Schober’s Towing and Repair sold after 48 years in business
Kathy Schober is pleased to retire after being involved in the family business since before she and John Schober married in 1997.
Schober’s Towing and Repair started in 1976 with a one-ton Chevy and Chevron gasoline on the corner of Highway 135 and old Highway 10, where Doc’s Casino now sits today.
John Schober was a community minded businessman, diesel mechanic, airplane pilot and family man in St. Regis with a strong work ethic. He and his wife Kathy, who joined the company in 1997, and their children have run a family business for 48 years, and even though John passed in February 2019, it kept going and growing but the baton has now been passed.
Superior Towing has purchased the business and the property to add to their other locations in Mineral County.
Gary Kelley has been with Schober’s since 1984.
“I’ve been involved in this company since I was 16. John Schober was my stepdad,” he said.
Kelley has been in a profession that is physically demanding and dangerous at times.
“I fell off of trucks. Legs banged up. Fingers pinched. Bonked in the head many times. Busted my rotator cuff, but that comes with the occupation, you just get back up and finish the job,” he said.
His longest tow from St. Regis was to Helena.
“Bunch of college kids. Their car broke down and they had AAA (Insurance) and they wanted to go to Helena, so I took them to Helena.”
This was about 10 years ago.
“We’ve handled the big stuff and the little stuff from the top of the hill (Lookout Pass, Idaho) to Alberton and out on Highway 135.”
Animal collisions are more prevalent than one might think, he said.
“I would say 75-80% are animal related, and this time of year is when it’s the busiest. Mostly elk and some moose but lately they’ve been staying off of the road (I-90) because of all of the construction. A couple of years ago we had a bunch of horses in the road that took out two semis.”
Sarah Kelley, Gary’s wife, has been a staple of the business for a large part of her life. She and her mother, Kathy maintained the office with scheduling repairs, parts, tires, administrative bookkeeping and oversaw the laundromat on the east end of the building, which has closed from the sale.
“There are so many memories it’s hard to say, but one summer there was a hay wreck around mile marker 22 on I-90 and we were out there picking up hay with rakes and by hand and with a forklift. Then I would make sure that everyone ate and had plenty of water as you are working a scene you have to watch everyone’s back. When we got the hay in, we hired a local resident to rake it out so it would dry and then we re-bailed it so we could reload it so it could be delivered to its destination.”
Like so much of life, there are good parts and bad parts.
“I think the thing that mom and dad and we want to do is to remember the times but not look back anymore right now and move on to the future. The main thing that we want to do is to thank everyone for their business and let them know that we appreciate it,” Sarah smiled.
The sale to Superior Towing didn’t happen overnight, Gary said.
“We’ve been talking about this move. We’re the oldest company and we have the most trucks but I’m the only driver.”
The middle-of-the-night phone calls will lessen, but Kelley is a member of the St. Regis Volunteer Fire Department so retirement will still have unexpected interruptions.
“I’m going to miss it, that’s for sure. When you connect with the customers in the cab on a tow, that makes the trip go a lot easier. I’ve met some awfully good people doing this.”
Their phone number, (406) 649-9797 has been routed to Superior Wrecking.