CELEBRATE GROVER SASSAMAN'S LIFE - Georgia's Oldest Harley Dealer

Inside the Harley-Davidson dealership in Macon, World War II veteran Grover Sassaman puttered around on a mobility scooter, but his other ride is way cooler.

He drove in that morning on his 2010 Road King with a sidecar, adding to the more than one million miles he has logged on motorcycles since he first rode one when he was 11 years old.

Sassaman, 98 , is the oldest active Harley-Davidson dealer in the world. He is the first person to show up at work every morning, typically getting there at least an hour before anyone else. He has no plans of retiring.

“I enjoy talking to my customers,” he said as he sat in a lounge area among the many gleaming bikes in the showroom. “I have customers who come from everywhere. They want to meet me. They say I’m a legend, but I tell them I’m just Grover.”

Local News at Your Fingertips Get unlimited digital access for just $3.99 a month to #ReadLocal anytime, on any device.

GET OFFER

In World War II he served in the Marines in the Pacific. He was an aircraft mechanic in Gregory “Pappy” Boyington’s famed Black Sheep Squadron, which fought the Japanese in the Solomon Islands. Boyington shot down 28 Japanese planes and was awarded the Medal of Honor.

But for Veterans Day this year, it’s not his buddies in the war Sassaman is remembering. He has sold many motorcycles to area law enforcement agencies, and this year he is feeling a kinship with the sacrifice that law enforcement officers make.