It has been 35 years since I opened Precious Metal Auto Body, and 15 years since we relocated to Deer Park from Spokane.  I am 69 now, and the time has come for me to move on to a different stage in my life.

The first thing I want to do is to give my thanks to all my customers and the people of Deer Park.  When I moved the business here from Spokane in 2004, I was a bit worried as to how open folks would be to the “new guys in town”.  I shouldn’t have been. From the first, everyone I dealt with including city government, other business people, and most folks couldn’t have been more helpful.  In general, running my business here has been one of the highlights of my life.

 I am also blessed to have found good people to carry on Precious Metal.  Jim and Jason McCray are brothers who have between them about 50 years experience in collision repair.  It’s been great that Jim, the older brother, has been able to be here for the last month to learn the particular quirks of the business and help with the transition so I have gotten to know him.  His brother Jason has recently started doing the same thing. This has given me a lot of confidence in them. They are sober, hard working, and comfortable in relating to customers. Also, the hardest part of our craft is the paint end, and in 45 years in this trade I have never seen a better painter than Jim McCray.

As for me, I will continue my involvement in civic affairs here in town.  While I won’t be writing these articles any more, the Gazette has kindly offered me the chance to occasionally submit my thoughts on some more general subjects.  So you may see me in these pages again. I will also be doing that long list of house projects that I have put off for so long. Finally, I want to thank my sweet Elaine, the love of my life, who has been so patient about these delayed projects, and so supportive in so many ways.

With many thanks,
Joe Polowski