A Brief History of GREMCO, Inc.

In 1955, Timothy Strubhar, then a teacher at Western Mennonite High School near Salem, Oregon, decided to open his own electrical wiring business at home. He hired his brother Clifford to do the some of the work, and gradually built the business up until he quit teaching to work at it full-time. Over the years, others have been employed also; Clifford eventually moved to central Illinois, but Levi moved up from California and went to work for Tim. Roy Roth and Lloyd Lind, both recently deceased, were two other employees. Along the way, GREMCO (or Golden Rule Electric, as it was then known) began working on electric motors and pumps, primarily for irrigation at this point.

In 1962, Tim bought the property in Brooks, Oregon, and acquired the Pierce dealership from T.L. Kuhns. The following year, he built a building and moved the business to its current location. In 1980, he built another building close to the original one, and sold the first building with a small acreage. The business grew, and he had a hard time keeping up with the paperwork. In 1982, Joe started working part-time as a pump helper and bookkeeper. Several years later, while Tim devoted his time to developing a farm in Eastern Oregon, Joe managed the business for his uncle.

In 1995, the 40th year of operation, Tim and Joe worked out an agreement for Joe to purchase the business from Tim. The business has continued to grow and prosper, for which we thank God and our faithful customers. Today, we continue to sell and service domestic and irrigation pumps, pressure water systems, water softeners and filters, and irrigation systems, as well as residential, commercial, and light industrial wiring to meet the changing requirements of our customers.

Tim Strubhar passed away in December 2001. We remember him as a quiet, unassuming man who was a genius at mechanical things as well as deeply interested in spiritual things.

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