Douglas Dalgleish, who with his family owned and operated the last Cadillac dealership in Detroit before General Motors closed it in 2009, died June 28 at age 90.

The dealership was tied to Cadillac's history. It was near the site of the first Cadillac plant and a few blocks from GM's former headquarters building.

Keith Dalgleish worked with his father for most of his own career and remembers how well he treated employees, building them up with constructive criticism and encouraging them to take time for themselves and their families.

"He was very diplomatic, very tactful," Keith Dalgleish said. "People remembered that. The outpouring from past employees and co-workers these last few days has been amazing."

The proximity to GM didn't help when, after decades in business and one-family ownership, the automaker closed Dalgleish Cadillac when it eliminated about 1,100 dealerships in 2009 as part of its bankruptcy restructuring.

Douglas Dalgleish joined his family's business in 1950, the same year his father, Charles Dalgleish Sr., was elected president of the Detroit Auto Dealers Association.

Dalgleish followed in his father's footsteps as DADA president in 1968.

He co-founded the first DADA charity event in 1969, which eventually became the North American International Auto Show Charity Preview. The event has raised more than $117 million for southeastern Michigan children's charities since its inception.

Charles Dalgleish Sr., emigrated to Detroit from Canada in 1922 and opened a service garage in 1929, one month before the market crash that began the Great Depression. He opened his Nash franchise, Charlie's Nash, in 1933, and it became the largest Nash dealership in the world. Douglas Dalgleish worked for about four years with his brother, Charles Dalgleish Jr., at Charlie's Nash until his father bought an Oldsmobile-Cadillac dealership and merged it with the Nash outlet in 1955.

When the Cadillac franchise moved to a new location, Dalgleish stayed with the Oldsmobile franchise until he sold the business in the 1970s and went to work with Charles Jr., then president at the Cadillac store.

Three of Dalgleish's sons, a daughter-in-law and two of his grandsons worked in various capacities for Dalgleish Cadillac Oldsmobile Inc. But in the last 10 years, the family has moved on to own and sell vehicles from GM's competitors.

Keith Dalgleish works in sales at Mercedes-Benz of Bloomfield Hills north of Detroit after closing his used-car dealership, Dalgleish Auto Sales, last year. He said no one in the family drives a GM vehicle.