Former Chesapeake Automotive Business Association executive director Virginia “Honey” Eckardt, 56, lost a two-year battle with cancer on Aug. 25.

Eckardt led the association from 1992 through 2004, and was the CEO of the CAWA Federal Credit Union (now the Automotive Aftermarket Employee Federal Credit Union) from 1985 through 2004. She left Maryland at the end of 2004 to be near her children in Florida.

Eckardt grew up in the automotive aftermarket, working closely with her father, Dominick Amantea, who preceded her as the CEO of the Chesapeake Automotive Wholesalers Association, which became CABA after a merger with the Maryland Tire Dealers Association in 2001.
 
“Honey loved the small business aftermarket and the people in it,” said Skip Potter, current CABA executive director and CEO. “She was their advocate and took her passion for them across the country as a member herself of both the Alliance of State Automotive Aftermarket Association Executives and the Tire Industry Association Executives. (Tire Review/Akron)