As many people know, Reggie Patterson’s service station in Wellman, Iowa is no longer in operation, the in- ground tanks and gasoline pumps removed. And a for sale sign present for many months, until recently. My wife and I moved to Wellman 40 years ago, and raised three sons, and buried one. During those years, Reggie, and the staff that have worked at the service station, have provided something that is now vanishingly rare: pumping gas, checking the oil and tires, and washing the windshield. Full service.

Such service and human kindness had not made Reggie or his staff rich, and happiness and contentment may have been elusive for Reggie and his staff, but, perhaps somewhere, in the registry of all our lives, service and kindness amount to something. In my heart, life was made easier and better by Reggie and his staff’s service and kindness, and my family and I appreciate it.

It appears that the service station will not be such, again, in the near future, if ever. Such is the loss to quality of life in the community. I miss it. Do-it-yourself is vastly overrated and a costly tragedy in our modern society.

David Smithers

Wellman