THE SHIELDS CHRONICLES

The Road Corwin Never Planned to Take

Most businesses have a date they can point to as the beginning.

For Shields Motor Company, that date is December 16, 1968.

But the story of how Corwin Shields arrived at that day began years earlier—and it wasn’t the life he had planned for himself.

A Different Plan

Growing up, Corwin Shields was fascinated by automobiles, trucks and machinery. But cars weren’t where he imagined his future.

He was also interested in science, biology and chemistry, and his ambition was to attend medical school and become a surgeon.

Then, just 25 days after Corwin graduated from high school in 1955, his father, Raymond “Pat” Shields, died.

Everything changed.

Instead of following the path he had imagined toward medicine, Corwin stayed close to home. His mother, Leone, needed help operating the family business, Ottawa Farm Supply.

The business itself had been started by his father in September 1945 after World War II ended. It sold farm supplies and parts, serviced farming equipment and also carried Minneapolis-Moline farm equipment.

Corwin started at the bottom.

He did janitorial work. He stocked parts. He helped with sales. He assembled equipment and made deliveries. After high school, he moved into sales.

At the same time, Corwin continued his education, attending Ottawa University and studying business administration while helping his mother operate the family business.

It wasn’t medical school. It wasn’t the future he had expected.

But without knowing it yet, Corwin was learning lessons that would shape the rest of his life.

From Farm Equipment to Automobiles

In 1960, Leone sold Ottawa Farm Supply. By then, Corwin was married, and he went to work selling automobiles for Price Motor Company, the Ford dealer in Ottawa.

He quickly discovered something: selling automobiles came more naturally to him than selling farm equipment.

Corwin worked six days a week, set sales goals for himself and consistently reached them. His success eventually led to an opportunity at Robinson Motor Company, where he worked from 1961 through 1968 as both a salesman and sales manager.

By 1968, Corwin was ready for something more. He tried to purchase an interest in Robinson Motors, but his offer was turned down.

Then another opportunity appeared.

The Phone Call That Changed Everything

In January 1968, Mel Hewitt, owner of the Chevrolet dealership in Osage City, contacted Corwin about purchasing the dealership.

It was a major decision. Corwin had a good job, and becoming a dealer meant taking on debt, responsibility and uncertainty.

While Corwin considered the opportunity, another buyer stepped forward.

Corwin later remembered feeling both disappointed and relieved.

Then, in October, Hewitt called again. The other buyer had not been approved by Chevrolet to become a dealer.

This time, Corwin stepped forward.

Chevrolet approved him, and on December 16, 1968, Shields Motor Company, Inc. officially began.

Corwin sold his home in Ottawa. His mother, Leone, and Bonnie’s father, Eugene Ward, invested in the new company. Together, Corwin’s money from the sale of his home and their investments provided the money needed to purchase the dealership.

There was also a remarkable connection to Corwin’s father.

Raymond “Pat” Shields had worked at the Chevrolet dealership in Osage City years earlier. Corwin said his father had never told him much about his time there. It was only after Corwin purchased the dealership that he discovered an award his father had received from Chevrolet Parts and Service.

More than a decade after his father’s death, Corwin had unknowingly found his way back to a place that was already part of the Shields family story.

Eight Employees and a Handful of Cars

The new Shields Motor Company began modestly.

There were eight employees and only three or four vehicles in inventory when Corwin took over. During those first days, much of his time was spent getting acquainted with people, filling positions and commuting back and forth to Ottawa.

The dealership grew quickly. Within the first six months, several employees were added, and new vehicles began arriving. Before long, Shields generally had between 15 and 25 new vehicles on hand.

In addition to Chevrolet, the dealership also represented Buick and Oldsmobile.

One of Corwin’s earliest sales was a Chevrolet half-ton four-wheel-drive pickup to a cousin in Wyoming. At the time, four-wheel-drive pickups were still uncommon in Kansas.

It was a small beginning—but Shields Motor Company was underway.

Building Shields Motor Company

The years from 1969 through 1973 were good ones.

Vehicle sales increased. The repair business grew. Shields Motor Company opened a body repair shop, and in 1973 the dealership had a record year for both sales and profits.

Then came 1974.

The oil crisis changed the automobile business dramatically. Gasoline that had cost roughly 35 cents a gallon climbed to around 65 cents, and shortages became a reality. New government fuel-economy requirements began changing the vehicles manufacturers produced.

Cars became smaller. Performance changed.

Corwin summarized the reaction simply:

“No one liked this!”

The automobile business would face more difficult years ahead. From 1979 through 1982, interest rates climbed dramatically—reaching as high as 21 percent. Vehicle sales suffered, loans became difficult to carry, and dealerships across the country struggled.

Corwin remembered it as a terrible time to be in the automobile business.

The Way Corwin Did Business

Through the good years and the difficult ones, Corwin’s philosophy was straightforward:

Treat the customer the way you would want to be treated.

Honesty and availability were important to him, and he expected the people who worked for Shields Motor Company to follow those same principles.

The people were as important to Corwin’s memories as the cars.

One of those people was Eddie King, who joined the dealership in 1969 and eventually became parts manager.

Decades later, Corwin still remembered Eddie’s smile and personality. In approximately 45 years of working together, Corwin said he could not remember hearing Eddie complain.

He described Eddie as the kind of person “you only are lucky to meet once in a lifetime.”

The People Beside Him

Shields Motor Company may have carried Corwin’s name, but its story was never his alone.

His mother, Leone, helped make the original purchase possible as an investor. Bonnie’s father, Eugene Ward, also invested and later came to work in sales. Eugene knew countless people in the area, and those relationships helped the young dealership grow.

Corwin described Bonnie’s contribution differently—and just as importantly.

Her primary role was running their home and raising their three children, providing the stability that allowed Corwin to devote himself to building the business. Looking back, Corwin wrote simply:

“She did a fantastic job.”

And then there was the next generation.

Corwin’s son Pat began cleaning vehicles at the dealership while he was still in high school. After attending the University of Kansas for a year, Pat returned home and went to work in the service department.

He handled management responsibilities and service scheduling, but what stood out most was his way with people.

Corwin remembered that Pat liked people and talked to customers as though they were friends.

The Shields name was becoming more than the name on the building. A second generation was learning the business.

Another Road Appears

In 1982, after navigating several extraordinarily difficult years in the automobile industry, Corwin sold the Osage City dealership to Herb Hesseltine.

For the next two years, he was out of the automobile business.

But not for long.

Chevrolet eventually approached Corwin about a franchise opportunity in Iola, Kansas. The opportunity didn’t work out because a suitable building wasn’t available.

Then Corwin began hearing about another community.

Chanute.

The location at 814 West Cherry had already been home to several automobile dealers. Corwin knew some of the people who had operated there and began looking more closely at the opportunity.

He liked what he saw.

Corwin understood the retail automobile business by then—the opportunities, the risks and the importance of relationships in a community.

Years earlier, he had never planned on becoming an automobile dealer at all.

His father’s death had changed one road. Ottawa Farm Supply led to another. Selling Fords led to management. A phone call from an Osage City Chevrolet dealer led to Shields Motor Company.

And now another road was pointing toward Chanute.

That part of the story deserves a Chronicle of its own.

For now, this is where the first chapter ends: with a young man who once planned to become a surgeon, a Chevrolet dealership with eight employees and a handful of cars, and a business philosophy simple enough to survive generations:

Treat people the way you would want to be treated.

That was the beginning of Shields Motor Company.

And the Shields story was only getting started.