Diefendorff family has a long history of service to community

Gary Harvey, Kim Diefendorff, Cliff Diefendorff, and son, Cliff Diefendorff are continuing the decades-old legacy of serving auto repair and maintenance needs at 3873 S Cleve-Mass Road, Norton. Call 330-825-0003.

By CHRISTINA McCUNE
BGNN managing editor

NORTON  You can’t miss it.

It’s the auto repair shop across the road from Norton High School. One could say the business is sporting bright red Norton Panthers paint, or one may consider the shop proudly wears a coat of scarlet paint to go with the large Buckeye logo emblazoned on the front.
The building with its two large bays and office area at 3873 S Cleve-Mass Road, Norton, dates back to 1963 – the same year Forest C. Diefendorff Jr. (known to everyone as Cliff) was born.

But the history of the Diefendorff family on the land and their service to the community reaches back much farther.

“Whatever business has been on this property since 1900 has been in my family,” said Cliff Diefendorff, who owns the shop with his wife, Kim, who serves as office manager. Their son, Forest C. Diefendorff III, who also goes by Cliff, works alongside them as well as longtime mechanic, Gary Harvey, who has been with the Diefendorffs for going on 30 years.

“There’s always been something on this property,” Diefendorff said.

More than 100 years ago before the interstate era and before World War II, Cliff Diefendorff’s family had a dairy farm and rented cottages on the property. It was an ideal location at the time as Cleveland-Massillon Road was labeled as state Route 21 back then and was the busy main thoroughfare from Cleveland to the south.

“There’s a lot of history here,” Diefendorff said.

Forest C. Diefendorff Sr. not only worked on the property but he was born in a house on the property. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and started the Norton Police Department as a constable. You read that correctly – he didn’t start at the police department, he actually started the police department. Norton wasn’t incorporated as a village until 1961 so Forest C. Diefendorff became the village police department’s first chief. He served until he retired in 1989, according to www.cityofnorton.org. He also worked for the Norton Fire Department and he was a school bus driver for many years. He passed away in 2008 at 86.

Cliff Diefendorff, the current owner of the auto repair business, learned about how to work on cars from his Dad and his Uncle Bob. His Dad built a house on the property and so did his uncle. After World War II, they opened an auto repair business. They helped out people and customers knew about them through word of mouth. A couple different gas stations were on the property. Some customers tell Cliff they remember pumping gas at the station when they were in high school. A tractor dealership was there at one time and farm equipment was sold alongside the auto repair business. The wooden building that housed the mechanic shop burnt down in 1959 and a new one was built in 1963. They ran the repair shop until the 1970s and kept it open until Cliff took over in the late 1980s.

Working on vehicles is in Cliff Diefendorff’s blood. He watched his dad and uncle pull out and rebuild motors and transmissions. But originally he didn’t intend to take over the shop from his father and uncle.

Cliff Diefendorff graduated from Norton High School in 1982. He had received his first non-running car when he was 15 years old – a 1971 Plymouth Duster. He had to pull out the engine and rebuild it.

“I pretty much grew up working on cars,” Diefendorff said.

As a recent high school graduate, one of his first jobs was like a dream job for him. He enjoyed working for Rick Grubb who had a garage on the west side in Barberton across from Barberton Armory. He worked for Grubb for five or six years until his boss died suddenly. Out of a job and with bills to pay, he turned to his Dad and uncle about buying their shop. Everything fell into place.

“This came up – it’s been a blessing,” Diefendorff said. “I really like helping people. I just really enjoy helping people.”

He took over the shop around 1989 and he sat down and began writing. He wrote a letter to each of the customers he could think of off the top of his head who were customers of his and Rick Grubb’s. He told them about the new shop, included a business card, and mailed the letters.

“And that’s how it started,” Diefendorff said.

Thirty six years later, “I still have some of those customers that I worked for at Rick’s,” he said.

He also is now seeing second and third generations of customers coming through the door.

At the same time he values the importance of tradition and he hopes the history of the property and his family and their longtime service to the community is never forgotten. His family plans to continue the local legacy.

“It’s been very good to me this business,” Diefendorff said. “It really has been good to me over the years.”

Diefendorff has given back to the community and has supported Barberton and Norton schools. The Diefendorffs recently welcomed a fourth grandchild.

For decades now, Diefendorff Service has prided itself on honest work at a fair price. The shop has a steady stream of vehicles and customers coming and going. Diefendorff Service takes care of maintenance and repairs for most makes and models ranging from oil changes and tuneups, electrical and computer diagnostics and service light evaluations, to heating and cooling, brakes and suspension.

Diefendorff Service is open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Call 330-825-0003.