Podcast Episode 126

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From the Ground Up: A Legacy of Breaking Barriers & Land Stewardship

From the Ground Up: A Legacy of Breaking Barriers & Land Stewardship

Episode 126 | 75 min

With Guests:

Pattie Krengel, Owner of Pattie’s Place & Krengel Brothers Tiling
Tim Krengel, Owner of Krengel Brothers Tiling

What does it mean to build a legacy that honors both family and the land? Mother-son duo Pattie and Tim Krengel of Krengel Brothers Tiling came from humble beginnings in Mapleton, Minnesota. Their story is one of breaking barriers, serving the community, and teaching the next generation to be good stewards of the land. Uncover the deep roots of their family business in rural America in this episode.

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I was proud to be the first woman to do a few things in Minnesota. I was the first woman president of the Minnesota Land Improvement Contractors Association (LICA). Nobody said it was going to be easy… I love it.

— Pattie Krengel

Guest Bios

Pattie Krengel

Pattie Krengel is a force of nature, known for her energy, determination, and unwavering spirit. As a pivotal figure in the Krengel Brothers Tiling, she defied expectations and broke barriers for women in the drainage industry. She was the first woman to hold leadership positions for Minnesota LICA, National LICA, and other drainage organizations.

Pattie’s commitment to community, faith, and building relationships led her to establish “Pattie’s Place,” a successful private dining club that showcases her culinary talents.

Tim Krengel

Tim Krengel is a key figure in the continued success of Krengel Brothers Tiling, a family-owned and operated drainage contracting company with deep roots in Mapleton, Minnesota.

Growing up in the business, Tim developed a passion for the industry and a commitment to the values of hard work and integrity. He is dedicated to providing reliable and efficient drainage solutions for farmers, while also honoring the company’s long-standing relationships with customers. Tim’s connection to the land and his respect for its stewardship are central to his work.

Jamie (00:00:01):

You are not going to want to miss today’s podcast on the Water Table today, I interview Tim and Pattie Krengel. We’re talking everything about their business, life and life lessons learned. Please join me today on the Water Table. Well, welcome back to the Water Table Podcast. Today, I have a couple of guests and been really excited about the opportunity to interview Pattie Krengel and her son, Tim Krengel. I have known Pattie and Tim for roughly 25 years. I don’t get to see Pattie all that often, but Tim, more often, they’re friends. They’re customers of Prinsco, and I think the heartbeat and the backbone of the drainage industry and of rural America and what you guys are doing and trying to do out there with employing people and running a great business. So Pattie, Tim, welcome to the Water Table podcast.

Pattie Krengel (00:01:10):

It’s a pleasure to be here.

Tim Krengel (00:01:12):

Yeah. Thanks for having us, Jamie.

Jamie (00:01:14):

So what I wanted to do today is you got a storied history, your family, and you have Tim, a mom that’s pretty special and quite a dynamo, so to speak. And so just ask some questions, share some stories about your family, your business, and I think the best way to do that is probably to start kind of at the beginning, Pattie, could you talk a little bit about how your business got started and were you there in the beginning or how did you enter that?

Pattie Krengel (00:01:48):

No, I wasn’t. My husband and I met on July 4th, 1953, and that’s the year that his father, Chuck and a friend, we called him Big Dad O’Connor, decided to buy a tiling machine because my husband came from a family of five brothers. So my father-in-law didn’t have a lot of money, so he furnished the boys and a big dad bought the Vermeer tiling machine. That’s the first machine they had, and a small backhoe. And then, they had to use lots of shovels and spades because it wasn’t so easy in those days. And they continued that business for … Well, let’s see, in 1954, Harold and Gary and two other men were hired for that Vermeer. But then in ’56, Gary, who was eventually a partner of Harold’s, had to go on the service for two years.

(00:03:01):

So Harold stayed with Krengel and O’Connor, they called it until ’56. And then, when Gary came home from the service in ’58, my husband decided that … I wasn’t married yet, but he decided that this couldn’t continue. We weren’t making any money. So in ’58 they bought out Krengel and O’Connor. He didn’t have to pay his dad anything because he didn’t have any money in it, but we had to pay Big Dad, they called him. So they started their business then. And by that time we were married and we lived in a house that didn’t have bathtub or hot water. That’s how poor we were. And we just kept going and business started flourishing, and we eventually bought more equipment.

(00:04:06):

And the machines just … We had a Buckeye. That’s what they had in those days, was the Buckeye tiling machine. And of course, I didn’t want to do the book work. I graduated from the Minnesota School of Business, but I didn’t want to be a bookkeeper. I was a secretary. So Harold wanted me to do the books, but I said, I’m not going to do that, I’d rather be a bartender or a waitress, than do those books, but he encouraged me, and I kind of took hold. I made a few mistakes at first. I mean, I billed a guy and it was wrong, we didn’t make any money, but Harold had to go out and he did get the money. But anyway, I took a hold on it and I loved it.

Jamie (00:04:56):

So just for listeners, I didn’t mention that, but Mapleton, Minnesota is where you reside and kind of where you started and where you from Mapleton too, or just the Krengel family?

Pattie Krengel (00:05:13):

No, I was in Mapleton. We lived five miles south of Mapleton.

Jamie (00:05:14):

Okay.

Pattie Krengel (00:05:16):

My husband was from Good Thunder.

Jamie (00:05:18):

Close though.

Pattie Krengel (00:05:20):

Yeah, close.

Tim Krengel (00:05:21):

Very close.

Jamie (00:05:21):

Yeah.

Pattie Krengel (00:05:23):

And we stayed there, but then later in a couple of years, we got a house, a decent house. We traded a bean field for a basement. Well, that’s what we did in those days.

Jamie (00:05:39):

And the interesting thing as we move forward, just as part of what helps make the idea of getting into that business successful is Mapleton, South of Mankato, 20 miles roughly, just a real fertile ground. And it does seem like there is more moisture that moves through that particular area of Minnesota.

Tim Krengel (00:06:02):

It’s very wet.

