Indiana Township garage a family affair for 74 years
Three brothers are continuing the legacy of their family-owned automotive repair business in Indiana Township.
Kepple’s Garage, co-owned by Wilbur, Howard and Chuck Kepple, celebrates 74 years of repairing vehicles and equipment this year.
The garage, founded by their late parents, Edna and John Kepple, opened in 1948.
“I learned how to ride a tricycle in this place,” Wilbur Kepple said of growing up working alongside his father and brothers.
Kepple’s repairs vintage, domestic and imported cars, along with tractors, trucks and machinery, such as stump grinders.
The Kepples lived on the 3 acres that surround the garage, and Wilbur, 64, still lives in his childhood home, located behind the business.
“I’ve lived 64 years of my life here,” said Wilbur.
Chuck, 58, and Howard, 71, live nearby in West Deer.
The brothers are all Fox Chapel Area High School graduates.
They tout a business philosophy inherited from their late father.
“We’re honest,” the brothers said. “We only fix what needs to be fixed.”
Wilbur Kepple said he gravitates towards repairing vintage vehicles and tractors.
“I like the old stuff, since I’m old,” he said.
A manure spreader from the 1890s is just one of thousands of repairs made onsite over the decades.
“We worked on a lot of farm equipment then because it was so rural. We did a lot of tractors, and we even worked on lawnmowers. Dad and my brothers—we never went to school to learn how to be mechanics. It was learn-as-we-go,” Howard Kepple said.
The original garage was thought to have been a small blacksmith’s shop, Howard said.
“Dad taught us to work, get money, and reinvest it into the business, and it kept growing. We’ve never, ever advertised,” Howard Kepple said.
Kepple’s mechanic Chris Cox, 51, of Indianola, has worked at the garage for three years and has helped to repair cars, trucks, tractors and more.
“There’s something different to work on everyday,” Cox said.
The brothers said their customers depend on them to provide decades of knowledge about fixing things.
Wilbur said he tried to pursue other occupations, like a stint in the steel industry and as a certified welder, but he returned to the family business.
Kepple’s once operated as a Sinclair and later, a Texaco full-service gas station, until 1981.
Now, the garage occupies 9,000 square feet and has multiple over-sized bays.
Howard said when their father was drafted into the Army Air Force right before World War II, he left his mechanic hand tools with a relative for safekeeping.
When John Kepple returned from overseas in 1945, the tools had been sold.
“My father had to buy new tools, and it was his life dream. He worked there until he died,” Howard Kepple said.
Edna handled the secretarial duties at Kepple’s and was known for her cooking and baking.
“She made a cherry custard pie that was very unique. It was my favorite,” Howard Kepple said.
Customers often were greeted by the scent of homemade foods when they visited the garage.
Andrew Bogolin, 29, of Pittsburgh is a longtime customer who insists on bringing his car there for repairs.
“We see the same faces every time. They talk us through what’s going on, and they are honest,” Bogolin said.
Chuck recalled arriving home after elementary school and pumping gas until 9 p.m., seven days a week.
“It was fun, but it was required. It was a way of life,” Chuck Kepple said. He never considered leaving the family business.
“Ever since I was a kid I knew I’d be here,” he said.
“I learned how to run the business, work on cars—all of it,” Chuck Kepple said.
Howard Kepple recalled a fond memory from his teenage years.
“When I was 13, I learned to drive by putting the wrecker and service truck into the shop at the end of the day,” he said.
Joyce Hanz is a native of Charleston, S.C. and is a features reporter covering the Pittsburgh region. She majored in media arts and graduated from the University of South Carolina. She can be reached at jhanz@triblive.com
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