1946 – 2026 Watching Steinbach Grow: Meeting by accident for nearly 90 years

Ever since “Ike the Painter” set up shop in Steinbach, members of the Loewen family have been living up to the company slogan, “We meet by accident.” Loewen Body Shop will be celebrating the 90th anniversary of one of Steinbach’s oldest businesses next year.

Mark Loewen, his sons, Josh, Jordan and Jesse and granddaughter Tia, represent the third, fourth and fifth generations of the body shop Loewens.

For decades, the Loewen boys have been making sure their steady stream of customers have been well taken care of, whether it was a fender bender or a major crash that brought about the “accidental” meeting at Loewen Body Shop.

Mark, like his father Albert, began working in the body shop as a teenager, working his way up from helping out in the back when needed, to joining his father in the office, to taking on managerial responsibilities, and then ownership when his father retired in 1989.

When Albert decided to retire, he didn’t choose to keep his office, even though the offer was made at the time. Mark said he came back from holidays that year and everything had been moved out of his dad’s office, signifying the transfer of the business to the next generation.

Although Mark had been at Loewen Body Shop for more than 40 years, things kind of came full circle when he became the company go-for again in 2012, but at the time he said he was in no hurry to follow his dad’s example and bow out completely.

“Josh and Jesse use me to pick up parts and run errands and whatever else. I’m obviously not a burden yet, and I don’t have any plans to retire.“

The same feeling held true with Mark’s community service position with the Steinbach Fire Department. He joined the fire department the year after he and Pat got married, and became fire chief in 2002.

Josh and Jesse followed their father into the business just about the same way Mark joined Albert and the crew, some 40 years earlier.

After stints of washing cars at Penner Chev and Steinbach Dodge, and washing dishes at the restaurant next door, Josh became part of the “detailing department” at Loewen Body Shop at the age of 17.

Jesse got his body shop career off to an earlier start, answering phones as a 12-year-old, whenever office staff was on holidays. Later, he worked for Niakwa Pizza before joining Loewen Body Shop full-time, where he became “the best car washer they ever had.”

Today, Josh is production manager and general manager while Jesse oversees estimating, scheduling, logistics and parts procurement.

Like all Loewens, Tia says she started work at the body shop in the wash bay. She was 14 and in Grade 8 at the time. After high school she joined her dad and uncles on a full-time basis.

For the past two years Tia has been a service representative, and looks forward to beginning estimating soon. She hopes to follow the Loewen tradition of on-the-job-training to learn every phase of the body shop business.

Mark’s sons share their father’s interest in firefighting as well, and at times, it has caused a bit of confusion at the office. When a call comes in, there was a real risk of leaving the office unattended.

The immediate disappearance of all the Loewen men also came into play at the dinner table at home and is cited as one of the reasons son-in-law Barry Penner decided to become a fireman. When Barry was interviewed by The Carillon, he was asked if Mark had suggested he apply and he responded by saying how when the pagers went off at family gatherings, Mark, Jordan, Josh and Jesse would all rush out, leaving him alone. He decided he would like to join them instead.

There have been incredible changes to the auto body repair industry since Isaak Loewen introduced his ideas for restoring damaged vehicles nearly 90 years ago, and the most drastic of these came in his area of expertise.

Mark said the introduction of uni-body cars in the 1970’s changed forever the way things were done after an accident. Parts that used to be straightened out now had to be replaced.

But nothing in the way of change could top the transition from infrared paint booths and lead based enamels to the down-draft paint booth and waterborne paints.

Even there, Loewen Body Shop was ahead of the curve and their shop was using water-based paints a year and a half before it became compulsory.