dedication that members before us gave to make the association and our industry what it is today.

Past Recipients of Frank Hanna Award

Mitch Mullan

Mitch Mullan

Mitchell N. Mullan Jr. “What A Wonderful World!” August 21, 1930 to April 19, 2016 Mitch was born on August 21, 1930, and peacefully joined his Heavenly Father on April 19, 2016. Devoted husband, father, and grandfather, Mitch is survived by Agnes, his loving wife and best friend of 64 years, and 6 children, Nancy (Jim), Mitch (Claire), Gary (Julie), Bob, David, and Cathy, as well as 5 grandchildren, Jessica, Nick, Shannel, Carson, and Isabella.

A lifelong resident of Tacoma, he attended St. Patrick’s grade school, and Bellarmine Prep (class of ’47). After serving his country in the Korean War, Mitch returned to take over the family auto body business from his father, Mitch Sr., now called Mullan’s Collision Center. The business is still going strong in its 78th year and now under the 3rd generation stewardship of sons Gary and Bob. Mitch was a craftsman in life, as a husband, father, grandfather, and friend. His enthusiasm for life was present every day in how he brought joy to his family through the simple things in life. The Mullan house was always abuzz, generating memories of big family meals, cheering all his kids on in their sports and activities, swimming in the backyard pool, fishing on Puget Sound, and road trip journeys to the Washington coast and beyond. He would spend countless hours with Aggie tending the garden and house projects. For over 50 years Mitch and a group of friends were fixtures on Friday afternoons for lunch at Harbor Lights. He was player-coach for the Mullan’s Fender Benders; perennial adult recreational basketball league champions for 24 years. One highlight was an 83-game winning streak over 3 seasons!

Throughout his life Mitch was very active in St. Leo Parish. He was a leader in automotive trade associations at the local, regional, and national level. He also served in leadership roles for many civic organizations, including Rotary Club and Better Business Bureau. Mitch was also a craftsman in the auto body repair trade. He instructed the auto body apprenticeship program in the evenings at Bates and Clover Park Vocational Technical Institutes for over 20 years. He counseled the graduating apprentices that becoming a journeyman was just the beginning of learning their trade. In Mitch’s words – “A craftsman not only possesses the knowledge and capabilities, but also has two other points that distinguish him or her. That is ENTHUSIASM while working and SATISFACTION when the work is completed. The ability to stand back and look at a completed job and say to oneself “I’ve done my very best. I’m satisfied with the result. I’m ready for the next job.”

Bob O’Connor

Bob O’Connor

As most of you know that Bob O’Connor past away last year. And if you who didn’t know that, well you didn’t know Bob. That is truly your loss.

Bob did so much for our industry that it is very hard to put the correct words down to express our gratitude.  All of us that knew Bob were blessed with fortune in our businesses – because of  Bob’s knowledge of our industry.

If you went to his training classes, you were able to implement a new way increasing your sales immediately.  If you took it a step further and joined his bottomline groups, you were able to increase your business so that you could actually afford to retire in the future.

Because of Bob’s groups, we were blessed with many new friends from all over the US & Canada that we just would never have had otherwise.  Bob took personal interest in each of us to make sure that we were successful.

Bob built a template for success for the auto repair business so that any business owner could implement Bob’s formulas of the auto repair business and become a success with hard work.

ASA will always be thankful for all that he did for ASA-WA and will always be remembered on the ASA website as a recipient of the Frank Hanna Award, January 2012.

Donna West

Donna West

Donna was a major supporter of the collision repair industry and its associated activities over her 37-year career as co-owner, with her husband Mike West, of Southtowne Auto Rebuild in Tukwila, Washington. They have been active members since 1995

Donna was the only women president of the Autobody Craftsman Association of Washington State in 1994-95.  She worked to bring together repairers, insurers and vendors to improve and upgrade our industry.

Donna was an ASE Certified Collision Repair Damage Estimator and had worked in the ASE B-6 Test Workshop to update the ASE Estimator’s Test.

Donna became an Accredited Automotive Manager (AAM) and was proud of this designation authorized and originated by the Automotive Service Association’s (ASA) Automotive Management Institute (AMI).

In 2007 she was recognized as a Most Influential Woman in the Collision Repair Industry by Akzo Nobel at Las Vegas during the 2007 NACE Convention. 

Elaine was involved with youth hockey. She was part of a quilting group at Linda’s Quilting in Ferndale. Her favorite times were those spent with her friends and family, and she loved getting together for family dinners, even after her kids were grown.

Donna Washut

Donna Washut

Donna’s involvement in the automotive industry began many years before her employment with ASA-WA.  Donna and her husband (Leon Martinsen) were in the automotive dismantling business and both very active members of our association back in the 70’s, which at that time was called IGO, The Independent Garage Owners of Washington.  In 1973 our association was renamed ASC, the Automotive Service Councils of Washington and in 1986 became ASA, the Automotive Service Association of Washington, as we know it today.  Donna was very active in all three of our industry associations.

In 1992 Donna joined Pete & Cherie Hunt and became the third employee of ASA-WA.  Donna’s dedication and support contributed greatly to the success of ASA-WA.  Donna watched our association grow since the 1970’s and had been very influential in its growth and success.  In 1985 a group of women formed the ASA-WA Ascettes, and Donna was very instrumental in the formation of this active group.  Donna was voted to serve as the 1987-88 State President of the Ascettes.  Since the formation of this group Donna worked hard to encourage more participation from the women of our association.

Donna also was instrumental in the success of the Pierce County I-CAR program and in 2006 was presented with the Western Region I-CAR Founder’s Award. In 2001 Donna received her AAM designation from the Automotive Management Institute in Hawaii.

Donna retired from ASA-WA on January 31, 2008, but did not stay retired for very long.  In April of 2008, Donna became the editor of our monthly publication, the Dateline that was founded by Frank Hanna in 1986. Donna took the Dateline the next level as a web based publication now being sent to more than 2000 emails monthly.

Elaine Mills

In Memory of Elaine L. Mills. Elaine L. Mills, age 69 of Ferndale passed away on Wednesday,

March 17, 2010. She was born on January 19, 1941 in Vancouver, B.C.
For many years Elaine coordinated the Whatcom Christmas Parties and the picnic’s, held at the Deming Log Show.  Elaine held every office on the Whatcom unit board and was the Ascettes president for 3 terms.

Elaine was the first and only woman to hold the office of President for the Automotive Service Association of Washington.   Our thoughts and prayers go out to Elaine’s family, stated Jeff Lovell, President/Executive Director for ASA-WA.