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Gingerich closes repair shop after nearly 2 decades
by Gregory R. Norfleet · News · August 09, 2018
After 25 years in West Branch and nearly two decades owning an auto repair shop, Virgil Gingerich closed his doors at 607 North Fourth St. on July 31.
Gingerich, 52, said owning his own business “was always a dream of mine.” He had three uncles who all owned gas stations.
When he closed earlier this week, he wrapped up about 19 years as a business owner. Now now he hopes to find repair work with regular hours — he averaged about 60 hours each week as an owner — and benefits.
“At my age, it’s hard to get a full-time job with benefits,” he said. “And if I wait much longer, I’ll be at retirement. It’s hard to put back money when you’re self-employed.”
He entered into a service contract in December 2017 with West Branch Community Schools to conduct the more difficult repairs on its buses.
In July, the school leaders, hearing he would close at the end of the month, discussed hiring him to maintain and repair its fleet, though no decision has been finalized. The Board of Education also discussed sharing him with Tipton schools.
Gingerich said anytime the school brought him a bus to fix, he made that his “top priority” — not because it was a big customer, but because of the precious cargo those buses carry.
“They haul kids and I want to keep them safe,” he said.
Gingerich is married to Gayle and they have four children and five grandchildren.
Virgil said he ended up in West Branch after looking in Iowa City for a place to put a mobile home and considered the Sunrise property. There, he met Curt Hames, co-owner of Hames Mobile Homes Inc., who personally drove the young man to West Branch to look at what the company offered there.
He liked it.
Fixer
Gingerich worked as the lead technician for the Hargrave and McEleny car dealership at the time, but then found a job in West Branch with Parkside Repair, owned by Dave Hosier. He worked there until 1999, when he purchased Gerry Brick’s repair shop at 116 West Main Street. Virgil’s Sinclair offered repairs and provided full-service gas in the landmark 1907 U.S. Post Office building.
Gingerich stayed downtown until 2010, ending gas sales and selling the property to John McNutt and Ilene Lande for what would become the Brick Arch Winery. His was the last of two of the city’s downtown gas stations, and the last one owned independently. The other was Casey’s General Store, which relocated to Interstate 80 in 2016.
Gingerich relocated his business to 607 North Fourth Street on Feb. 1, 2010, expanding from the two bays at the downtown location to six at the northeast location. He renamed the company Virgil’s Repair Service and, at its peak, he employed one full-time and one part-time employee.
“It’s just me now,” he said on July 25.
He offered free coffee in both locations and had a half dozen customers and neighbors who stopped by regularly.
“I will miss that,” Gingerich said.
Over the years, the crew fixed grain trucks, antique cars and trucks, boat engines, motorcycles, smaller trucks, cars and more — all but semis. The company also did body work on tractors.
Tire replacement tops the list of repair jobs, he said, as well as “driveability” repairs — those making sure the engine turns on and runs properly. Timing belts and water pumps also made up a lot of the repair work.
And some of the odd projects? Cars towed to his shop because mice or squirrels chewed on wires.
“That is off the wall,” he said. “But I’ve never found a dead squirrel or mouse (dead from electric shock).”
He also once repaired a farmer’s manure spreader that broke down while still full.
“You can imagine what that smelled like,” Gingerich said, chuckling.
Gingerich said newer cars and trucks come with more complicated engines and computer systems, so when customers today bring in older vehicles built when he first started in the repair industry, they seem so much simpler now. He often services cars owned by a collector who prefers those built from 1929 to 1960.
Body work
Gingerich’s hands are thick and muscular from the work he does, and when this reporter stopped by the shop to make an appointment for an interview, the repairman had just struck his thumb — twice — and shouted in pain. That still happens, he said, but there are some injuries he could not shake off.
He’s gotten metal shavings in his eyes and “several times” made trips to the emergency room because of “welder burns” from not wearing tinted goggles.
His worst injury came from breaking a kneecap when he tripped on a table.
Yet his toughest health battle came several years ago.
In 2013, Gingerich started getting treated for cancer, which led to a 2 1/2-year battle that included chemotherapy and radiation treatments, as well as two bone marrow transplants.
The bone marrow transplants put him on his back for four weeks at a time and kept him in isolation — visitors had to wear non-contamination suits to see him. Members of his church, Downey Baptist, hosted a fundraiser in 2014 to help cover some expenses and prayed often for his healing.
“The Good Lord pulled me through,” Gingerich said.
He gave a special thanks to Rob Dresden, his full-time employee who ran the shop in his total eight-week absence.
Parts
Gingerich did not sell his business, but is selling part of the building and most of the equipment. Wears Auctioneering will oversee an Aug. 18 auction at the repair shop.
Gingerich will still occupy part of that location to do select side work, like restoring tractors and working on antique cars and personal vehicles.
Gayle said she finds that travelers are very thankful when they can find someone who will fix their cars quickly when they have a breakdown along Interstate 80.
She said many have left good reviews and ratings online, saying her husband’s shop went “over and above” to help them get back on the road.
“It means so much to them,” she said.
Gingerich said fewer and fewer repair shops diversify to the point where they will fix just about anything with an engine, with many more preferring to focus on road vehicles. He recently fixed a Rototiller.
“I’ll work on anything,” he said. “It’s all nuts and bolts.”
He build up his base to about 120 customers, and just about every one who visited after he announced the closing asked the same thing: Which repair shop would you recommend?
All of them, he said.
“I don’t refer them to one person,” Gingerich said. “They’re all good businesses.”
Leaving his customers was one of the most difficult parts of his decision, he said, because he knows many people rely on and trust him.
“I want to thank all of our customers for being loyal,” Gingerich said. “I will miss my customers.”
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