Passing the torque

Ever since the first wheel was hitched to a cart in ancient Mesopotamia, man had a vehicle to transport goods and other people over long distances. Advancements such as Henry Ford’s assembly line have made this mode of transportation more accessible to the public.
Through the evolution of the vehicle, one thing remained constant. That constant was the need to provide repairs to the body of the vehicle, and, for the past 22 years here in Ville Platte, this need was met by Mark Duplechain.
Much like the parts of the vehicle and the tools used to fix them, change has come to Mark’s Body Shop with his recent retirement.
“It’s starting to feel pretty good,” Mark said about being retired. “I can now wake up whenever I’m ready and go do whatever I have to do. There’s no more pressure in getting up in the morning, getting to work at a certain time, staying late when I had to, and working on the weekends sometimes.”
Mark’s time in a body shop began in 1975 while working for his father-in-law Hurlin Vidrine. Vidrine’s daughter and Mark’s wife Brenda said, “Dad had been working for Veillon Motors since 1953 and became the shop foreman. When they closed down, he rented the shop for a while. Then he bought it and had his own business.”
“Once I got married, my father-in-law asked me if I wanted to start working at Veillon’s,” Mark explained. “My father-in-law’s boss later went to him and said they would have to let me go because they didn’t need me anymore. So, my father-in-law asked if he could bring me in the body shop and teach me body work.”
Mark described what it was like working in a body shop back then. “When you hit a vehicle,” he said, “you would have to hit it with a big hammer because it was made with some thick metal. It wasn’t any aluminum or thin metal like these days. Everything was put together by screws and not plastic clips like today, and it was hard to line the parts up and get them fitting right. Once you put the car together, it would stay together.”
Also, back then, all the estimates on repairs were done manually. As Mark said, “All we had to make estimates was a big book that had all the prices, parts, and everything. Everything was done by hand. After a while, we got the computers and started doing estimates by computer. It’s a lot quicker by computer and saves a lot more time.”
Over the years, Mark has been taking off bumpers as well as doing other repair jobs around the shop. But, one job stands out as his toughest one.
“I cut an old car with hard materials in half right behind the back doors,” he said. “I cut it completely in half, took a used part off another half of a car, and put it back together by welding it by hand. There wasn’t any electric welders. It was a torch and a rod. The job came out alright, and the customers were happy.”
Also, over the years, Mark has been passing his skills of the trade to another generation much like his father-in-law before. His son Brian began working at the shop once he graduated high school in 1997, but, as he admitted, that was not his original plan.
“I was originally supposed to go for NDT (non-destructive testing), but mom and dad convinced me to go work with them. I started working on a lot of old trucks and sanding old parts.”
Mark said about his son joining him at the shop, “That was awesome. It made me proud for him to start working with me. I taught him everything I knew, and he just went from there. He took off, and he’s a quick learner. He kind of reminds me of me when I was young. He’s quick, fast, and just good.”
Now with Mark’s retirement, Brian is running the shop and represents its third generation. “We are very proud of him for doing this,” Mark said, “and hopefully he gets as many years out of it as we did.”
Working for Brian at the body shop are his daughter Megan and her fiancé Nick Castille. Megan, much like her grandmother Brenda, has grown up in the shadows of the body shop.
“She grew up coming over here at the shop with her dad,” Mark said. “After she was old enough, she was walking around the shop and playing around with the tools. She was just in the shop ever since. Now she is working over here for her dad.”
Megan said, “I’m just happy to continue on with the family business. I know I’m making everybody proud.”
Brian said, “It’s special to see she is going with the family tradition.”
The generational cycle of the body shop is continuing with Megan and Nick’s three-year-old son Zachary hanging around. “It feels great,” Megan said. “He’s always around and doing something or taking something apart. It’s a blast, and I love seeing him just enjoying it.”
“It’s precious to see a boy like that,” said Brenda. “He lays underneath the cars while picking up a tool and screwing things. The minute he walks in here he goes to the toolbox and grabs a tool. It’s just awesome to see.”
Now that he is retired, Mark reflected back on his time spent repairing vehicles. “I really didn’t think I would be open that long,” he expressed. “When I first opened, I couldn’t realize that I would be here this long. But, it just went by quick. It really flew by. I just hope our son keeps the shop open as long as he can, does well, and has success with it.”
For Brenda, it is special knowing what her dad started is continuing into the future. She concluded, “I’m sure my dad is happy up there with a big smile on his face knowing we’re keeping it in the family.”