Ken Preeper and Tiki Prepper said it is time to get out of their auto wrecking business in Williams Lake.
"That's long enough," Ken said of owning Bee Jay Auto Towing and Wrecking on Mackenzie Avenue North for 33 years. "I'm old and tired and want to relax."
As the Preepers were being interviewed, they were also pausing to answer questions from people coming into the office interested in buying some of the vehicles on one of their two lots.
They said they were surprised at how busy it has been.
Their hope is to sell the towing business to someone else, but in the meantime the towing business will remain open 24/7.
Tiki said with some of the challenges going on in the city, they have no choice in so many ways but to close.
Last year their business was one of the places hit hard by the river valley fire on July 21, 2024. They lost eight truck bays, a Kenworth heavy-wrecker, a 2017 motor home and at least 170 vehicles.
"It was so hot that fire that it just melted things. I couldn't believe how hot it was," Ken said.
They received nothing for the burned vehicles, so they were all crushed and Kiki said the building with the truck bays and its contents were part of their retirement plan.
"We've also had trouble with people breaking into our 709 property and it's continuous," she said.
They still have an insurance claim on the remainder of the building that did not burn in the river valley fire, but Ken said vandals have kicked the back walls in, kicked through walls and doors.
Ken was in a motorcycle crash in 1987 that left him having to use a wheelchair.
That same year he came to Williams Lake after his friends - brothers Benny and Brent Judd - offered him a job at Bee Jay. He bought the business from them in 1992.
Ken and Tiki met when they were introduced by Bob Loewen in Williams Lake.
"Bob sent me down here to get a job 28 years ago," Tiki said, chuckling. "I worked on and off and did other things along the way."
When Ken was asked what kept him with the business for 33 years, Tiki piped up "stubbornness."
"I just enjoyed it," Ken responded. "It was different every day with the towing every time you went out on the tow calls."
Towing calls came from all over. They went to Alberta, as far as Bella Coola and up into the Yukon.
"We'd haul stuff up there in break-up for a buddy who had work up there," he said of the northern jobs. "Then we'd go back up and get it in the fall. It was a four-day trip."
While lots of calls were difficult, one of his most "stubborn" tows was working with Andy Antle at Antle Towing from Lac La Hache when they were dispatched to Mount Polley Mine near Likely.
"We did one at the bottom of the pit at Mount Polley," he recalled. "One of the blasting trucks that was loaded slid down backwards and landed on its side."
It took them three of four days.
"We'd have to go through all these safety meetings and stuff before we could even do the job. It was like 20 below - 16 hours. I didn't enjoy that one."
Selling auto parts was big too, with so many people looking for specific ones.
Ken just celebrated his 70th birthday on April 26 and said it's time to retire.
For the last three-and-a-half years the Preepers have been living in Edmonton, Alta.
"We had to relocate because of his health care needs," Tiki said.
Thanking all their customers for their support over the years, Bob said they were both loyal or people who just passed through once who he never saw again.
"They have all been good - and my employees," he said.
Now officially closed, the Preepers are welcoming the community to take free tires from its property, but you have to go looking for them yourself because the owners are busy packing things up.
"We are shutting down so I thought I could give back to the community in a strange sort of way," said Tiki. "It's a great way to say thanks for all of your business. "Tires of all kinds are available completely for free, "the good the bad and the ugly," she said.
Some are good to put on vehicles, and others can be used for projects such as tire swings or goat jumping.
There are two areas to look through the tires and match them up, though some are already together.
Tiki also said they would not be taking any phone calls or messages but those seeking some free tires can come by Monday to Friday between 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. to pick some out.
With files from Andie Mollins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