Jamie (00:06:03):

Yeah, very wet, and so we can talk about that, Tim, as we go on. That’s one of the first times I ever met you. You probably don’t remember that, but it was a very difficult spring, and you were replacing a 24-inch main. And you were deep and there was a lot of water and just a challenge. And at that time, it was easy for me, because I could walk up into a situation that was … You weren’t very happy that day or that whole spring, but the relationship that you had with Kent Rodilius, which was our peg segment lead at the time, and had been your salesman, had really worked with the Krengel family. We’ll talk about that for a long time, but that relationship carried a lot of trust both ways.

(00:06:52):

And so, that was my entrance into meeting you guys. And even though Tim was upset, Pattie, that was an easier, less scary, let’s call it, meeting than the first time I met you. So you used to have that big dog.

Pattie Krengel (00:07:09):

Well, that was his dog. That’s a great name. Samson. Yes.

Jamie (00:07:13):

Samson, yeah. Kent and I were talking earlier. What was the name of that dog again? We couldn’t remember-

Pattie Krengel (00:07:18):

Samson.

Jamie (00:07:18):

It was Samson, but he had sit in your office by you and very intimidating trying to sell you pipe.

Pattie Krengel (00:07:25):

Harold just hated that dog.

Tim Krengel (00:07:29):

Yeah. 200 pound. Great game. He was big and didn’t let many people buy.

Pattie Krengel (00:07:35):

He was protective of me.

Jamie (00:07:36):

Yeah, for sure. For sure. So sorry, I kind of backtracked there, but wanted to make sure people understood kind of the start and where that was in Mapleton. So now you’re married, you’re starting to see some financial success, and of the hard work starting to pay off, you move into a better spot and still probably don’t have kids at that point, right?

Pattie Krengel (00:08:01):

No, we had Debbie and Cindy. Debbie is our oldest daughter. She’s 10 years older than Tim and just retired. But her husband owns the Land of Dreams, water hot tubs, and he’s got stores in Minneapolis and actually, they’re semi-retired and they’re in Arizona with their three horses. They ride horses.

Jamie (00:08:28):

Nice.

Pattie Krengel (00:08:29):

And have dogs and then, Cindy, she’s a couple of years younger than Debbie. She’s married to, and she works at the University of Santa Barbara. She’s their caterer for quite a few of the sorority homes. So they live in Santa Barbara, California. So we don’t get to see her as often.

Jamie (00:08:52):

No. Do you get out there a little bit?

Pattie Krengel (00:08:54):

Not very often. Not very often.

Jamie (00:08:56):

You’re too busy. You got to work.

Pattie Krengel (00:08:57):

Well, I like to be home, especially in the winter, unless we’d go someplace. But the winter time is my time to read a book. So I like to read. And I have a lot of book work, because we have some farms, and I keep very busy with that. You want to buy a farm? We’ll buy one together and we’ll tile it out.

Jamie (00:09:28):

Then, we will make a bunch of money on it. Everybody wants a good tiled farm, right?

Pattie Krengel (00:09:32):

Right, and they’ll pay the rent. You got the money, honey, I’ll pay the rent. Whatever. Yeah, it’s fun, but Tim didn’t stroll along until 10 years later.

Jamie (00:09:54):

Okay. What year were you born?

Tim Krengel (00:09:55):

’67, 1967.

Jamie (00:09:55):

1967.

Tim Krengel (00:09:55):

So you’d been in it. Krengel Brothers was incorporated in 1964, I believe.

Jamie (00:10:01):

Okay.

Pattie Krengel (00:10:01):

Right. That’s-

Jamie (00:10:03):

Okay, so it was right around 1960 that things started to really do well and then, you incorporated. So tell me a little bit about those early years and what that looked like, type of work you’re doing and …

Pattie Krengel (00:10:21):

In the 60s. Well, we branched … We did a lot of tiling. It was starting really good then, but we’ve branched out into soil and water, and we bought more big backhoes, but I wanted to tell you about when we bought our first backhoe, Harold went to the bank in Mapleton and he wanted to borrow $7,500 to buy a Schield Bantam backhoe. And it was an Army surplus one, and the banker wouldn’t borrow us the money. He said, “Can that backhoe have little backhoes? If it would’ve had a pig or a cow, we could have got the money.” So he couldn’t get the loan. So we walked across the street and it was looking very sad. And he met the brother of Big Dad O’Connor, who was a bachelor.

(00:11:23):

And he says, “Harold, you look so down. What the hell is the matter with you?” And Harold says, “Well, I couldn’t get enough money to borrow a backhoe.” And that guy, Lonnie looked at him and he says, “How much do you need?” Harold says, “I need $7,500. Well, write a note out. We’ll give it to you today.” So we got that, that’s how we started in the bigger mains and the soaring water.

Jamie (00:11:49):

Yeah. When do you think that was? Do you remember?

Pattie Krengel (00:11:52):

Well, that in the 60s, yeah or no, it was a little before that. A little before that.

Jamie (00:11:59):

Yeah. Yeah.

Pattie Krengel (00:12:00):

We paid the note back anyway.

Jamie (00:12:02):

For sure, for sure.

Pattie Krengel (00:12:03):

And we bought the bankers car later. It was a 1948 Chevy, a black one. And they used it for tiling.

Jamie (00:12:11):

Really?

Pattie Krengel (00:12:11):

Because they didn’t have no pickups. So it was not an easy sledding for a while, but we managed. I worked for a lawyer part-time, in between.

Tim Krengel (00:12:24):

There weren’t too many other tiling contractors back in the 60s, in our area. And it’s a tremendously big area to do. So I remember stories about mom and dad saying, we had to go up to Nicollet, from Mapleton. That’s about say, 40 miles. I couldn’t imagine how they would get the equipment up there. The thing is, I still have these customers today. We still get up in that area, wherever we have to go. But it’s continued on from the beginning, generation after generation. I’m taking care of some of the grandkids, of great-grandkids, of some of the initial people from when I started. And that all attributes to how mom and dad started the business and ran it.

(00:13:16):

And my Uncle Gary was in it too, but the tradition of being honest and doing a good job and putting a good product in the ground, I think that made our reputation to where it is now.

Jamie (00:13:35):

Yeah, and when you have those good qualities about you and characteristics, and you’re consistent with them over decades, obviously, if that changes, it only takes a few times to do things wrong for people to recognize that, and it takes a lifetime to grow that. But you and Harold, growing that into your kids over your lifetime is really … It’s quite a name in that area of Minnesota. And you guys should be … I know you are, and you should be really proud of it.

