12/17/2025
12-2025
To Our Valued Community and Customers,
After 36 years of serving this wonderful community and working on your vehicles at Orcas Auto Tech, I am writing to announce my retirement from the Auto Repair. My last official day at the shop will be end of December 2025.
This was not an easy decision as I have cherished the relationships built within our great Community via the avenue of this shop. I have always felt so much purpose & pride in being a part of keeping our amazing Community rolling. Starting out when I was 14 years old in a Community Resource Training Program through the school with Jeff Jones at Gordys Garage where I learned body/paint/repair work and then being able to provide that same gift of CRT training to high school kids myself through Auto Tech when I opened in 1990. So many great young students came through my shop over the following 30 years. Now we are working on 3rd generation customers vehicles, grandchildren of some of the old time locals that were my customers when I was first starting out in that small 1½ bay garage by myself that Vern Landon graciously rented me for $350 a month. So much positive support from the great people of Orcas on this journey, what an amazing experience! We have had many bumps & struggles along the way as well but we have always tried to do our very best & learn from those experiences to provide quality, reliable service.
Our customers are more than customers, they are Community, Friends & Family. The letters from customers pinned to my office walls are just a handful of the hundreds that we have received over the years, as well as cookies, pies, fudge, brickle, donuts, goodies, gift certificates, fun old automotive magazines, cool old tools, Christmas cards, jeesh you guys have spoiled us & it has meant so much to my guys/gals & me. Last week I started moving one of my older toolboxes out of Auto Tech to my home & got a tear in my eye when it hit me what was happening. The avenue of providing auto repair on Orcas Island has been my full time work & life since I was 17. It’s not really about the auto repair though, it’s about helping others while being able to make a living doing something you're good at as well as enjoying the process. I am so incredibly grateful for your trust, loyalty, and support throughout this journey together, what a great place to be a cog in the gear keeping Orcas moving along.
It is comforting to me, and I am pleased that our lead Technician Michael Person who many of you already know will be taking over the Repair Shop. Michael has worked at Auto Tech for the last 13 years and has proven to be a reliable, hard working Automotive Technician with the upmost honesty & integrity who shares Auto Tech’s commitment to Quality Service and being integrated in this Community.
Michaels professional background started out attending automotive courses at & graduating from North Iowa Community College in Mason City, Iowa in 1985. Michael went directly to work for GM as an Automotive Technician working his way to the top of ASE certification as an ASE Master Certified Automotive Technician. Michael continued work with GM until 2001, he then went on to work in a variety of settings from dealerships to independent repair shops, even maintaining construction & farming equipment which has given him a well rounded background & a deep respect for doing the job right.
Michaels words: “For the past 13 years, I’ve been proud to work at Orcas Auto Tech, and stepping into ownership feels like a natural next chapter. My goal is simple: to provide honest, dependable service and to be a shop this community can rely on.
Thank you for welcoming my family. I look forward to getting to know you all and continuing to serve this community for years to come”.
I will never forget what his prior employer said when after interviewing Michael for the Technician position at Auto Tech 13 years ago, I asked him all kind of questions about Michael, his employer who was very professional & had short, simple positive responses, at the end I asked “would you hire him back”? His old boss said “You’d be a fool to not hire him & yes I would hire him back in a second”, that said a lot & after working alongside Michael for 13 years I agree. Michael grew up in farming country, he has carried the good nature, work ethic & friendly personality from that upbringing. I am honored to call him my friend and he is a great asset to our Community who will continue to provide reliable automotive maintenance & repair on orcas Island.
I will be helping at the shop if an extra man is needed, finishing up some shop projects & eventually doing some classic, pre 1978 American car/truck maintenance/repair down the road. I am still full time in the 24/7 Towing & Roadside Assist company of Orcas Towing alongside my son in law Trent as that business has grown into a full time plus for the two of us. I really enjoy being out helping people and the towing/roadside is much easier on my back and neck then standing on concrete, bent over a fender or under a car all day.
I can’t say enough about the support I have received along the way from my Wife Stefanie, my Family, all my present and past employees from Technicians, Office personnel, CRT Students and so many great people in our Community who have played a large part of the success of this business.
I’ve always said that if you under promise & overachieve, show up and do what you say you are going to do, Orcas Island will keep you busy as you let it.
It has been an honor to serve in our Community for so long.
With warmest regards and immense gratitude, Thank you, Uzek Susol
