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The
History of Godwin
Marvin
"Red" Brummel was the founder of Godwin Hardware & Plumbing and
was
a very special individual and businessman. To this day, his business
practices, demeanor, and attitude serve as a model for the way Godwin
operates. Anyone who knew him will never forget him or what he did for
the company, employees, and community. In 1955 he borrowed money and
signed a lease to fulfill his dream of his owning a business and
started a
hardware store on the corner of Calhoun St. and S. Division Ave. (just
a couple doors south of our present location). He, his wife Louise, and
Al Wiersma were the only employees and they sold sump pumps, water
heaters and other plumbing items as well as having a complete hardware
selection. They soon hired Gene DeBoer to help install the plumbing
equipment and by the late 1950's they had already outgrown their
facility. For a while they used a warehouse at the old "Bigelow Field"
(close to where McDonald's is now) for the plumbing division. As the
company grew and Godwin started plumbing houses, other employees were
hired, including Don Vredevoogd as a licensed plumber, and it wasn't
long before a new and larger store was needed. In June of 1963 a "Grand
Opening" for the new building (our present main store) was held and
after many additions and changes we have our present facility, which is
now being added to and changed again.The
ownership of Godwin has
also changed many times over the years. In 1970, Red split Godwin
Hardware & Plumbing into two separate companies. He and his
wife
kept 100% of the hardware business and sold 50% of the plumbing company
to five key employees, Don Vredevoogd, Mel Visser, Ed VanderWal, Herm
Dykstra, and his son, Ron Brummel. After a number of years, Ron decided
to venture out on his own and left Godwin Plumbing. Don handled the
service department, Mel took care of the commercial accounts, Ed was
the resident bookkeeper, and Herm used his sales skill he learned as a
cookie salesman to handle the retail sales and buying. In
1981 Red
sold his share of Godwin Plumbing to the four other owners but
continued with the ownership of the hardware and the property as well
as other interests.
In 1981, Walt
DeVries, Bob Post, and Pete Wierenga each
bought a small amount of shares of the plumbing company. All three of
the "new" owners had worked "out in the field" and worked their way up
through the ranks as apprentices, journeymen, and then master plumbers.
Bob worked in the hardware for about one and a half years after high
school and then after 3 years in the Navy he started plumbing in 1968
and moved into the office in 1976. Pete started at Godwin right after
high school in 1972 and worked in many facets of the company including
new construction (both residential and commercial), heating, and
service. Walt was a school teacher and decided that this was not what
he wanted to do for the rest of his life so he got a job at Godwin as a
plumber in 1976 and moved into commercial estimating about 3 years
later.Don was the first to retire in 1983 and sold his shares back to the company and in 1987 the others retired also. In June of 1987, Walt, Bob and Pete signed the papers for complete ownership of Godwin Plumbing. In February of 1987, "Red" died of a heart attack while golfing in Florida and in July 1988 they bought the hardware from Louise and started the other branches after that. Over the years there have been many changes in management and leadership positions. The companies have grown from 3 people in 1955 to 65 people including 35 plumbers on the road in 1980 and then to the present size of a total of 185 employees, which includes about 90 plumbers on the road. Now it's time to start working toward a new and promising era of Godwin Plumbing. Bob decided it was time to start scaling back on work a little and as of January 1, 2000, Bob sold a portion of his ownership in Godwin Plumbing to Bruce DeBoer, Rick Lameyer, and Tim Buist. These three newest owners have proven themselves over the years as leaders and work extremely hard every day for the benefit and advancement of the company. Rick joined his father in working as a plumber for Godwin in 1977 and was the main residential "rough-in man" for many years. He moved into the office a couple of years ago and took over the scheduling duties as well as many other chores. Bruce started at Godwin in 1978 and worked most of the time as a job foreman for commercial plumbing jobs. He moved into the office in 1991 as a commercial Project Manager and quotes and handles many important accounts including Dan Vos Construction. Tim Buist joined Godwin Plumbing right out of high school in 1980 and worked in the warehouse and then for Godwin Fire Protection while that branch was operating. Shortly after the fire protection business closed he moved into the office and took over the Service Manager duties from Don and since has assumed the job of General Manager, which includes a variety of responsibilities. These three men have always worked very hard for Godwin Plumbing and they plan to continue the same basic business ethics and practices that have worked in the past and have nothing but the highest of expectations for our company. Under the leadership and visions of the present owners and the excellent jobs that all of our hard working managers, foremen, and employees are doing, we see nothing but continued success and a great place to work for every employee at Godwin Hardware & Plumbing. It certainly is a concentrated team effort over the last 50 years that has made Godwin Hardware & Plumbing the leader that it is today. There will always be changes in companies and the latest leader changes at Godwin is just the first step in the next phase of a promising and even greater future. |
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