Body shop marks 50 years of dents and dings

After fifty years, and countless fender benders and dented bumpers, Walker Auto Body & Towing is still going strong.

Founded by Willis Walker in 1963 in the basement of the old Sears-O'Riley Construction building, the business soon moved to its current location at 420 N. Market St.

Willis started his career as a "wash boy" for Curnutt's, an automobile dealership now known as Boyles Motors. He also worked at various body shops before striking out on his own.

After about 35 years, Willis sold the shop to his son Bill in 1998.

"I always wanted to take over for dad," Bill Walker said. "It makes me happy to take on what he started so he can see it go on."

Walker learned the business by working in his father's shop. He also studied auto body repair in vocational-technical school, but said that his hands-on experience as a youngster proved invaluable.

Of course, the body repair business has changed a lot over the years, especially in terms of manufacturing materials and technology.

"They've gone from metal to plastic and rubber," Bill Walker said. "Now you replace instead of repair. You can't straighten out a plastic fender."

Other changes include the way insurance claims are handled, but the biggest differences have come about due to the proliferation of computers, which have revolutionized cost estimating, paint matching, frame alignments and diagnostics.

"In the old days it was just a wrench, a hammer and sockets and you got to it," Walker said.
Though he welcomes the changes, they have caused him to spend more time behind a desk than he' d like.

"Most days I wish I was back there hanging fenders," Walker said, though he adds that the part of his job he likes best is towing.

Walker currently owns two wreckers. He had seven at one point, but then decided he no longer wanted to handle 18-wheelers.

"I enjoy the towing part a lot. It gets you outside," he said. "The circumstances are always different, they are never the same."

Though the towing operation requires that either he or an employee be on call seven days a week, 24 hours a day, Walker said he doesn't mind.

"You chose your livelihood, and that's what you do," he said. "You have to make sacrifices. There isn't a single holiday that I haven't gone out to tow."

That dedication is likely one of the reasons Walker has been successful. Another is his reliance on family and trusted employees.

One of Walker's current employees, Troy Walker, is his cousin. Troy's father, also named Bill, worked at the shop with Willis in the early days.

There have been other relatives over the years, including Willis as a part-timer after Bill took over.

"In a town this size you live on your reputation," Walker said. "My dad built a good business. I'm fortunate to be able to keep it going."

Walker said that almost every other auto body shop owner in town has worked for either him or his father at some point.

"Auto body guys are getting scarce," Bill said. "It's hard, dirty work in a time when most people just sit behind computers."