Friends and family are celebrating the big, generous, car-filled life of long-time Chevy dealer Nick Petrishen Jr. out in western Pennsylvania. But his family can’t help but see a bit of irony in the timing of their patriarch’s passing.

As Petrishen’s son tells TribLive, the beloved operator and vice president of Nick Chevrolet in Tarentum, Pa., had just seen the off-brand car movie “Ford vs. Ferrari” the night before he suffered a stroke that would ultimately take his life.

“He really enjoyed it the whole time,” said his son Nick S. Petrishen, 50, of Natrona Heights, who accompanied his father to the film. “The ironic part is the local Chevy man has two strokes after the ‘Ford vs. Ferrari’ movie.”

As Forbes reports, the movie starring Matt Damon and Christian Bale recounts a business deal gone wrong as Henry Ford II attempted to acquire Ferrari, sparking a nearly decade-long car feud between him and Enzo Ferrari.

Petrishen Jr. owned and ran his Chevy dealership for nearly 60 years. He died at home Friday, Nov. 29, 2019, at 77.

From TribLive:

A larger-than-life character known for befriending the people who patronized his dealership and his generosity in giving to community causes, Petrishen also was an automobile enthusiast who built push trucks, which is a truck with a push bar on the front to get a race car started.

“He definitely was born and bred for this,” said his son Nick S. Petrishen. “He used to tell everybody that he had the best job in the world because he got paid his whole life to (B.S.) as a car salesman.”

Mr. Petrishen had a big heart and liked to help others out, financially supporting high school athletics as well as Little League teams. He also gave support to local police and fire departments and other charitable organizations

Mr. Petrishen is survived by his wife of 55 years, Loretta Susan (Szymkowiak) Petrishen; children Michele Petrishen of Bemus Point, N.Y., Bridgette Ladie of Buffalo Township, and Nick S. Petrishen of Natrona Heights; three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren; and siblings Carol Ann Koprivnikar of Natrona Heights, Rose Mary Koprivnikar of Natrona Heights, Janice Langham of Lower Burrell, John J. Petrishen of Lower Burrell and Sue Zaleski of Natrona Heights.