Our names are Paul and Becky Wheelock and we are lifelong residents of the Leelanau/Grand Traverse area.  Becky and I met back in January of 1985, my senior year in high school.

 I spent the first ten years of my life in Traverse City while Becky lived in Leelanau County her entire childhood.  My father was born and raised on the Old Mission Peninsula and after a few years in the “big city” he’d had enough.  And out to the country it was.  My mom was a “city girl” (TC) but was quite excited about the idea of getting away from the town she was born and raised in and enjoying the peace and quiet that only Leelanau can offer.  I went on to graduate from Glen Lake High School.  Becky’s mom and dad have similar stories.  Her dad was born and raised in Leelanau while her mom was also a TC city girl.  Becky, her dad and 4 of our six sons have all attended and graduated from Suttons Bay High School.  Becky and I were married in 1987 and have worked very hard to raise 6 wonderful sons, 4 of whom are still at home.  We have lived in Leelanau County most of our married life together, with only a brief stint in Grand Traverse early in our marriage. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      The Wheelock name goes back to Benzie County to about 1862 when Addison Wheelock and his wife, Ann McBride Wheelock, my great great grandparents, moved to Elmira Township and were one of the first families to homestead there.  Addison acquired lots of land around the Lake Ann area and actually became the first sheriff of Benzie County in the late 1860′s.  Lake Ann the lake, as it’s known today, was named after Ann McBride Wheelock and was originally just called Ann Lake.      

 

 photo by Sally Arnold

 

 Becky’s maiden name is Boone and the first Boone to live in Leelanau County was her great great grandpa, William “Doc” Boone.  He and his wife Susanah moved to Bingham from Indiana in 1878 with the purpose of building railroads.  He helped establish a sawmill in Bingham in 1879 as well as the building of a plank road to carry the lumber down  from Carp Lake (Lake Leelanau) to the Grand Traverse Bay at Bingham.  He only lived a few more years and died in 1889.  Susanah died May 1st, 1927 and she is buried in Bingham Cemetary.    The Boone family has been here ever since.                                                             

photo courtesy Library of Congress/Detroit Publishing Co (somewhere in Michigan in late 1800′s)

 

Becky and I have worked in the service industry all of our adult lives.  From working as a dish washer and cook at Sugar Loaf, to picking and shaking cherries as teenagers, we have always enjoyed working to serve others.  I have an extensive history in HVAC/R sales with some time behind the wheel of an eighteen wheeler traveling the entire country as well.  Becky, as part of a joint decision back in 1989 just a few weeks before our oldest was born, made the decision to make being a stay at home mom her top priority.  We adjusted our budget for a single paycheck and took off from there.  Later on, after the kids were much older and doing very well in school, Becky joined me working for a large pest control company as Customer Service Representative.  I managed the operation.  We did that for a few years and then became increasingly aware that our future earnings, being predictably fixed, were in no way, going to be able to meet the demands of 6 potential college educations along with the hundreds of other things that come along with that many children.  I had driven truck over the road for over a year just a short time before this and decided to give that a try again with the idea of becoming an owner/operator.  I tried this for about 6 months and realized why I had left it once before……..Becky and the kids.  It was just too hard being gone for so long regardless of how good the money was.  We realized we were sacrificing the emotional well being of our boys and the health of our marraige for a bigger paycheck.  And so, here begins the journey to where we are today. 

We began to brain storm about things we could do here at home to generate an income that would take care of what we were seeing on the horizon.  Many ideas were tossed around but we kept landing on pest control.  I was still a certified technician through the state of Michigan and Becky was still very good at customer service.  We had a small room we could set up for an office and more importantly, a relationship with dozens of folks, many of whom had already inquired as to our whereabouts, with whom to build a business around.  We didn’t want to be like our former employer or many of the other companies in the area by trying to be everything to everyone.  We wanted to pick a few things we knew we could do well and open up as a seasonal operation, focusing on those key things.  Spiders, mosquitoes, mice, ants, wasps etc.  These became the focal points that first season. 

Over the past six seasons we have added a few services, mole work being one of them.  In the fall of 2009 I decided it was time to figure out a way to generate some cash flow during the winter months. We sent out an inquiry to our large and fantastic customer base to see who may be interested in snow plowing.  The response was awesome and so the decision to purchase another service truck capable of carrying a heavy duty plow was made.  And it was a decision that we would not regret.  2009/2010 was a slow season for snow but a good one for learning the ins and outs of snowplowing.  2010/2011 would go on to confirm the benefit of putting our minds and equipment to work. 

We have had the great privilege of having our sons come on board and work with us as they became of age.  Timothy, the oldest of the 6 boys, actually ran the entire field operation in the summer of 2007 while I drove a hospitalized friends truck across the country for a few months.  We were able to help a family stay afloat at the same time we produced an income for our own.  Tim did a great job and will be coming on board in the spring of 2011 in a full time/year round position with the company.  There are plans for his ownership in the future.  The second oldest son, Andy, worked full time with Becky and I during the 2009/2010 seasons and did a tremendous job as well.  He is a music education major/performance minor in his junior year at CMU and will more than likely be traveling abroad the 2011 season playing music for a living.  He’s very excited about that.  He will be greatly missed on this end though.  Two other sons, David and Stephen, will be getting certified in the spring of 2011 and will spend this next summer working with Tim and myself.  They should do fantastic as well.  What a joy and a privilege to work as a family toward a common goal. 

Becky and I have both dealt with financial hardship, personal struggles, up and down economies and the pressures of raising a family.  Both of us have also dealt with the “c” word.  Yes, cancer.  I have been cancer free for 2 years now and Becky continues to defy the odds by living a wonderful, healthy life, in spite of a stage IV breast cancer diagnosis in the spring of 2009.  We don’t convey this information for pity sake or for some need to brag or whine about our ups and downs.  We share it as a way to let people know that we are real, everyday, hard working, common folks.  We’re part of a community of people who all share in many, if not most, of the same trials and struggles.  We are neighbors, friends, family and acquaintances of many of our current and future customers.  We have always been here and this is where we plan on retiring.  We’re honest. We’re sincere and we have a track record of service and integrity to prove it.  And best of all, we get to work for you and live in the most beautiful area a family could hope for.  It just doesn’t get any better than that.