By Claudia Loucks
Geneseo Current
Dan Klavine in his shop. Photo by Claudia Loucks
Klavine Motor Co. has been in the family for 107 years, and on Oct. 1 will mark a milestone of being located in the same place for the last 100 years.
Dan Klavine, the third generation Klavine who now owns and operates the business said no special celebration is planned.
The company remains in its original location, at 119 South Center St. where it moved in 1925, although it has grown from its location at the back of the building to now occupying the front as well. Dan Klavine estimates “seven rooms,” on the first and second floors, not counting the basement and attic.
Dan Klavine holds an antique wrench which is one of the many antique tools at Klavine Motor Co. The large clock on the wall is from the former Northside Elementary School building on Russell Ave., in Geneseo. Photo by Claudia Loucks
The business is so much more than a “Motor Co., showcasing countless cases of memorabilia, old tools, motors, engines, and “everything in-between,” Klavine said.
Dan has been involved in the family business since childhood, although the official year of him starting work is 1977. He recalls being at the shop when he was in grade school, and he also was involved in the family business when he was a “coop” student at J.D. Darnall High School (now Geneseo High “School.”)
He shared a memory of he and his dad, Roy “Joe” Klavine building a go-kart together.
Dan Klavine, owner and operator of Klavine Motor Co. in Geneseo, is photographed in front of the building at 119 South Center St. Photo by Claudia Loucks
Both Dan’s grandfather, Joe A., and his dad, Roy Joe, have passed away, his grandfather died in 1981, and his dad in 2019, and he isn’t sure what will happen to the business when he decides to retire.
“My son, Brandon, is not interested in working in the business,” he said.
Klavine Motor Co. was the first such in Henry County to offer refrigeration and repair service and the second to fix car air conditioners in Geneseo.
Joe A. Klavine, who was born in 1899 and grew up on a farm in Edford Twp., was the founder of the business in 1918.
After tiring of farming, he went to work for the railroad and later became interested in car repair, opening his own shop in 1918 in Osco, near the family farm.
It was one of his customers who encouraged him to open a shop in Geneseo, which he did in 1925 in the location where it remains today.
At one time the building was a buggy factory and some of the bows and seats remain there, although now the upstairs is used primarily to store old parts and some family antiques, “and junk,” Dan added.
Klavine is standing by the antique horse-driven road cart housed at the shop. Photo by Claudia Loucks
In the front of the shop are numerous glass cases, filled with memorabilia, ranging from toy tractors, to items from Geneseo stores and yet another case holds memorabilia from the Klavine business. On a wall in the building at the front hangs a pendulum clock which at one time was located in the original Northside School building.
During World War II, Klavine Motor Co. serviced an area that reached from the Quad cities to New Boston, Knoxville, Princeton, Rockford and Clinton, Iowa. The company covered commercial refrigeration repair throughout northwest Illinois.
“Most of my customers now bring their work to the shop,” Dan said.
Klavine Motor Co. sells welding supplies which Dan said keeps the farmers visiting the shop, and they also recharge paint ball guns.
When asked how much longer he plans to operate the business, Dan answered, “Until I know it’s time to leave.”
