FATHER/SON TURN AUTO BODY
REPAIR INTO A FAMILY AFFAIR
Call it fate. Call it coincidence.
“Eventually, I got the bug to start my own business,” Tim said. “It’s just the American Dream I guess — to be your own boss.”
Whatever the reason, Tim (’77) and Brad O’Keefe (’99) never intended to spend their lives immersed in the world of auto body.
“It was hard,” Tim said. “I was the new kid on the block. Plus, it was a small town, and everyone knew I had quit my old job. We didn’t show a profit at all for a while, and I was a little worried about whether we could make it work.”
They didn’t have to. The profession chose them. The father and son duo have been the driving forces behind Southside Body and Paint in Valentine for almost 40 years. “I kind of fell into auto body because I didn’t know what else to do,” Tim said. “Our high school guidance counselor never spent much time telling students about career options, and back then, I wasn’t looking too far ahead.” Once high school was over and adulthood was looming ahead of him, he had to choose something. “I heard about the auto body program at North 10 | w w w. m p cc . e du | 8 0 0 . 3 45. 36 00
Platte Community College when some recruiters came to town,” Tim said. “I thought that might be something I could do. I had a good friend who had graduated from the program, so I was somewhat familiar with it, but I didn’t have any background in auto body. I wasn’t a gearhead like a lot of my classmates were.” Tim, who had spent his entire life in Valentine up to that point, decided to give NPCC a try. He packed his bags and headed south. “We had a classroom, but hardly ever used it,” he said of the auto body program at NPCC. “Everything was hands-on, and that’s the way it should be. I’ve always felt that was the strong point of the program.” Tim graduated from NPCC in 1977 then returned to Valentine and worked for Kuhl’s Auto Service for three and a half years.
In 1981, he set up shop in a two-car, 816-squarefoot garage next to his house.
But work it did. The business wasn’t high volume or high dollar in the early days, but Tim and his crew kept busy with an average of three big jobs per week. By 1984, his business had grown to the point that he needed to expand. Tim moved it to its current location at 405 S. Airport Rd. and subsequently added on in 1996. It was also in the ’90s that Brad began working for Tim — cleaning cars and prepping parts. Like his father, Brad hadn’t thought too far beyond high school. “I was just having fun and playing sports, then graduation came, and I had to figure out what to
