Ex-Pingree Grove mayor sells auto shop, set to retire

Verne "Bud" Wester says he isn't the type of man to reminisce.

Instead, the former village president of Pingree Grove has his eyes on the future --one that doesn't include the Wester Auto Body shop where he's spent 21 years of his life.

Last Saturday was Wester's final day of business, and he's already addressed the formalities of disconnecting the phone, turning off the electricity and putting up a large "business closed" sign in a window.

But the 74-year-old returned Thursday for what he hoped would be the last time to collect ladders, old paint cans, boxes and other odds and ends.

The village has inked a deal with Wester to take the rickety old building off his hands for $271,000, said Village Administrator James Bassett.

An environmental study conducted on the building earlier this year concluded there is no asbestos to worry about, paving the way for demolition, Bassett said.

The village is due to approve that project at its board meeting Monday, and Wester is ready for it to tumble.

"This building is tired just like I am," Wester said between puffs on his cigarette. "It's 100 years old. It's ready to quit, too."

Wester, who until this spring had served as Pingree Grove's village president for seven years, says he's eager to start the next stage of his life, but doesn't yet know what it will entail.

But what he does know is that he's staying in Pingree Grove and whenever he feels like picking up a wrench he still has his 1936 Ford truck and various go-karts to tinker with.

He can also focus on reconnecting with his family -- including a grandson returning from Iraq -- playing golf and sponsoring go-kart races.

The building dates to the 1800s and has been used as a feed mill, a welding shop and a place to store snowmobiles.

But it turned out to be more trouble than it was worth, Wester said, noting that through the years he spent at least $300,000 on its upkeep and on an addition.

He says he tried selling it several times but buyers bailed once they saw the building's condition.

"When I bought this, it was ready for the grave," Wester said. "I took care of it as long as I was here."

Clint Carey, the man who succeeded Wester in office, plans to install one trailer with seven offices on the site to expand the nearby village hall.

"I think that just getting that building down … gives us a lot more room and a lot of space to work out of before we figure out what to do with village hall," Carey said, adding that his intention is to preserve the old village hall.

Wester smoked another cigarette as he wandered around the garage, looking at dozens of dusty keys on the floor and phone numbers he'd scrawled on walls belonging to various officials and friends.

Old car parts and random junk -- fans, paper coffee cups and tires, still littered the floor.

Wester admits he'll miss his customers, especially the ones he met as children who grew up to use his services.

While he says he made a decent living as an auto body man, the time has come to hang up his worker shirts and do something else -- without regrets.

"I spent 14 years in the Air Force and I drove out the gate, went home and never looked back," he said.