History

Imagine….
Richfield, Wisconsin. A booming metropolis… A place where people from as far away as Germany would travel. A place where people would vacation from the busy cities. A place to visit the many lakes or pilgrimage to Holy Hill.

The train would unload hundreds of passengers at the depot one block behind the current Garage building. Many would go duck pin bowling in the building just to the east of the railroad tracks. Robert Laubenheimer would rent hotel rooms to guests while his wife would prepare them a meal. The Laubenheimer name would have been very well known back then, as many of the businesses in the area were owned by the Laubenheimers.

Where it all started…

The garage was built sometime between 1918 and 1921 by Alfred Maurer. Robert Laubenheimer, owner of the local hotel, obtained the garage not long after Alfred built it, and by 1921 the garage was called Laubenheimer’s Garage. Robert Laubenheimer was also the owner of Laubenheimer’s Auto Livery according to the listing in Richfield Remembers.

Robert’s son, Wilmer ‘Lefty’ Laubenheimer took over the business. Lefty and his wife, Marion, were influential people in the neighborhood. Lefty would have grown up in the house next door to the shop. They knew everyone in Richfield and Marion always had cookies in her jar for the neighborhood kids.

Tom Schatz purchased the business from Lefty in August of 1984. Lefty continued to work at the shop for several years until he retired. Tom was a part of a bowling team with David Reinke whose son, Todd, was interested in the work of mechanics. Todd would take apart engines and bikes and rebuild them, sometimes in the basement of their home. In 1986, Tom hired Todd at Laubenheimer’s Garage.

Romance at Laubenheimer’s..

Bill Loser was a frequent customer of Laubenheimer’s Garage, filling the tanks of his semi truck before going on the road with a load of trailers from Wisconsin Trailer. He would often bring his vehicles in for Tom or Lefty to repair and later on, Todd would also work on them. One day, Bill and his oldest daughter, Vicki, brought her car in for repairs. That’s when she met a man with adorable blue eyes who asked her if she would want to go out sometime with him, to which she said yes.

One night she came home from work and there was a guy with a cool truck parked outside her apartment building. It was that same guy with those adorable blue eyes! Blue eyes AND a cool truck! Turns out, Vicki’s mother told him that she would be home around that time and it would be a good time for him to talk with her and ask her on an actual date.

A short eight months later, they were married!

A few years later, Todd and Vicki moved into the house next to Laubenheimer’s Garage. Over the next 20 years, they raised 9 kids in that house. Lefty, Marion, and Tom and Bev Schatz, were influential people in the kids’ lives as well as Todd and Vicki’s.

Tom and Todd....

Over the years, other mechanics have come and gone.

Bill Schmitt’s business joined Laubenheimer’s when his shop closed.

Tom and Todd worked as partners in the business for a few years. During those years, many upgrades to the building have happened. Tom remodeled the waiting room and office. He removed the plate glass windows and installed much safer glass blocks.

Then 16 years ago, Todd fully purchased Laubenheimer’s Garage. He updated the waiting room again and added more lighting.

Both Tom and Todd worked hard to bring the building and business into the modern times.

Laubenheimer’s Garage Today…

Today, October 2, 2021, we celebrate all that this building and business means to the Reinke’s. We also celebrate how this little building, in a small town in Wisconsin, has become an important part of Richfield’s history for the past 100 years.

Thank you to all of our former and current customers for your support over the years.

Thank you Tom and Bev for all you have done to keep Laubenheimer’s growing.

Thank you to the Laubenheimer family for sharing your legacy with the Richfield community.

*(Information concerning Laubenheimer’s Garage is from the Richfield Historical Society, The book “Richfield Remembers the Past: 1846-1996” by Barbara A. Nelson and Margaret S. Holzburg, and various stories we have heard over the past 30 years of living and working here at Laubenheimer’s Garage.)