Pete Estes: Key dates
1916: Born in Mendon, Mich.
1934: Enrolled at General Motors Institute and joined GM Research Laboratories as co-op student
1956: Pontiac chief engineer; part of Knudsen-Estes-DeLorean team that revived Pontiac.
1961: Pontiac general manager; led Pontiac to No. 3 in sales in 1961-64
1965: Chevrolet general manager
1969: Group vice president for automotive divisions
1972: Executive vice president in charge of operations staff and member of GM board
1974: GM president and COO
1981: Retired; died 7 years later
Elliott Marantette Estes, the future president of General Motors, spent his first year after high school churning butter for $3.20 a day at the Constantine (Mich.) Co-Operative Creamery.
