Thomas Service Center in McCandless sells to new owners

Raymond Thomas built Thomas Service Center at 821 West Ingomar Road in 1947 as a way to give his dad, Charlie Thomas, something to do after The Great Depression.

More than 75 years later, and lots of love and labor, Raymond’s son Don and his wife Lori are ready to retire as they sell the family-owned gas and service station to new owners.

“It’s near and dear to our hearts. I’m going to miss all the people,” Lori said. “We have the best customers in the world.”

The station operated under several chains over the years. Lori said it was once a Gulf, a Mobil, a Texaco and a 76. The Thomas station was leased out for a few years in the 1970s, Lori said. But when the lease was up, Don, a 1974 North Allegheny graduate, took over the business in 1979 after serving in the Navy.

Raymond Thomas was a justice of the peace and night court judge in McCandless. He passed away at 90 in 2003, Lori said. Don and Lori live just down the street from the station as does Don’s mother, whose house also is within walking distance.

Don was a mechanic who worked on F-14s in the Navy, so servicing cars was right up his alley. Lori, originally from Penn Hills, didn’t come into the picture until years later. She had a job delivering lunches and the station was on her route. Donald was one of her customers.

“He smiled at me, and that’s all it took,” she said, and they married in 2001.

She said the service station always has been open six days a week, taking Sundays off.

Lori, 60, said Don retired a few years ago after contracting non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer that begins in the lymphatic system, in 2016. He’s since gotten better, and Lori, who kept working, said their customers’ love and support for her husband was a gift.

“Thomas Service station was the place to go for good service, it was a meeting place to find out what everybody was up to in the neighborhood. Good or bad,” said Mark Scherer, of Franklin Park, who with his wife Sue have been customers for close to 30 years. “I’m old, but it harkens back to the old days when everyone actually spoke to each other.”

“Lori mostly dealt with the customers, if she liked you, you were a friend. They have been at the location since 1947. Lori also gave treats to every dog in the neighborhood when they walked by,” Scherer said.

If you needed something out-of-the-ordinary fixed, Don would give it a go, Scherer said.

Lori said the couple adopted a lost cat one year and named him Otis. The customers would call him King of Ingomar. It has since passed away.

There are two gas stations within view of the Thomas service station, including the 7-11 and The Roznowski Services, both on West Ingomar Road. Lori said it’s all friendly competition. People are creatures of habit, and they’ll always go where they like to go, she said.

Don and Lori are avid model train collectors and would set up train displays every Halloween and Christmas in the front window near the customer’s entrance. This past year they did not because they were selling, she said.

New owners John and Melody Bursick of Shaler are ready to do business with the community under the new name JM Automotive. They will provide basic mechanical and inspection services, working on tires and brakes among other things, Bursick said. The pumps will remain operational. The new owners are also doing some renovations.

Busick said he worked for about 30 years at Baierl Cadillac in Wexford.

“I always wanted to have my own place,” he said.

Lori thinks her loyal customers will keep coming back.

“They’re breathing new life into the place,” said Lori, who wants to continue working in the area, perhaps at Kuhn’s up the street.

A man of few words, Don said it will be different not having it in the family anymore.

“I loved it. Loved the people. I’m going to miss it,” he said.