09/18/2020
Ben and Carol Ward, longtime founders, and owner/operators of Beeline Auto Center in College Place, Washington!
Becoming, over the years, the oldest privately owned, and continuously operated independent business owners in the City of College Place, Washington!
They were high-school sweethearts, who married in November of 1950, with a long and happy marriage, while raising their 3 children, Dan, David and Laura, along with 6 grandchildren, and 5 great grandchildren!
Starting out in 1958, as Ben’s Texaco....a small Texaco Branded Service Station on the South West corner of 4th and College Avenue, across the street, on the south side of 4th Ave from the memorable “Old College Dairy”, starting out servicing vehicles of the students and faculty of Walla Walla College!
In September of 1961, they built, and relocated to their brand new current location at 1205 S. College Avenue.
Ben’s Beeline was a “branded” Beeline Oil service Station!
Beeline Oil Co was a small oil company with headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah, with stations throughout Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Nebraska, Kansas, Arizona, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Iowa.
At the time, their College Place facility was considered a large, modern “super service station” of the day!
However, at that time, it was only one of 8 other service stations within the College Place City Limits!
Such was the state of the service station industry in the late 1950’s in College Place, and most other towns across America!
In 1967, Beeline Oil Co. was bought out by Husky Oil Company, a much larger petroleum company with extensive holdings throughout Canada, as well as Northern and Central United States!
Ben and Carol decided to become a branded Husky facility, though they owned the building and property independently!
They remained a Husky branded service station until Husky Oil was bought out by Marathon Oil, a massive petroleum conglomerate with international holdings, in 1984!
By 1984, Ben and Carol decided that while they had benefited from a very friendly business affiliation with both Beeline and Husky Oil....the Walla Walla Valley was a closely knit rural community, where most everybody in the area still called it “The Beeline” anyway, so they decided they would become an independent operation, free from the constraints of branding requirements, thus allowing them to purchase bulk petroleum fuel from whoever provided them the best deal....which has proved very beneficial over the years!
Since 1984, Ben and Carol Ward steadily nurtured their business as Beeline Auto Center.
Providing top flight full service automotive and commercial fleet service and repairs with the very latest in electronic diagnostic equipment and software!
Staffed and operated only by the very best and experienced, fully ASE certified automotive technicians in the valley, and the professional and reliable support of their general manager, Steven Groulik for over 20 years now!
Steve has very much been a part of Ben and Carol’s vision for Beeline’s role in the local community!
Beeline Auto Center is the only full service automotive and commercial fleet service repair shop in the area with their own in-house 24-hour TOWING SERVICE direct to their customers!
Over the decades, much has changed in the service station industry!
From the buyouts of many smaller oil companies, and the hundreds of thousands of independent “Mom and Pop” locations, by the major oil companies, to the oil shortages of the 1970’s brought on by OPEC, to the advent of millions of conversions to the “Mini-Mart”, and “Jiffy Lube” evolution of the 1980’s, and the costly commitment to comply with the State and Federal environmental regulations from the 80’s and 90’s onward, which took out additional millions of small independent service station operators
Their steadfast commitment to the original historic “Old School” Full Service Service Station over the decades, has become the Oldest Known Iconic “Old School Service Station” in continuous operation at the same location, and under the same independent ownership and management in the Pacific Northwest!
An historic gem of Americana this little town can be proud of, and which still actively contributes to and significantly serves the community infrastructure, rather than an American memory from the past, like the local diner, or the community drive-in theater!
Ben and Carol Ward were both very active in their Church, Their Community, and their family!
Likewise they have left a proud legacy for their friends, their family, their employees, and their community!
Thank you to these two high-school sweethearts!
