By Todd Svanoe

Mentor technician Jerald Basol (center) straddled by WSC Alumni and Murphy Motors technicians (L to R): Steve Hauge (’96), Sam Olson (’03), Andy Hall (’99), and Chad Swanson (’92). Not pictured: Jeremy Knapkewicz ('99).

It’s been six years since Jerald Basol retired as auto technology instructor at Williston State College, but go down to Murphy Motors today and you still hear glowing reports about his legacy in the industry. The mechanics he trained are everywhere – and five alumni work in this garage alone.

“He’s the best mechanic to ever hit this town,” said Larry Stewart at Murphy, a shop that tried to recruit Basol before he took the job at Williston State. “In all my years I haven’t seen better,” he added, and Stewart has been selling cars for 46 years.

“All these guys he’s trained are top-notch. They’re pleasant to the customers and easy for us to ask questions as sales people.”

“Jerald’s my mentor,” said Andy Hall, who was already a Murphy Motors technician when he graduated from Williston State in ’99 as an honors student with a 4.0 GPA. “We learned to be very motivated, hard-working and dedicated at what we do.”

Hall was 25-years-old, and married with children when he began at WSC. He worked for Murphy to put himself through school. “Jerald’s skill level was impressive,” said Hall, and was critical for helping launch his career.

After 28 years working in dealerships, Basol saw firsthand how computerized technology was bringing an automotive revolution and he was the catalyst to expand Williston State’s program from one to two years when he started teaching in 1986.

Current instructor Arne Lunzman assists in a shop of both WSC and high school “dual credit” students. For more about WSC’s auto or diesel technology programs, call (701) 774-4274 or (701) 774-4264.

“I grew up a farm boy so I always tinkered around on vehicles,” said Chad Swanson, a ’92 WSC grad, “but technology was changing from the first day of class at Williston State. Even today, you have to be willing to learn something new every day. If you close your mind to that, you’ll be left behind and be out of business.”

“Jerald was always on top of everything, easy to get along with and he knew what he was talking about from all his experience in dealerships,” said Swanson, who has been at Murphy for fourteen years. “He wasn’t just reading out of a book. He knew what to prepare us for when we came out in the real world.”

“If you consider that computers started controlling automatic transmissions, engines, brakes and everything,” said Basol, “the changes have been unbelievable, and we had to make sure our students were prepared.”

Basol wore a tie underneath his blue lab coat to convey a more professional image to the students, he said.

“It’s no longer a day of grease monkeys. It’s a day of technology, and I tried to portray that to the students by wearing a tie until the day I retired. The day of the backyard mechanic is gone. You can do simple things like change the oil, but with computer systems, you have to have a higher level of training.”

Sam Olson, from Fargo, ND, graduated in 2003 from one of Basol’s last classes of students. He started at Murphy last year after a stint in the Army Reserve. Olson said he learned from this veteran to be detailed and thorough.

“Whenever something came in broken, Jerald would say, ‘Yah, I see it’s broken, but why did it break? If you don’t figure that out, 1000 miles later they’ll be right back with the same problem.’ So you have to know how it’s built, how it’s supposed to work so you can fix it right the first time.”

“I’m very meticulous,” said Jerald. “My wife says I’m too fussy.”

When asked if he was meticulous in doing his dishes and putting his clothes away at home, he laughed and answered, “Not necessarily. There are other things that top my list of priorities!”

One of those priorities has been training quality men. The four WSC alumni interviewed said that while they had looked at other schools, Jerald and current shop teacher Arne Lunzman were the kind of role models in Williston that either drew or kept them here.

“The staff and people that work at Williston State College are good, common people,” said Steve Hauge, a ’96 grad and a native of Ray, ND who has been at Murphy for seven years. “That’s partly why my wife and I moved here.

“Hard work, common sense, and families are valued,” he said. “I was raised that way and I want my children to be raised that way.”