Pattie Krengel (00:14:11):

We are. Yeah, we are.

Tim Krengel (00:14:14):

I remember as a kid, maybe five years old, I’d be down at the shop and I would paint … My job was to be paint and catch basins, orange. Well, I got carried away with a brush. I also wanted orange pants and orange arms. So I painted my whole … Everything orange and all the guys were down there watching me do it. And finally it came to be lunchtime where I had to go home to eat. And they saw me and they said, we can’t take you home to Pattie like this. So they put me in the parts washer and they scrub me up with all that stuff, and those yellow pants didn’t make it. But otherwise, that’s how it was back then. And you guys had 15 or 16 employees-

Pattie Krengel (00:14:58):

Yeah, we did-

Tim Krengel (00:14:58):

At one time, four crews running, three tile machines. That was pretty big. Now with the plows, and you hear about it all the time. But we’ve gone now down to three people, four if we are lucky and get a part-timer. And we’re putting as much footage in the ground as they did back then. A little different story on how equipment is now, but we still work hard.

Jamie (00:15:30):

Yeah, you can be very efficient with that one machine. And Pattie, tell me a little bit about what Tim just said with the 16 employees. I’ve heard that back in that day. When you start to do that, you got a lot going on every day, right? You got people going different directions. And now you have a management team kind of, and the people that aren’t in the machine, but they’re managing all this. And from what I heard, you were making breakfast for everybody, and you probably still do from what … Tell me about that, you did this morning and it’s not very late, and you had to drive two hours, so let’s talk about that.

Pattie Krengel (00:16:10):

4:30 in the morning. But yeah, I took it to the shop though. I delivered to the shop, take some egg coffee and hot sandwich and something sweet. And then, I have my own chair-

Jamie (00:16:23):

What time of the day would that be?

Pattie Krengel (00:16:26):

Well, I get to the shop by quarter to seven in the morning.

Jamie (00:16:28):

Okay, and with all that stuff.

Pattie Krengel (00:16:30):

And I get up at 4:30, but-

Jamie (00:16:33):

So I know what it is, but I bet a lot of our listeners, don’t. But let’s talk and then we’ll go back. What in the heck is egg coffee-

Pattie Krengel (00:16:43):

My goodness sakes. I should have brought some along.

Jamie (00:16:46):

Well, I actually thought about asking you to bring a thermos and let’s have some on air here. But now, you say that I am feeling bad because I would’ve liked to have had some.

Pattie Krengel (00:16:57):

Egg coffee is just … You’ve seen these old coffee pots on the Cowboy shows, the old-fashioned coffee pot. That’s what I have. I have at least six or seven, maybe eight. And you just fill it full of water, bring a tool boil and stir up fresh ground coffee. You grind it-

Tim Krengel (00:17:19):

Separately.

Pattie Krengel (00:17:19):

Yeah, separately. And then, you add an egg to it. And then you stir it up and moisten it.

Tim Krengel (00:17:24):

Okay.

Pattie Krengel (00:17:25):

And when the water comes to a boil, then you dump that in there and stir it around, turn the fire down and let it simmer a little bit. And let the coffee grinds float to the bottom, add a little cold water and let it stew a little bit. And there it is, egg coffee.

Tim Krengel (00:17:44):

All right.

Pattie Krengel (00:17:45):

It’s not bitter.

Tim Krengel (00:17:47):

It’s potent though.

Pattie Krengel (00:17:48):

Yeah, it was a little potent this morning, wasn’t it?

Tim Krengel (00:17:51):

It kept us going all the way to the end.

Jamie (00:17:52):

Well, I’ve tried to make it. I haven’t tried that in a regular, just putting an egg in there and stirring it with a filter and it just doesn’t … it’s just not the same.

Pattie Krengel (00:18:03):

Well, actually, you could do that. You could add … Mix it up with your egg and your coffee and just pour it over the filter, and then your water will drip through.

Jamie (00:18:13):

Yeah.

Pattie Krengel (00:18:13):

I think you could try it.

Jamie (00:18:15):

Well, it works, but not the same.

Pattie Krengel (00:18:19):

I should have brought you a coffee pot and then you … Okay, next time, I will.

Jamie (00:18:21):

Next time. Well, 2.0 of the podcast. We’ll do that. We’ll do that.

Tim Krengel (00:18:26):

Well, she’ll bring the food to us in the morning and then go home. And she has eight more people that come over for breakfast again. So she’ll make-

Jamie (00:18:35):

Everyday?

Tim Krengel (00:18:36):

Every day.

Jamie (00:18:37):

Who are those eight people?

Pattie Krengel (00:18:38):

They’re retired, lonely people. Whoever wants to come, comes.

Jamie (00:18:42):

Okay.

Pattie Krengel (00:18:43):

The mayor comes occasionally just to check on us. I mean, these people are ’93 and ’94 and right down to eight. Well, we’re not going into my age right now today, are we? I’ll be 87 in September. Yeah, so I fixed those people’s breakfast.

Jamie (00:19:05):

That was going to be part of this in an order, but we’re there now. So let’s talk about it. Talk about this. We’ll go back to the business and stuff, but at some point, when would you say you retired from your work to something. You didn’t retire, you retired to another role in life. And I want to make that clear as we talk about, because you’re doing a lot yet at almost 87, but when was that?

Pattie Krengel (00:19:38):

I started … When Christy came and we traded places, but I got to be busy. So I had a lady stop by my house. Let’s see, that would’ve been, it must’ve been 25 years ago. Whenever Christy started, that’s when I started Pattie’s place.

Jamie (00:20:01):

That’d be my wife.

Tim Krengel (00:20:02):

Yep. Yep.

Jamie (00:20:03):

So that was around 2000, Tim?

Tim Krengel (00:20:06):

Yeah, ’98.

Jamie (00:20:08):

Yeah. And when did your husband Harold die?

Pattie Krengel (00:20:13):

2012.

Jamie (00:20:16):

Okay. So you had started that before. I didn’t know about that, and you call that Pattie’s place. Explain what Pattie’s place is and then, we’ll-

Pattie Krengel (00:20:24):

Pattie’s place is a private dining club.

Jamie (00:20:26):

Okay.

