Woodward starting working as gas station, now has own shop

John Woodward attended Kasson-Mantorville school through second grade until his family moved to a hobby farm near Stewartville. He then attended school there and was involved in FFA and 4-H.
John started working at the Apache Standard in Rochester, a full-service gas station, now the location of Natural Grocers, in 1986 for Mike Sexton. Even to this day, Mike drives from Elgin to have his car serviced. John became ASE certified before working at A/F Auto in Rochester with his uncle for a couple of years. He worked for Kasson Motors and Exhaust, now the State Farm building, in the early ’90s and Kasson Napa.
John started his own business in 1993, renting part of Bill Glawe’s building located along East County Hwy 34 and even today considers Bill a valued mentor and friend. When he outgrew this location he moved to Dave Klocke’s building for a year.
In February 1996, he moved to his present location at 1004 West Main St., just west of the CHS grain elevator bins. At that time he shared the building with L & L Street Rods and eventually was able to rent the building.
He is now an ASE Master Technician and continues his education with classes, as vehicles become more computerized and technology is constantly changing.
John met his wife, Missy, while he was working at Apache Standard. They met through Missy's brother and he said when he met her, he was going to marry her. Missy’s brother replied, “good luck with that.” They were married in July 1990. Missy is a Byron High School graduate, and like many other students, had Ron Albright, a long-time Byron High School teacher and also drivers education instructor. (Ron is also the writer of the “I Was Thinking” column in the DCI).
Before Missy started working full-time in 2008 at Woodward Repair, she worked for Best Western Apache, Byron Elevator, and Freerksen Trucking. Recently she held a position as a part-time activities aide at Fairview Care Center. She had to give up that job as other priorities arose. Missy remains in contact with a few residents and some employees.
John and Missy have two children that are Kasson-Mantorville graduates. Their son, Andrew, lives in Kasson and works in Pine Island. Morgan, a recent graduate of St Cloud State University, lives in Sartell, and is a social worker at a care facility there.
Missy and John said it’s not always easy for a married couple to work together but it does work for them. Missy resides in the front office with Bill Diekman, who does the service writing. She controls the financial end of the business and John works in the back shop area with the two technicians, Jason Slegh and Ron Twaddle. All the employees had some kind of working relationship with Missy or John prior to coming to Woodward Repair.
One of the rewards for Woodward’s is working with the same customers for several years and their extended family. Word of mouth has been their best advertising over the years thanks to the loyalty of their customers. The Woodward’s feel they have a great crew and happy they are all local residents of Kasson.
It’s been hard work, they said, with their share of rewards and challenges the past 28 years, but they have gotten to know a lot of good people in the community. They offer automotive services, which can include, tires, alignments, brakes, computer diagnostics, and local towing plus others. (From personal experience, their shop can fix a flat tire very quickly.)
While chatting with John and Missy, they had mentioned that they have traveled to Norway several times. John also pointed out his ancestry is not Norwegian. I found it interesting that they have close friends Haakon and Trude Grendal from Hegra (Trondheim area) and both of their families have kids relatively the same age.
John met Haakon years back and became friends and also now has a working relationship. Haakon owns an Auto Repair and Dealership in Stjordal. They consult on car repairs and Haakon buys American car parts, supplies and has even has shipped tractors and cars overseas.
Woodward Repair helps them ship their products, Missy does the invoicing and documentation for customs. Haakon generally comes to America once or twice a year. Both families feel very lucky to be able to travel across the country and find each other’s house their home away from home. Over the years of traveling, John and Missy have met many people and have hosted other friends and family from that area in Norway. They hope to get back to Norway when the virus situation allows that in the future.
Woodward Repair is associated with O’Reilly Auto Parts. There are benefits being associated with one major parts distribution. They realize the importance and the value of retaining customers plus it’s a relationship that needs to be kept. They purchase from other places and dealerships to ensure the best deal they can for their customers.
This year Woodward’s will be involved as a sponsor for the DC Classic Auto Reunion Car Show, held at the American Legion in Dodge Center. John will be parking cars so be sure to check it out. It will be held on June 1 (Bratwurst Eating Contest), July 6 (Apple Pie Eating Contest), August 3 (Hula Hoop and Pin-Up Girl Contest) and September 11 (50’s Dress and Twist Dance Contest).
When you need your car serviced be sure to check out Woodward Repair located on the west edge of Kasson and they will take good care of you and your vehicle.