The Walters Family History in Auto Repair

Bill Walters liked racing cars, so his father William H. Walters helped him pursue his dreams of making a living working on cars during the week and racing on the weekends. Bill kept his wild driving on the tracks of Barberton and Cloverleaf Speedways. He was called "Wild Bill" and his race car was a black Chevrolet, #55. He also had another car he used for figure eight racing and wrecking. The crowds loved it when he wrecked his car and rolled it over for the fans. He was a good race car driver, but a better bowler and his son Mark and grandson Mark junior inherited his bowling prowess.

Bill Walters started the family business in 1950 when he opened Bill's Sohio at the corner of Cuyahoga Falls Avenue and Gorge Boulevard, on Akron's North Hill. Larry remembers standing on a chair and playing pinball at that gas station. Bill opened his second gas station, Bill's Pure Oil Station in Cuyahoga Falls in 1955. It was at the corner of Front Street and Sackett. Bill opened his third gas station in 1960, named Bill's Front and Bailey Shell, which is now a donut shop.

The Walters' family had everybody starting from the ground up, cleaning the service bays, pumping gasoline and mounting tires", says Larry. All of the Walters boys worked at the Shell Station including, Ken Walters, Mark Walters, Pat Walters and Mike Walters. They worked with Greg and Louie Polovick, Bruce Bowen and Dave Shearer, to name a few. Larry Walters started working at the Shell station on weekends, while he was attending High School from 1965 to 1967. Larry later attended the University of Akron and worked part time as a mechanic and gas pump jockey at the Shell Station. "I always liked the fast pace of the gas station" says Larry. "One of my jobs involved setting our gas prices one penny lower than our competitor across the street, which at that time was 15 to 20 cents a gallon".