Pattie Krengel (00:20:28):

In my home, but it’s attached … Well, it’s right in my home, but we just added on a building to it right away because it’s successful. So I do private parties. It’s got to be 12 or more, and it’s elegant. I should have brought some pictures, I guess.

Jamie (00:20:49):

Well, I’ve been there. I’ve seen it. Never been to a couple of-

Pattie Krengel (00:20:53):

Okay.

Jamie (00:20:54):

Tim’s had a couple of local industry, get-togathers there at different times. But it’s basically, you did a big addition where you can have … How many can you have? What would be the most-

Pattie Krengel (00:21:05):

I can see it up to 65.

Jamie (00:21:08):

Yeah. So 12 is minimum, but you can get 65 people and you pretty much have, I call it, would that be, right? A commercial kitchen in there?

Pattie Krengel (00:21:15):

I have three kitchens.

Jamie (00:21:17):

Okay.

Pattie Krengel (00:21:17):

Yeah. And the big one is downstairs. Yeah, I have three kitchens. Nobody does the cooking but me.

Jamie (00:21:27):

So what happens when you get 60 people? I mean, how much help. Yeah, but how many do you have, and when you say help, what does that mean, what do they do?

Pattie Krengel (00:21:35):

They serve and they serve and help clean up.

Jamie (00:21:39):

Okay.

Pattie Krengel (00:21:41):

And I don’t let anybody else cook in my kitchen.

Jamie (00:21:47):

Yeah.

Pattie Krengel (00:21:47):

I just like to cook and I’m busy, but I’m going to slow down this year.

Jamie (00:21:54):

What does that mean?

Pattie Krengel (00:21:55):

That means I might not take as many parties.

Jamie (00:21:58):

How many have you had last year?

Pattie Krengel (00:22:01):

I don’t know. I haven’t counted, it’s too many last year. But I would like to slow down a little bit.

Jamie (00:22:08):

Yeah. Yeah. So, if I said to you, Pattie, I want to have 25 people over four months from now at this time, and you decide what we’re going to have for dinner.

Pattie Krengel (00:22:19):

I have menus.

Jamie (00:22:19):

No, but what I’m wondering is what’s your favorite thing to make?

Pattie Krengel (00:22:25):

Well, the most popular thing on my menu is the sirloin roast beef au jus, and homemade mashed potatoes and gravy and homemade fly-off-the-plate rolls with honey and any kind of dessert you want, it’s all you can eat.

Jamie (00:22:41):

Why didn’t I ask for some of that too today?

Tim Krengel (00:22:45):

And she did mention that she thought she’d slow down this year, Jamie. I’ve been hearing that for probably the last eight years. And this year, she’s very specific that she’s done, not taking anymore on. Well, I think I just heard her say so.

Pattie Krengel (00:23:01):

Well, I do have Saratoma coming in, but that’s not until December. I have a few parties, but it’s hard going up and down the steps and I have to cook down and then carry up myself. That’s the hardest part, but I could use the kitchen upstairs, but I’m used to the one downstairs, because I live down there when I took care of Harold’s wife. He’s handicapped.

Jamie (00:23:28):

Right, right. So it seems to me like … And you can just speak to this how you want, but your love for cooking and entertaining and relationships is also somewhat of your ability to give back and be somewhat of a ministry to others. When you talk about your breakfast in the morning and having your words a few minutes ago, eight lonely people that show up whoever wants to every day. And would that be accurate that that’s kind of how you see this? It’s just a way for you to-

Pattie Krengel (00:24:08):

Yeah, I am a deacon in the church, and I get to give communion. I love to give communion to my kids, but then I have to get to church early in order to get the communion cups ready. We were real active in men LICAA.

Jamie (00:24:21):

Yeah, I wanted to talk about that.

Pattie Krengel (00:24:21):

That national tool. That was important to us.

Jamie (00:24:27):

Yeah. Let’s go back to the business and then we’ll jump back to LICAA, which is Land Improvement Contractors of America Association. But so now, you’re in business, you’re busy running through the 70s. I think, Tim, you graduated high school in the mid-80s. Did some college, but I’m sure you were working in the summers and all that, and you kind of come back into the business. And what was that like to introduce your kids and was that just a seamless transition for you guys, or was there any-

Pattie Krengel (00:25:04):

Well, he’d always helped his dad work in a way, but he graduated from Bethany. But then I always cried when he left, and then, he’d come home in the summer and then, I’d cry because he was coming home. I thought, “Oh, no,” but then, I’d cry when he left again. And then, he went to St. Cloud State after that. But he always worked with his dad and they were tight. They made … I think he was driving that backhoe down the road when he … I don’t know how-

Tim Krengel (00:25:36):

Yeah.

Pattie Krengel (00:25:38):

Yeah, he grew up with it. He loved the soil.

Jamie (00:25:43):

Yeah. Yeah, for sure.

Pattie Krengel (00:25:44):

Smells good.

Tim Krengel (00:25:45):

Loved to play in it too.

Jamie (00:25:47):

Well, and you got to have somewhat of a passion for parts of the business in order to keep it going, right?

Tim Krengel (00:25:54):

Absolutely. Yeah. I tell you, anybody that says being … that is a Tyler and doesn’t like it. I can’t believe it. I think everybody that tiles has to love it because it’s not an easy job. We do make it easier with technology, and the older I get, the better I get on a backhoe or something, just so I don’t have to physically do as much. But if you’re a steward of the land, you have to love it and everything about it, every picture on the way up here, I was just thinking, look at that tiling there. This tile, this ground needs some tile. And she go, “Oh, there’s a tiling machine out there.” It’s been in our lives forever. I’m so happy that I learned from what I will most definitely call a pioneer in the best.

(00:26:49):

My dad was very, very adamant about doing things the right way. And even though you bury it, you got to live with that. You’ll drive by that spot, and if that spot is wet, you know you did something wrong, you should have done it right. So that’s what I tell my employees to. And I’ve got a son now, Zach, who’s 30, and he’s been working with me since he’s been about 17 on and off. And now, he’s just got married. And that’s kind of when I took over, when I started having kids, the Tim that would tile, work hard, but not really have an interest in doing the whole thing. Now I’m seeing that coming to his act because he’s married and he’s starting to have children.

