Famous for his quick smile and straight forward matter-of- fact late night commercial, Willie Stepney, owner of Stepney Brothers Auto Body on the North Side still enjoys the routine of running his own shop. (Laurie Skrivan/P-D)

"So that's who that is" features recognizable St. Louisans - people we often see at their place of business or out on the street - but whom we know little about. Check out today's sketch, as well as upcoming ones in the Everyday section on Tuesdays.



"Hi. My name is Willie Stepney." With that matter-of-fact statement, so begins a television commercial for a St. Louis auto body shop.

For the last several years, Stepney has greeted viewers of late-night TV and sports shows with his ad. It is not the wild, wacky kind of spot that local viewers are used to seeing. No one is roller-skating with a gorilla, sitting on the Arch or pulling off wooden arms and legs to make a deal.

"I thought about that when I did my commercial," said Stepney, 52, owner of Stepney Brothers Auto Body, 5232 Natural Bridge Avenue. Oddly enough, it is right next door to a Schweig-Engel store.

"Then I figured that, when it comes to taking your car to someone to get it fixed, you really don't want that someone acting silly," he added.

With a quick smile and earnest delivery, Stepney said he runs his business on a simple theory. "You have to keep the customer satisfied."

Stepney, who lives in St. Charles, grew up in north St. Louis as one of 11 children born to Emanuel and Flora Stepney. Speaking of family, the Stepneys have found a way to balance family and career: They all work together.

At the shop, Stepney has worked with his two brothers, cousins, nephews and a couple of his eight sisters. His father works part-time at the shop. His sister Gina is an estimator. His wife, Maxine, is a receptionist. Their three sons - Willie Jr., Nicholas and Mario - all work at the shop. Willie Jr. recently was named shop manager.

On the distaff side, mother Flora owns Stepney's Diner on 4739 Natural Bridge. Stepney said most of his sisters, and his two sisters-in-law, have worked there at one time or another.

"I'm not sure there are other families like ours," Stepney said. "Our parents took care of us, and we still respect them. We're all grown, but not one of us will ever talk back to them."

Stepney said he was raised in a "spare the rod, spoil the child" atmosphere. "We didn't get warnings when we were kids. We knew what we were supposed to do, and we got a whipping if we didn't do it."

Stepney said he was a bit of his father's favorite because of his love of tinkering.

"When I was a kid, I could take a bike apart and put it back together in no time flat. I loved to tinker with bikes and cars. I got that from my father, who was a mechanic. I'd watch him and follow him around."

Stepney graduated from Vashon High School in 1971. He worked at other shops before opening his own place in 1979, at 3301 Union Avenue.

"It started out with me and one of my brothers. Now I have 13 full-time employees. And I have business all year round," he said. He moved from Union to his present site in 1994.

"For the first years, it was 6 in the morning to past 6 at night, six and seven days a week," he said.

Sister Gina said working with her older brother, which she has done since she graduated from high school more than 20 years ago, can be trying. "He works too hard sometimes, he's the Energizer Bunny. He never stops," Gina said. "We have our disagreements, but we're an awfully close family and we work them out."

Stepney said his work ethic stems from the fact that he loves his job.

"Working on cars relaxes my mind. I can forget about other things and just concentrate on working on the car," he said.

Stepney made the commercial several years ago, and laughed when he was told that it was pretty bland for late-night TV. "I remember all those crazy commercials, but that just wasn't me. So I decided to keep it real, show them our shop, tell them what we do.

"And you'd be surprised how much business that commercial brought in. People come in and say 'So you're that guy on TV'," he said.

No surprise, Stepney works on cars for a hobby. He is restoring a 1936 Chevy and a 1930 Chrysler. He also plans on turning the shop over to his sons in a few years and retire - Stepney style.

"I have an auto dealer's license. I'll probably go to some auctions, buy some cars, fix them up and re-sell them," he said, laughing. "I'm not real good at just sitting around and doing nothing.

"When I sit too much, I get stiff."



Reporter Joe Holleman:
E-mail: jholleman@post-dispatch.com
Phone: 314-340-8254