Stiele History – Show Up

Stiele History isn’t just Sam we Show Up

Do you remember what it was like before indoor plumbing?

My father does & my father-in-law. Both from more rural areas, my father-in-law from the farm, had to walk outside in the middle of the night to use the bathroom.

Military Service

A few years ago I had the humbling opportunity to tour the USS Hornet with my father-in-law. It is now docked in Northern California. For the first time in over 50 years and to be with him when he returned is a once in a lifetime experience. On that ship he was the catapultier, that means he launched the planes off the ship. When he was off duty he had a second job unloading cargo planes at the airport. His goal was to work hard and create the American Dream.

My father served in the Marine Core in Vietnam. He has a picture along side a bomb that he keeps in his office. His time in the service reinforced that need to work hard, be loyal and put service above self. I have met some of the gentlemen he served with and that lifetime connection can not be diminished.

Those values shaped the upbringing of both myself & my wife.

The Business

After the Marines my father returned to continue running the business he started with his father in 1962 Hopkins Auto Body

My father moved the body shop from Mainstreet to Excelsior Blvd and increased it by 20x.

I started working on Mainstreet sweeping the floors and moved down to Excelsior Blvd where I pulled dents, painted cars and later was an estimator. Being the owner’s son meant I always had to work harder, there were higher expectations and I was reminded of that by Ed daily.

He then moved onto develop the adjacent property that was previously the city dump.

Developing the Dump

Construction in our blood

Kimberly’s family was also has a long history in business. Upon returning home from the Navy my father in law started building houses. He worked his way up to GM of a large construction firm, but that was not meant to be his path. On Monday after this wedding April 19th, 1971 he quite his job and started Galaxy Builders. With his business partner they began building single family homes and then moved into apartments, office buildings, warehouses and town homes. Driving around Bloomington, Edina, Eden Prairie and Burnsville we can still see today what he created.

Kimberly remembers riding along on maintenance calls. She would get a caffeine free pepsi & a watchamacallit bar. Later sweeping parking lots and tearing shingles off roofs.

Work was never optional in either household. But that is the American Dream. If you work hard you can build successful businesses. Today at the age of 79 & 75 my father-in-law and father still run their businesses because it is fun, it is their passion.

Mainstreet

As I started working with my father on the construction side of the business (my father-in-law also my teacher) it has never been glamorous. When we first started demo on the building that is now Kiddywampus, there was a petrified dead squirrel that I had to remove from the over head exhaust.

We aren’t looking for the pretty buildings or the easy ones. My father & I are dedicated to making things better in Hopkins.

Where Nachos is today, that is another grimy story. As my wife tells it she had to get me all new clothes. The layers of dirty and grease meant frequently changing gloves.

However, as was quoted in the Patch-

We Lean Local

It isn’t just something we say. We Lean Local is the way we live. It is the way we were taught.

From families that remember what it is like to not have indoor plumbing, to being able to serve and give back to the community. We  are proud of their work and that they have accomplished the American Dream. It is our job to preserve what they have done, give back in any way we can, and remember always to serve.

That is why we show up every day. For them, for our kids, for our community. It all starts by showing up.