(00:27:39):

I got to get myself together here. I got to figure out what I’m going to do in life. Yeah, he’s doing … I’m so, so happy and fortunate to be able to work with him every day.

Jamie (00:27:48):

Yeah, yeah, the responsibility that you see him taking and yeah, it’s got to be fun for you too, to see that.

Pattie Krengel (00:27:54):

Well, of course it is. Yeah. Debbie, his sister, I have to tell this because she came to work for Krengel Brothers too, and she had to lay cement tile, and the men gave her the awfulest jobs. She worked so hard, and she’s quite petite, but she worked for one summer, but Cindy, that’s her younger sister, she’s not going to do that. So she never did that. But she had other plans, but they all knew what the business was.

Jamie (00:28:32):

Well, Tim probably wouldn’t be working in the business either if he had to do concrete pipe all the time.

Pattie Krengel (00:28:36):

Well, listen, I used-

Jamie (00:28:37):

He does hard work.

Tim Krengel (00:28:38):

We used to, when I started it. I remember hooking them and throwing them down or rolling eight inch over, because they threw them off the truck too close to the machine. Rolling that eight inch over when you’re 12 or 11 years old, seems like a big tile. So I was probably younger than that. I remember telling the operator, “Boy, I’m really sweating.” He goes, “That means you’re working hard. That’s good.” So yeah, from the beginning it was learned. You learn, you do your job or go sit in the office somewhere.

Pattie Krengel (00:29:14):

I used to lay tile cement. I’d sit down on the boot and I’d catch that time. We used to lay cement from Kelky.

Jamie (00:29:24):

Yeah.

Pattie Krengel (00:29:24):

Over at New Richland.

Jamie (00:29:25):

Yeah.

Pattie Krengel (00:29:26):

Then, we laid Mason City brick and tile. So I click a few of those in there, worked some just to know that I could do it.

Jamie (00:29:37):

And it’s amazing how back in those days when it was just cement tile and concrete and tile and clay tile, there were contractors that they would do in a week. What now, they do in a week, what they did in a whole year with the plastic. But just because it was that hard of work in moving that stuff. So, it really is remarkable. The biggest contractors back then, their dollar volume today would be very much on the smaller end of … compared to what they do just because of technology changes in plastic and all that. So anyone who knows how hard work that is, really admires the people that have done it. So really admire you for that, Pattie.

Pattie Krengel (00:30:31):

Thanks.

Jamie (00:30:31):

So I personally, unfortunately, didn’t get to know Harold very well, but tell me, Tim, a little bit about your dad and what maybe some of your fond memories or what you learned from him and-

Tim Krengel (00:30:49):

Dad, I remember him as being very quiet, very patient. Very observant, and kind of like a fox. He didn’t always act like he knew it all. Didn’t brag or whatever you want to say. But he knew a lot more than what he let out. He was a brilliant man. And if I was half the man he was … I’d tell you, I loved my dad so much and it was very hard to see him go. I think that was one of the only times, and I’ve been so fortunate to have you guys take me up to Canada, I think 24 years I’ve been up there with Kent and yourself. And the one year that I didn’t was the year that dad looked like he might pass. I’ve learned a lot from Jamie. I don’t even know where to start. I learned who I am as a person.

(00:31:55):

I wish I could have learned more because when I was younger, I thought I knew everything. Like a lot of kids do. I didn’t think I had to have to ask dad until those mistakes came, until he got sick and he couldn’t really respond to me. And then, I wished I would’ve asked him more because after that 16 probably, well 20, 25 years ago, I just said, I got to learn how to do this. I got to learn how to bid. I got to learn all the office work, and I got to learn how to … everything over. And I realized how important he was before.

Jamie (00:32:40):

When did he get sick? What year would’ve that have been?

Pattie Krengel (00:32:43):

It was right after our 40th wedding anniversary. So I took care of him for 14 years, and he died in 2012.

Jamie (00:32:51):

So about when you kind of started really in ’98 or when you retired too from … you never retired, but when you …

Pattie Krengel (00:33:00):

We had everything made handicapped so I could take care of him at home and it worked out okay. That was good days and bad days.

Tim Krengel (00:33:10):

He had Lewy Body Syndrome and Parkinson’s he was probably 59 years old when he first started it, maybe.

Pattie Krengel (00:33:17):

Yeah.

Tim Krengel (00:33:20):

But he has four other brothers and three of the four have the same Parkinson’s in Lewy Body. So it’s a tough disease. And I’ve learned from dad that you live every minute because you don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m so fortunate that I have a strong faith in the Lord that he’s going to take me in the right direction. And it’s getting easier and easier for me because in my heart, in my faith, I know he’s going to take me to where I need to be. It makes my confidence so much higher, because if I second guess, he doesn’t want me to worry. And that’s the thing Dad taught me too. Don’t worry. The Lord says, “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of you.” Things like that, Jamie.

(00:34:14):

My faith, just how I am as a person, knowledge about whatever I have, I’ll share with anyone, whether it’d be right or wrong, most people will say, yeah, that’s good advice. I think so anyway.

Jamie (00:34:32):

Well, and that’s really why we’re here today for the rest of us to get some good advice from two wise people.

Pattie Krengel (00:34:39):

I’m not getting it too much for me. I’m very good influence maybe.

Jamie (00:34:43):

Tim, where did … As you talk about your dad and those kind of things, where’d you get your love for the outdoors? I know you like to fish and you’re an avid and really good mushroom hunter.

Tim Krengel (00:34:54):

Yeah. Well, mom and dad purchased a farm that had 40 acres of woods on it, and dad started clearing it. I was pretty young, right? Eight, nine.

Pattie Krengel (00:35:07):

We planted those walnut trees down there.

Tim Krengel (00:35:09):

Yep. Cleared it out first. All winter long they’d be cutting the trees down. And I was out in the woods all winter long, splitting wood. They’d bring the wood to me, cut, and then I’d throw it in the wood splitter and start splitting, stack it up, and then they’d get it with the machines. Just being outside, having the … I get home from school and play in the snow drift. I didn’t want to be inside. Warm clothes, I’m fine. You had to pull me in at night probably. I remember putting water in culverts in the driveway and putting a dam there and blocking it off and forgot one time and it flooded the garden. Yeah, I still to this day, can’t really be inside it. I love the fresh air. I love the seasons, especially in Minnesota. So I guess since I was probably born, I’ve loved to be outside.

