Bernard May, 85; spent decades at helm of wholesale auto firm

“He was a great big, lovable bear of a man,’’ said his youngest brother, Thomas May of Brookline.

“He was just a joy to be with.’’

For decades, Mr. May ran an automobile wholesale company, consulting and buying for car and truck dealerships across the country.

“He spent his whole life in the business, and he knew it inside and out,’’ his brother said.

“He was very good at it.’’

The Brookline native died of complications of cancer June 30 at his home in East Sandwich. He was 85.

Mr. May started out in automobile sales. After working his first few jobs, he opened a dealership in Natick and then another in the area.

“He was a fantastic salesman,’’ his brother said. “Barney always had an instinct that he could do it better.’’

“In my estimation, Barney was one of the most knowledgeable people in the auto industry,’’ said Joe Bellino, a former Boston Patriots player who won the 1960 Heisman trophy and is now director of national accounts for ADESA Boston, a subsidiary of Allete Corp.

Mr. May would often come by Bellino’s office during their sale days “and would always hold court with a half-dozen others, engaged in discussions about everything from his experience in the Navy to the troubles of the auto industry,’’ Bellino said. “He would discuss all the problems and solve all the problems of the world.’’

During an economic downturn, when things were not going nearly as well in the auto sales business, Mr. May switched to the wholesale aspect of the business, shipping cars around the country to sell them to various dealerships.

“He was tall, and he spoke with authority, and he spoke with experience,’’ Bellino said.

He built his business, Mass. Auto Wholesalers, in part on his reputation in the field as being straightforward and knowledgeable about the industry. And he worked well into his 80s, until about six months ago.

“He had a good sense of the pulse of the industry,’’ Bellino said.

Mr. May grew up in Brookline and graduated from Brookline High School in 1942.

He suffered a childhood injury that made him unable to lift his right arm and underwent surgery to have it fixed so he could enlist in the US Navy at age 17.

He served in Bermuda during World War II and then used the GI Bill to earn a bachelor’s degree from Suffolk University.

While in the Navy, he would come home from time to time to listen to his favorite big-band music, and if you met him at a party, “What you would do is say, ‘That guy is a really good dancer,’ ’’ his brother said.

He was also a good football player, his brother said. “He taught the rest of us who came behind him the fundamentals of the game. He was just a guy’s guy.’’

Mr. May lived for a time in Natick before moving to Marshfield and later Bourne.

“He was the oldest of nine, and he really set the bar very high for all of us,’’ his brother said.

“My mother knew she had to get it right with the first one from the get-go, and she did.’’

“Barney was everything to us, and he will be sorely missed,’’ said his son-in-law, attorney Robert A. George of Boston. “There will never be another like him.’’

Bellino said a description of Mr. May’s life would be incomplete without mentioning his love for Boston sports teams. Bellino’s friend, Patriots coach Bill Belichick, would often come up in discussion, and Mr. May was beyond an enthusiastic fan, Bellino said.

In addition to his brother, Mr. May leaves his wife of 59 years, Rita (Gillan); his son, Bernard of Kingston; four daughters, Kathleen Paret of Marshfield, Theresa of Duxbury, Deborah George of Westwood, and Patricia of Hawaii; four sisters, Mary Seibel of Brookline, Patricia Harris of Bal Harbour, Fla., Joan Pagliarulo of West Roxbury, and Lillian McSwiney of West Roxbury; another brother, Paul F. of Natick; five grandsons; six granddaughters; and two great- grandchildren.

A funeral Mass will be said at 11:30 a.m. today at Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church in Marshfield. Burial will be in the Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne.