Jerry and Helen Malone, owners of Jerry’s Auto Parts for 37 years, are retiring as of Sept. 1. The business will continue under their nephew, Tim Rogers, who has worked there since he graduated from high school, and niece Jan Rogers, who has been keeping the books for 22 years. Also to stay with the business are the dog and two cats.

The couple, who have been married for 47 years, purchased the business from Matt Witt in 1971, converting Benton Auto Parts into Jerry’s Auto Parts. Jerry had worked for Witt for three years before deciding to make it his own. Jerry had always done his own mechanic work and had worked at Curtis Auto in Athens and Bowater, so he felt confident.

When they started, Helen said, he planned to hire somebody and teach him to help run the store. “If they can learn, so can I,” Helen told him, and partnership began. She said she had grown up with brothers and working on cars. That, combined with Jerry’s teaching, prepared her for the new venture.

At first, she said, the customers wanted a man to wait on them but quickly figured out that she knew what she was doing. She and Jerry became a team, finding the parts customers needed and often helping install them.

According to Helen, the auto parts business has changed drastically since they began, with electronics an increasingly important -- and expensive -- part of vehicles. They can no longer keep on hand nearly everything that a do-it-yourselfer might need, but they can special order needed parts. There was a time, she said, when all Fords, for example, could use the same parts for a tune-up. That’s no longer the case.

Even with the more complicated work involved, she said, a lot of people still work on their own cars, including a lot of women. Most of their business is from individuals, not businesses. Jan Rogers commented that business has been up this year, possibly because the rising cost of gas has led more people back to their own garages for work.

For Tim Rogers, who started working for the Malones after school and during the summers, it’s the start of a new venture in a building that has served the community for half a century. Witt’s Auto Body opened there in 1958, later becoming surrounded by a junk yard and wrecker service until Witt moved the auto parts store from downtown Benton in the mid-1960s, then selling to the Malones in 1971.

The Malones waited on customers six days a week until 1983, when they began closing on Thursday, rarely missing days unless they were sick. For Helen, who has battled cancer three times and has been in the hospital four times since April with a stubborn case of pneumonia, and Jerry, who fractured his back a few years ago, it’s time to take it easy. Both say they will miss the shop, especially the people. Helen said she remembers some customers when they came in hanging onto their daddy’s hand and now they are bringing their own children in. There are also the customers who, knowing the Malones love animals, bring their pets in to say hello, as well as those who share their garden produce. “Oh, yeah, we’ll miss it. We’ve made a lot of friends over the years,” Helen said. Both said they will be available to come in and help Tim if he needs them.

Jerry and Helen reluctantly posed for a last picture in front of the counter. A few minutes later, a customer came in and plopped down a bag with a part “off Daddy’s old blue Ford pickup.” Jerry immediately went to the huge catalogue and asked the model. The customer wasn’t sure but knew it was a Slant 6. That was all Jerry needed to find the replacement.