Jamie (00:36:06):

Why do you think you love the seasons? That’s a loaded question. I was literally thinking about this on my way, drive over here today.

Tim Krengel (00:36:14):

Well, as I get older and in the business that I am in, I love to see the tile lines starting to form when the frost comes out of the ground. So you can quick, put a flag there so you save time locating. I love the harvest. I know it’s close to the big season of ours, to get out and get the machines rolling again out in the field. Summers, of course, we don’t have as much work now in the summers. And that’s by my choice. Money is nice to have, but your life and your grandkids and your kids are more important than anything to me. So the summers I get to spend a lot of time with my kids and grandkids. And then, the falls and then the winters. It’s time to hibernate for a little bit and maybe do a vacation.

(00:37:08):

That’s what I like about that. I always look forward to the next season, unless we have a big list to finish up, then I don’t look forward to Christmas or I mean the winter season.

Jamie (00:37:22):

Yeah. Yeah, and I think that … I asked that as I was driving over to the studio here just an hour ago, and they were listening to the radio, and the question was, what brings you hope? And it just because of it’s a beautiful spring day and it was sunny, and it just kind of struck me, because that’s not something I would normally say. But the changing of seasons is something that I think those of us, especially that exactly what you said, of all those things that have experienced the north country. It doesn’t have to be Minnesota, but the north country in the different seasons, it’s always exciting to get that first snowfall and to see the hope in that. But then it’s exciting to see a nice sunny day that’s 60 degrees in the spring and the long summer days in the summer.

(00:38:16):

And then, my favorite is the fall for a number of reasons. But seeing all that come together in the fall and the harvest and the hustle and bustle. And then, I like the outdoors and hunting too. So it’s interesting, but I think that if you’re from the upper Midwest, there has to be some of the love of the seasons or you don’t like it.

Tim Krengel (00:38:38):

Jamie, speaking of that, we’ve got about a month to go here until our mushrooms are going to be there. The ground temp needs to come up.

Jamie (00:38:47):

Biggest mistake I made in this deal, Pattie is I should have waited to six weeks. So he’d bring me a big basket of mushrooms.

Pattie Krengel (00:38:53):

Or else.

Jamie (00:38:56):

Yeah, he’s good at that, isn’t he? What do you do with them? Does he bring you a bunch or do you care for them or not?

Pattie Krengel (00:39:01):

I love them. Yeah.

Jamie (00:39:02):

Yeah, me too.

Pattie Krengel (00:39:03):

Fry them in butter.

Jamie (00:39:03):

Yeah, eat them straight, right?

Pattie Krengel (00:39:04):

Eat them straight or make a-

Jamie (00:39:07):

A steak would be good.

Pattie Krengel (00:39:08):

Steak or soup?

Jamie (00:39:10):

Soup?

Pattie Krengel (00:39:10):

Or pie.

Jamie (00:39:12):

Pie.

Pattie Krengel (00:39:12):

Got a great morale of pie.

Jamie (00:39:14):

Really?

Tim Krengel (00:39:16):

We put them in good use.

Jamie (00:39:17):

I got to get my calendar out and come that way in May for some egg coffee and morale pie.

Pattie Krengel (00:39:24):

That would be wonderful. I would love that. Yes.

Tim Krengel (00:39:25):

Yep. You’d have to get out in the woods though with me. I would save an area, if I knew you were coming down. I always tell that to Kent too, but I had him down once, but we were somehow on the wrong property and the person asked, “Well, who are you?” And I said, Kent Rodellius, and they were going to turn us in, but we got out of there in time. Kent never came back after that.

Jamie (00:39:56):

So on an average year, you do a lot of that.

Tim Krengel (00:40:00):

Yeah.

Jamie (00:40:02):

How many mushrooms do you find, pounds or I don’t know how you measure that, but-

Tim Krengel (00:40:06):

I’ve got calendars of the last 25 years of what I found, how many pounds I found. I used to start with each one, count everyone up. But I said that’s too much. So I just jump on the scale. Last couple of years weren’t that bad, but last year we maybe got 75 pounds. The year before that, maybe 25 a year before that. We’re talking big numbers over 100 pounds.

Jamie (00:40:32):

And there’s 50 dried mushrooms in a pound, right? At least probably?

Tim Krengel (00:40:37):

Yeah.

Jamie (00:40:38):

Yeah. So that’s a lot.

Tim Krengel (00:40:39):

Yeah. Quite a bit.

Jamie (00:40:40):

Quite a bit. That’s pretty … It’s a fun, fun hobby, right?

Pattie Krengel (00:40:44):

I’ve never been invited to go. I don’t think I’d make it. They come back with scratches and wounds and cuts and-

Jamie (00:40:52):

The one thing I wouldn’t like is the wood ticks.

Tim Krengel (00:40:55):

Yeah.

Pattie Krengel (00:40:56):

I suppose I get them too.

Tim Krengel (00:40:59):

Well, I can find them easy enough now. I just got a haircut and I don’t have much left. So if I have wood ticks, I’m good.

Jamie (00:41:06):

So your business years, what would you say, Pattie … And this doesn’t have to be about your business, it really can be about your life, but what are you most proud of?

Pattie Krengel (00:41:19):

Actually, I’m proud of my kids, of course, but I was proud of being the first woman to do quite a few things in the state of Minnesota. And one of them was, I was the first woman president of the Minnesota Land Improvement Contractors, and I was the first woman to be a WBE in the state of Minnesota

Jamie (00:41:54):

Women-owned business.

Pattie Krengel (00:41:55):

A disadvantaged women enterprise. Had my own business. My real name is Mary Lee. So I had my own business called Mary Lee Drainage. And I got a lot of work because I was disadvantaged. I was a woman and I was the national secretary-

Jamie (00:42:16):

For LICAA?

Pattie Krengel (00:42:20):

For the National Women. And I was the one not … I mean, I don’t like to brag, but the women never had a lot to say. At my time when we were at the national convention. We couldn’t be on the board. We couldn’t vote. And so here I was, the president of the women’s. So I would go to every one of those men’s meetings, and when I got on the agenda, then the president would say, “Pattie Krengel, are you here again? What do you want this time?” Well, we finally got to be on the board and we finally got to vote. And that was a big accomplishment.

