After 55 Years, Rudolph Auto Repair Takes A Day to Celebrate

Back in 1956, Charles "Chuck" Rudolph had the good sense to open a gas station and auto repair shop in Richland Township.

Today his son John and grandson Chris are celebrating the 55th anniversary of with a daylong party at the shop at the corner of Route 910 and Hardt Road.

Local residents are encouraged to stop by between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. for free food and drinks, give-aways and on-site music. The first 250 people to stop by will get a Rudolph Auto Repair ice scraper.

You won't be able to get your car repaired Friday, but gas still will be pumped from the full-service pumps.

Old-time photos of Rudolph's will be on display inside the shop -- looking back to the time when the late Charles Rudolph started the shop on a shoestring budget.

Charles started out by working on cars in a garage beside his house in the evening after he got home from his regular job at Grant Oldsmobile in West View, John said. That helped him build up a clientele, he added.

Then Charles borrowed money from relatives to start his own business and his brother-in-law, contractor Ed Schmit, built the shop for him, partly with free lumber he had retrieved from a torn-down church camp, John remembered.

For a while, Rudolph's was one of only two auto repair shops between Etna and Butler, said John. 

His father worked from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. six days a week, John said.

"He definitely put his time in," he said. "It took a lot of hard work to build up what we have today."

"Without him, we wouldn't be here," said Chris of his grandfather who passed away in September. "He was proud of everything."

Five years ago, the Rudolphs made an unusual move - they merged the business with St. Barnabas Charities.

John said he still owns the corporation and St. Barnabas owns the building and land. The administrative side of the business is handled by St. Barnabas, but little else has changed, according to the Rudolphs.

"Since Rudolph Auto Repair joined the St. Barnabas family five years ago, they have contributed more than $200,000 to the St. Barnabas Free Care Fund," said Shelli Sommariva, marketing communications manager for St. Barnabas.

"These dollars benefit patients at St. Barnabas Nursing Home, The Arbors and Valencia Woods at St. Barnabas who cannot provide care for themselves," she said in an email.

John said the business has been built up mostly by word-of-mouth.

"We've always had the philosophy that you've got to treat people fairly. We've always tried to do that," said John.

No extra or unnecessary repairs are done, Chris added.

"Most of our business if referrals," John said. "I've still got some of the customers my dad had."

In addition to John and Chris, the shop has two full-time and one part-time employees. 

Their business stays busy with a diverse clientele, part of which includes St. Barnabas' employees and residents.

The shop will pick up, service and return residents' cars to them.

"That's really helpful with older people," said John.

Rudolph's also handles snow removal at St. Barnabas, said Chris.

The idea of merging with St. Barnabas came about when Chris and Doug Day, son of St. Barnabas President and CEO William V. Day, were chatting over lunch at King's Restaurant, Chris said.

"Between working on vehicles and snow removal, it just made sense to put it all together," said Chris.

Still, it took two years of talking to figure out how they were going to do it, he said.

"We still run, basically, the same way that we were before," said Chris. "It wasn't that bad of a merger. St. Barnabas didn't want to change much. They didn't change anything."

But the Rudolphs still consider the shop a family business and are looking at Chris's sons as possibly the fourth generation to work in the shop.

"We're hoping one of them keeps the tradition going," Chris said.