Blaine Saarie opened Saarie Auto Body & Repair in May of 1987. Unfortunately, all his hard work was short-lived when later that year in October '87 the entire shop burned to the ground in an accidental fire. Determined to open the shop again, Blaine went to work rebuilding his business. First, renting an available building in Freeman and then building on his original site. "We are very grateful to Freeman for what it has given us. It's a wonderful place to run a business and raise a family. There's nowhere else we'd rather be."
Blaine opened Saarie Auto Body & Repair at the young age of 23. He knew his whole life he wanted to own and run a repair shop. He started with just himself and one employee to help him. Now, 28 years later he has several employees and spends most of his time in the office with customers and he is the one to help the employees.
Along with his 38 years of experience, Blaine is also I-Car certified, ASE certified, PPG paint certified and has continued training through out his years in business.
Blaine says he enjoys running his business and providing service to the greater Freeman area. "I have many customers that I consider my friends and that is invaluable. Many of my customers have been with me since the beginning. That is loyalty, and I appreciate them. I understand the importance of having a repair shop you can trust, you put your family in your vehicles every day, and that is precious cargo!"
Penny Saarie received the job title of Office Manager when she married Blaine in 1990. Since then, Penny has done everything from accounting to washing vehicles. She received a degree in automotive management from AMI in 2004. She is active with customer and vendor relations as well as managing employees. Over the years, she has continued to educate herself in automotive shop management through various on-going classes and training. She is always working to keep the shop up to date and educated on new products and procedures.
Penny has been extremely active in the community. She has served as a City Council Representative, President of the Freeman Development Corporation, board member on numerous community boards such as library and the Freeman Community Theatre.
Aaron Engel started at Saarie's in 2019 as our Parts Manager/Service Writer. He currently lives in Turkey Ridge, SD. He has experience working with different vehicles over the years and has great parts knowledge. He has become a great asset to our company. He enjoys spending time with his wife, and working on his car projects he has at home. He also enjoys fishing and smoking meats in his free time. Aaron has been married to his lovely wife Rachel, for 3 years.
Josh Dziadek started at Saarie's in 2019. Josh is our Body Shop Manager, he creates estimates and also does the repairs! He works with computerized paint mixing and preparation, mig welding, machine polishing, and also seconds as a mechanic if needed! He lives in Turkey Ridge and enjoys farming his land and working on various other projects at the homestead.
Troy Muchmore started at Saarie's in 1999. Troy works with computerized paint mixing, paint preparation, mig welding, refinish technician, oxy/acetylene welding, machine polishing, mechanic, maintenance, plastic repair, has been an apprentice/helper and has done his fair share of glass installation. He says "It's really rewarding to fix something that was broken and make it work." He loves going UTV riding and participating in tractor pulls. Troy has been married to his lovely wife, Peggy, for 25 years.
Patrick Graber, who grew up in Freeman, went to Lake Area Technical Institute before putting in his almost five years here at Saarie's. At Lake Area, he got his associate degree in automotive mechanics and came to Saarie's right out of college. Pat works on suspension and steering, computerized wheel alignments, cooling systems, ABS brakes, air conditioning, air bag systems and automotive electrical. He enjoys hunting and fishing. Patrick says he likes working on cars because he likes "repairing what's broken."
Thomas Evenson went to Denver Institution of Technology for 2 years before moving onto Bethel College for 2 years. Before working at Saarie Auto Body for 17 years, he worked at several different body shops from Denver, Colorado to Turkey Ridge, South Dakota. He has earned many certificates in Standard, such as: Enhanced/Ignition Diagnostics, Electronic Climate Control Service, General Motors Engine Performance, Ford Engine Performance III, Chrysler Engine Performance II, Honda/Acura Engine Performance & many more. Tom works with suspension & steering, maintenance, cool systems, air conditioning, air bag systems, automotive electrical, ABS brakes and exhaust systems. He says "Cars are an amazing thing. They're like the 8th wonder of the world." Tom likes hunting, fishing, bicycling and also exercise in general. Tom has two children, Karalee and Tim.