Jamie (00:43:05):

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.

Pattie Krengel (00:43:06):

So yeah, I was proud of those things.

Jamie (00:43:08):

Yeah. You should be.

Pattie Krengel (00:43:09):

And I enjoyed being president. Harold was not well at that time, but I was asked to run for the national president, but I couldn’t because of his health. But my sister and her husband, they helped me a lot with Harold. She’s passed now, but he’s still alive and he still helps in my yard and helps me some. He’s 93. So my sister passed away last year, but I’m still a member of LICAA. Don’t attend as much as I’d like to. It’s kind of hard to go alone. Got to get my kids more involved there. But yeah, I enjoyed doing everything I did, being on the board and loved it.

Jamie (00:44:02):

The land improvement contractor’s time of your life, was that, would you say maybe 20 years that you were really active or …

Pattie Krengel (00:44:10):

Yeah, it was … Let’s see, I think it was in ’85 when I was the … No wait, when was it, ’95, whatever, that I was the president. And those are our active years. We went on a lot of trips with LICAA. That’s when you could take trips. We went to Venezuela and all over. Now, they don’t do that, but it would be nice if they would. I’d be more active probably.

Jamie (00:44:47):

And did you feel like you had a lot … You garnered a lot of friendships and relationships through that. Yeah.

Pattie Krengel (00:44:54):

Yeah. Still really, one of my good friends is Roger Elingston. He’s a good friend of mine, and there were many of them. Some of them have passed. Don Loken is here. He’s a good friend. So yeah, I’ve kept in touch with him.

Jamie (00:45:11):

Yeah, for sure.

Pattie Krengel (00:45:13):

Now, I think I’m about due to have lunch with Roger. I told Dick I got to call Roger and go have lunch together.

Jamie (00:45:20):

Yeah, he should.

Pattie Krengel (00:45:21):

Yeah, he’s a great guy.

Jamie (00:45:24):

Just made me think of when you said trips. What’s your favorite place? You’ve been in the world? Been a lot of places.

Pattie Krengel (00:45:33):

Well, yeah, we’ve been to a lot. I mean, I think I liked … I don’t think Tim got to go on that one, but we went to Venezuela. That’s when these guys were walking around with guns, but that was through LICAAA and that was a wonderful trip. Some of them got sick. They went up into the mountains and went into these shacks and they had some of their homemade brew and they got sick. But that wasn’t good. No, that was a nice trip. And we went to Hawaii. That was wonderful.

Tim Krengel (00:46:12):

Didn’t your dad say if you had a son that you could take a trip to Hawaii?

Pattie Krengel (00:46:18):

That’s when you were born?

Tim Krengel (00:46:19):

Yeah.

Pattie Krengel (00:46:20):

Yeah. Well, we waited 10 years for him, and we said to Jesus, we said, “Lord, if you would give us a son, we will do our best to give him back to you and train him up in the way that a child is supposed to be brought up.”

Jamie (00:46:36):

And we’ll go to Hawaii.

Pattie Krengel (00:46:38):

And then, I would like to go to Hawaii. So when I came out of the maternity ward, I had that boy and I said, we’re going to Hawaii, so we did. We went to Hawaii, and he’s trained up in the way of the Lord. So that turned out well for us.

Jamie (00:46:57):

Yeah, it all worked.

Pattie Krengel (00:47:00):

It all worked out.

Jamie (00:47:00):

100% of it. Yeah.

Pattie Krengel (00:47:00):

100%.

Jamie (00:47:00):

Yeah.

Pattie Krengel (00:47:03):

So, yeah, life is good. And I think the big thing is you have to keep active. I’ve had a couple friends since Harold passed away. One was a great dancer and then, he passed away. I don’t have very good luck with men, but I got to tell you about my mother. She was married four times. My mother was married four times. She was a very good-looking woman and a great dancer. And they never divorced, but she loved every one of them to death. They all died. Four husbands. I couldn’t imagine that.

Jamie (00:47:43):

Yeah. Yeah.

Pattie Krengel (00:47:44):

So she’s in heaven now, of course. Yeah.

Tim Krengel (00:47:52):

It’s a good image.

Pattie Krengel (00:47:54):

Well, not really. My grandma lived to be 103, so we’ll see, but mom-

Jamie (00:47:58):

How about your mom?

Pattie Krengel (00:47:58):

She was only 85. Yeah, she had breast cancer. I took care of her for three years. She’s lived with us.

Jamie (00:48:04):

85 is a good life though.

Pattie Krengel (00:48:07):

Well, 85, 87 isn’t looking too bad.

Jamie (00:48:11):

No, no, absolutely. Absolutely. Tim, tell me about … I’d heard a story, I don’t know much about it, but your dad really wanted to quit chewing tobacco, or maybe you want to tell the story. I don’t know, but-

Tim Krengel (00:48:30):

Yeah. He used to chew three cans of Copenhagen a day. And now, correct me if I’m wrong, these are the stories that they’ve told me, he wanted to quit so bad, he had a hole wore through his lip. He put a picture of Jesus on there, and before, he would tap that can and then take a snooze, he couldn’t ever tap that. So he quit gold Turkey back in the-

Pattie Krengel (00:48:55):

That was the truth. He just … and I could not hit Jesus.

Jamie (00:48:55):

Couldn’t hit him.

Pattie Krengel (00:48:55):

No, Couldn’t hit him.

Tim Krengel (00:49:01):

Couldn’t hit him. So it went from three cans a day to nothing. That’s pretty good.

Pattie Krengel (00:49:04):

Cold Turkey. It was too. Yeah.

Tim Krengel (00:49:06):

Yeah. He had the strongest faith, I think of any person I know. He had every Bible that he had, and we still have him outlined. I don’t know how many times Dad read the Bible.

Pattie Krengel (00:49:17):

A lot. He’d get up in the night when he was thinking about work, I suppose. And then, he’d read the Bible, but he was a Sunday school superintendent and a Sunday school teacher. And he was also an epileptic, which we lived with forever, because he fell out of the hay barn and all the brain cells back here were damaged and it caused him to have epilepsy. So we lived with that, for years. And he took medicine for it, but it was under control.

