Post by Deleted on Jan 18, 2015 5:26:52 GMT
Hello,
Dave Witthuhn gave me my first job in 1985. I was 15 years old and a big-time car nut and made some money detailing cars in OC with a buddy but I needed a more stable job to earn some gas money and buy parts for my first car - which I already owned (a fixer bought from proceeds won from a radio contest) but did not yet have a license to drive. Dave operated an independent parts shop called The Mercedes Store and I met him trying to source a water pump for my car. I inquired about a potential job and he said he was in fact looking to hire someone in a couple of weeks. In exactly 2 weeks I began calling and for another two weeks was calling the poor guy nearly every day until one day he said with a laugh, "I was going to call you, but knew I wouldn't need to... When can you start?". In addition to a good wage (I think $5.50 when minimum wage as 3.15) he also let me get parts for his cost plus 10%... And that ensured he very rarely had to pay me because I was constantly working off a balance for something cool like uber-rare H4 euro lights for a 116 chassis SEL (my plan back fired... the car was better than ever, but filling the tank was an ordeal)
I showed up every day after school, every Saturday and occasionally a Sunday, though technically the shop wasn't open. At the time he was married to a very nice lady and partner in the business whose name slips my mind - perhaps Ronnie? Second marriage, which I didn't think anything about since my parents had forged a reasonably happy second marriage and I assumed, erroneously, that Dave's first marriage had also ended in divorce.
He told me about being in the hospital and learning of his wife's murder and the burden of not being able to prove you didn't do something you didn't do... As a young man who ended up getting a lot of speeding tickets with my new license, I fully understood his somewhat bemused eye-roll and sheepish grin when he confided that he was trying to grow (gasp!) weed and the police investigating the scene hauled away each tiny seedling and categorized each one as a separate "plant". A "pot plant" - so clearly it was somehow related to his drug dealing network... Ludicrous, because there was NONE he was just a dude who like to twist one up every now and then, but there was not a whole lot for police to go on.
The unresolved baggage, even then, clearly plagued him. I worked for him for about two years - before Mercedes-Benz finally sent him a cease-desist letter claiming that the lady's first name implied their brand. I helped him wind the store down before I went off to college in San Diego.
During the period in which I worked for Dave I found him to an incredible man: friendly, polite, funny, very hands-on, and just so very nice. A really nice guy. It wasn't uncommon to have a customer come in with their car amiss, he'd ask a few questions... And they didn't know the answer, so he'd go out to their car, pop the hood, remove a suspect vacuum check valve and swap it out with a new one. The customer would start the car and it then ran great... Dave would charge them only for the part. He liked to solve the problem - he was Germanic in a way that only an engineer could appreciate. And he liked to help people.
He struggled with alcoholism - and could you blame him? He spoke openly about his sobriety, which I admired as my father struggled less successfully with alcoholism as well. Which is probably why Dave knew that I could tell when he went on a bender... One instance, I must have looked concerned or perhaps disappointed because he was just down right embarrassed. But I felt like I understood Dave and reminded him we all have good days and bad days... Thereafter, I never again saw his sobriety slip.
I wrestled with the idea of whether this genteel man might have been a violent drunk... But I just couldn't consolidate that possibility with the man I knew. I never saw even a hint off rage. Frustration? Absolutely. Someone violent or deranged? Impossible. Over the time I knew him surely a revealing trait would have presented itself? There were none and - although, I am glad he was FINALLY exonerated by DNA c. 2000 - I feel guilty about wondering. I also am deeply saddened that the speculation and scrutiny lasted so ridiculously long.
My youngest daughter is just about the age I was when I went to work for Dave... It's been 30 years and I just started thinking about him and was hoping to find contact information to reach out to say hello to him. As a qualified opinion now, I know he would have been a great father - a patient instructor that enjoyed watching people "get it"... If only his life hadn't been so unfairly derailed.
There is a great picture of him with his mom hosted by the Bear Valley News - a very serious face with a slightly-lifted eyebrow that, if you knew him, you would recognize a sly grin was about to break out. Like when I came to the store, late, because I got a speeding ticket on the way in... A look that questions what the hell is wrong with you, but is at the same time compassionate and understanding.
I had hoped to catch up, let him know I went on to enjoy some successes in racing legitimately, and thank him for the positive influence he had in my life. He helped me better understand myself and also learn to accept some of my dad's more difficult moments. Dave set the ultimate example of keeping a chin up and pressing on...
I read he passed in 2008 of congested hear failure and I am old enough now to understand he actually succumbed to a broken heart.
