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Jerry's Automotive Repair in Libertyville still truckin' after 70 years

Shaves and haircuts aren't on the service list, but if you like barber chairs, there's a nice selection in the waiting area at Jerry's Automotive Repair in Libertyville.

The chairs are old and far from pristine - duct tape has been used to mend tears in some - but that's not the point for proprietor Don Hamil, whose dad, Gerald (Jerry), started the business in this spot 70 years ago.

Hamil bought the first chair at a rummage sale because it struck his interest.

"Within the next day, a customer said, 'I have one of these stupid things. Do you want it?'" he recalled. And so it began. The original chair is at Hamil's house, but there are 10 others in the shop's waiting room.

The more you look, the more you see nearly every inch of wall and shelf space is occupied by something that speaks to the history of the village, family or auto repair industry.

"I know it's a cluttered mess, but it's my mess," says the affable Hamil, who happily shoots the bull with a stranger about the significance of the items and other aspects of life in a neighborhood garage.

Vintage fire extinguishers, radios, gasoline station signs, Coke machines, auto manuals, models of cars and sailing ships, a smudge pot from road repair days gone by, and many photos and plaques of support from local sports teams are some of the eye catchers.

The exact date is elusive, but in May 1948, Russ Brown and Jerry Hamil partnered to open Russ and Jerry's Shell service station at 125 S. Milwaukee Ave., just south of Route 176.

Hamil lived in Grayslake but worked at Bernard Chevrolet in Libertyville, a suburb that was then and is now known for its Auto Dealers Row along Milwaukee Avenue.

Besides gasoline, sold under various brands, featured products and services included Sun diagnostic equipment, Firestone tires, Wilco front end alignment and typical vehicle repairs of the day. A few years later, Hamil bought out Brown, and it has been Jerry's since.

The elder Hamil expanded from three service bays to six, and the family-owned and -operated business endured.

"I've been taking my cars there since I moved here in 2000," said John Durning, who lives within walking distance. He owns and operates Pizzeria DeVille a few blocks north on Milwaukee Avenue.

"I don't do anything with a motor that doesn't involve them," he said.

Durning recalled a time when his vehicle needed a jump. Jerry's did the job and then gave him the cables for next time.

Hamil, who will turn 61 this month, grew up in the business.

"My mother did the bookkeeping, answered phones, ran the front desk," he said. In the '70s, he and his dad built the front counter and a round seating area.

Hamil is proud of a framed certificate dated Feb. 21, 1949, showing his dad completed a course on the Power Glide automatic transmission conducted by the Chevrolet division of General Motors. These days, Hamil estimates spending $12,000 to $20,000 a year to keep up with technology to work on modern vehicles.

Business ebbs and flows with the economy, Hamil said. Exterior rotating signs no longer are allowed, so Hamil uses his 1946 Dodge 5-window coupe as an attention-getter.

"We don't do a lot of advertising," he said. "Mainly word-of-mouth. I learned a long time ago bigger isn't better."

  Don Hamil at Jerry's automotive repair, which has operated in the same location on Milwaukee Avenue in Libertyville for 70 years. The business was started by Hamil's dad, Gerald, and a partner. Mick Zawislak/mzawislak@dailyherald.com
  Interior of Jerry's automotive repair, which has operated in the same location on Milwaukee Avenue in Libertyville for 70 years. Mick Zawislak/mzawislak@dailyherald.com
  An old photo of Russ and Jerry's Shell service station in Libertyville. Mick Zawislak/mzawislak@dailyherald.com
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