Retiring Shop Owner Receives Unexpected Farewell

June 15, 2021
This full fledged community send off honored a beloved Salt Lake City owner and operator after 34 years in the industry.

June 15, 2021—A Utah shop owner recently retired with quite the celebration after 34 years of work.

Highlighted in a recent Deseret News profile, Bobby Rose, owner, operator, and head mechanic of a Phillips 66 gas station and two-bay car repair shop in Salt Lake City recently sold his business. 

Closing down at the end of May, Rose’s family decided to throw him a retirement party. What they didn’t expect was for the entire community to show up.  

The first plan was to have some water and soft drinks and hang a “We Love Bobby” banner from the canopy. Then someone pitched in to bring in the Silver Moon Taqueria food truck to provide free tacos. Then a band called High Nowhere, including some former 3rd Avenue residents—and of course Bobby fans—agreed to provide the entertainment. A professional photographer, Kent Miles, volunteered to take photos of Bobby and display them for the party. Someone else ordered a huge cake in the shape of the 3rd Avenue Car Clinic set on top of a chocolate automobile tire.

“We didn’t ask one person to do one thing,” said organizer Jesselie Anderson. “It was all so spontaneous, so grassroots.”

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Ratchet+Wrench Staff Reporters

The Ratchet+Wrench staff reporters have a combined two-plus decades of journalism and mechanical repair experience.