Mel and Minnie Van Batavia were ready to close the doors on their automotive repair business in Steen when Dylan Tieszen approached the retiring couple.
“Dylan walked in one day … and asked, ‘Do you want to sell?’” Mel Van Batavia recalled. “And I said, ‘Yeah, but I didn’t know anyone would buy it.’”
After 45 years in business, M & M Repair closed April 1 and became Tieszen Automotive LLC on April 4.
As a student at Hills-Beaver Creek High School, Tieszen often thought about operating his own business.
After graduating in 2018, he completed an automotive technology degree at Southeast Technical College in Sioux Falls and was working at Papik Motors in Luverne when he learned about the Van Batavias’ retirement.
“I took some business courses in school so I always knew what I was doing and kind of wanted to do my own thing — to see what I can do,” Tieszen said.
Van Batavia shares some similarities with Tieszen, including a love of Pontiacs and wanting to work for himself.
“Dylan is the same age as when I started,” Van Batavia said. “He’s going to have the same thoughts that I have that there isn’t going to be enough work.”
That was never the case for the Van Batavias, who through the years became the only auto mechanics located in the Steen and Hills areas.
“He’s going to come in the morning and have 14 cars lined up in front of the shop,” said Van Batavia, who has already given Tieszen a nudge in business among local residents.
“A couple of guys wanted a couple of big jobs done and I said ‘No,’” Van Batavia said. “They talked with Dylan, so he’s got a couple of weeks’ worth of work already.”
Tieszen won’t be alone in the new business adventure, as soon-to-be wife, Jenna, who works in Rock Rapids, will complete most of the bookkeeping, much like Minnie Van Batavia did when M & M Repair opened in 1976.
Minnie also worked in Rock Rapids, retiring from the Rock Rapids elevator earlier this year after 26 years in the bookkeeping department.
Gregory Van Batavia, one of Mel and Minnie’s four sons, sees history possibly repeating as the Tieszens take over the business.
“Hopefully when she is doing your books, it goes a little better than with these two,” he said. “Always — the time when mom’s doing books — we left.”
Minnie said she had a valid reason to scold her good-natured husband, who allowed some repair bills to be charged.
“I put up a sign that reads, ‘Strictly cash,’ and I don’t think it lasted a day,” she said.
M & M Repair also got its start when the newly-wed Van Batavias purchased the auto repair business on Steen’s Main Street from Clarence and Silvia Erickson, who were retiring.
Mel, who grew up in Steen (as did Minnie), worked for Erickson after school and on weekends.
After graduating from Hills-Beaver Creek High School in 1971, Mel attended the Jackson Vocational-Technical School and earned a two-year degree. Minnie graduated from H-BC in 1974 and also attended Jackson Vo-Tech for bookkeeping.
Three years of working in the repair department for a car dealership convinced Mel to purchase Erickson’s business.
“I was there 13 years and then, guess what, computers came out in cars,” Mel said.
For about 18 months, the Van Batavias lived near Alexandria.
It didn’t take long before Mel enrolled in classes to learn to automotive technology. They returned to Steen in 1990, building and moving into the current shop in 1991.
“I don’t think the money of being your own boss is any better than working for someone else — but it’s the freedom,” Mel said.
“If your kid has a ball game, you just close the door and go to the ball game. If you want to take a vacation, you just take a vacation. If kids come along, they can play and mess around.”
Since the announcement of M & M Repair closing, the Van Batavia boys — Brian, Kevin, Gregory and Joel — have reminisced about growing up in a small-town repair shop.
“It was never a dull moment around here, that’s for sure,” Gregory said.
Mel has also retired as mayor of Steen after 25 years while Minnie continues to be the treasurer for the town of 224 people. They will continue to live in Steen.