Although the business remains, the man who owned it and chatted with customers for more than 20 years is gone. Garland Housden, owner of Vienna Floors at 208 Dominion Road N.E., died Saturday, Jan. 25, from what his wife believes may have been respiratory problems. Housden, a Falls Church resident, was 64.
"A lot of people have been coming in and telling me that the reason that they've done business with us is because of his personality," said Oscar Aragon on Housden. Aragon had worked with Housden at Vienna Floors for 23 years.
Housden owned Vienna Floors since 1984, and enjoyed helping customers, said his wife of 41 years, Sandra. He also liked the close-knit community of Vienna and would work on customers' homes and the homes of their children.
"He liked dealing with people. He was a people person," Sandra Housden said.
Housden started out in the floor covering business in the early 1970s. Before that, he worked in defense electronics.
He and his wife met through mutual friends and were married in August 1961. Housden's hobbies included gardening and fishing.
Sandra Housden said her husband had health problems for 1 1/2 years. He had gone to the hospital for pneumonia, and he started having complications. She said she's unsure of his actual cause of death.
"I think he was sicker than he realized," Sandra Housden said.
Those close to him remember Housden as an outgoing and friendly individual.
"He was a very down-to-earth person. Very friendly, very helpful. He built this business basically with that kind of approach — honest and simple," Aragon said.