Joyce Koons Buick GMC is a Buick and GMC dealer in Manassas, VA - serving Alexandria, Chantilly, and Fairfax, VA - that was founded by John and Eleanor Koons. John grew up on a farm in Leesburg, VA, and after breaking his neck in a swimming accident at age 18, the left side of his body was paralyzed. With treatment, he was able to walk again. In 1939, a year after the accident, John was hired as a salesperson at a DeSoto-Plymouth outlet in Falls Church. Two years after that, he became the owner. He bought the store for $350, part of which he had saved - the rest of which he had borrowed from Eleanor Ayres, a school teacher whom he later married. Then Eleanor and John purchased Prince Pontiac in 1954, which later became Koons of Manassas and then Joyce Koons Buick GMC, which is now a premier Buick and GMC dealer serving Fairfax. Eleanor and John were active in a wide range of education, civic and charitable endeavors. They helped found the first Catholic high school in northern Virginia, a center for children with cerebral palsy, and a cardiac care unit at Johns Hopkins Hospital. John was a charter member and life director of the Cerebral Palsy Center and an honorary director of the Boys Club of Greater Washington, DC. He was also a member of the Falls Church Volunteer Fire Department.