Jamie (00:50:01):

What do you think Pattie gives you your zest for life? I mean, it’s pretty obvious to all those that meet you, but why is it … just who you are or is there-

Pattie Krengel (00:50:12):

I think it’s just who I am. I mean, I’ve always been active, right through high school, cheerleader, jazz band, singer. Sang for many funerals and weddings. Still sing in the choir. So I don’t know, I enjoy life, I like to cook, but I like to go out once in a while, love to dance.

Tim Krengel (00:50:41):

Yeah, I’d tell you. Watching her gives me the inspiration to wake up in the morning. I mean, I look at all the energy that she has. People ask, how do you have so much energy? And it’s just because it’s in my blood. She’ll get up and she’ll do … I’ll call her “Mom, what are you doing today?” Well, just outside working. I’ll call you back when I’m done. I mean, he is 86 years old and still taking care of … just not giving up and always positive about things. I’m very proud of my mom, and I think I get a big part of my energy and my ethics from you too. I know, I do.

Pattie Krengel (00:51:33):

Thank you.

Jamie (00:51:34):

Well, we talk often. I like to say, because I truly … I say this because I truly believe it, but on the water table, we talk about what we do, what you guys have done as contractors and managing water on the farm. The trickle down of that, when you manage water on the farm, the farmer gets more yield. When he gets more yield, he makes more money. When he makes more money, he pays more tax. When he pays more tax, we build communities like Mapleton, Minnesota, and we have a tax base for new schools, and they give to their church project when they’re wanting to expand. And new healthcare systems and hospitals are built in these small towns. And I’ve said that if we’ve done 125 podcasts, I probably said that on 25 of them, because I love that picture of how important it is, what we do on the farm, as a farmer, but also helping the farmers manage a risk by water management.

(00:52:42):

But I think the Krengel family is just the essence of that in a real … when you just drill down into Mapleton, Minnesota and your commitment to your business, but your commitment to your community too. And talk a little bit about that Pattie, around … I think it’s just been second nature to you to be involved in church and the community, and with your own business now and having a catering business, but what do you think about the future and what’s your hope for rural America, rural towns, because it feels like what you do is you’re kind of a dying breed. People aren’t willing to give back the way that you have in your life. And when you were young, everybody did that, right?

Pattie Krengel (00:53:34):

Yeah, we did. Yeah. We didn’t think anything of it. Well, I don’t know. I don’t belong to a lot of clubs per se. I don’t play bridge and I don’t gamble or anything like that, but I love my community. We built a new school, which … let’s see, we’re not going to get into politics, are we?

Jamie (00:53:59):

We can, but-

Pattie Krengel (00:54:01):

No, not today.

Jamie (00:54:04):

Okay. We’ve just built a new school. And of course we have some farms and we pay a lot of taxes. And we’re happy that we have a school, I guess. Yes, we are a small town. And actually, our town is shrinking. We only have one restaurant. We need more, and we need more businesses in Mapleton because we’re close to Mankato. There’s such possibilities there for growth, for building homes-

Tim Krengel (00:54:46):

A lot of homes being built, but the infrastructure of this businesses, there’s nothing-

Pattie Krengel (00:54:53):

There’s nothing there.

Tim Krengel (00:54:55):

We just lost our hardware store.

Pattie Krengel (00:54:58):

No butcher shop, I think is going to go up there, but we need things. And now, we were going to get a dollar store. And now, they’re having problems. You probably saw that on the news last night. They filed bankruptcy.

Jamie (00:55:11):

No, I didn’t. I didn’t know that.

Pattie Krengel (00:55:13):

Yeah, they were going to build on our old … on the lot down there. But yeah, I’ve never run for mayor or anything like that. I am more involved in the church. And actually, our kids had a garden built right north of the church and dedicated to Harold and I, last year. Was it last year? Yeah. It’s a beautiful prayer garden. And people come there and sit, and then, we’ve had services out there.

Jamie (00:55:49):

Sure.

Pattie Krengel (00:55:49):

So my kids did that, and I thought that was wonderful.

Jamie (00:55:55):

At the height would you say of … In Mapleton, how many restaurants were there in town?

Pattie Krengel (00:56:03):

We used to have a spot cafe, Mayme’s. We probably had four, five or six restaurants. Three, four, five bars and a liquor store. One bank. But it was a nice, prosperous-

Jamie (00:56:22):

Yeah. Yeah. Grocery store. I’m sure maybe you don’t have that.

Pattie Krengel (00:56:26):

Three grocery stores.

Tim Krengel (00:56:27):

Two or three, there were.

Pattie Krengel (00:56:28):

Yeah, dry cleaners, we had a lot of stuff, but Mankato grew and I suppose a lot of these people passed on and they took the railroad out, and then, we don’t have as much anymore.

Jamie (00:56:44):

Yeah.

Pattie Krengel (00:56:45):

We have a good mayor now. He’s a good friend of mine, and he’s young and aggressive, and he’s working on stuff. And then, he comes down. He came down yesterday and talked to me. Well, Pattie, what do you think about these flowers? What do you think we should do? And I said, “Well, I can get him for you reasonable or wholesale and whatever.” Anyway, we discussed that, but he’s a good friend and he’s working on getting stuff done.

Jamie (00:57:13):

Yeah.

Pattie Krengel (00:57:13):

And I like it that he comes and talks to me about it.

Jamie (00:57:16):

Yeah. Well.

Pattie Krengel (00:57:17):

Comes for coffee-

Jamie (00:57:18):

He’s not only a young guy. He is a smart guy. If he’s coming talking to you.

Pattie Krengel (00:57:23):

He’s a good kid.

Jamie (00:57:25):

And that’s what we need, is we need the young people to carry on the traditions that have been built so strongly by your generation.

Pattie Krengel (00:57:36):

Actually, one thing I didn’t tell you about that Mapleton has a curling club, and if you watched the Olympics, my neighbor, Mr. Landsteiner was on the winning curling team.

Jamie (00:57:55):

I did, but I wouldn’t have remembered that name.

Pattie Krengel (00:57:56):

Yeah. He was from Mapleton.

Jamie (00:57:56):

Really?

Pattie Krengel (00:57:58):

Just down the road from me. And the Curling Club is just across the street from me.

Jamie (00:58:03):

That’s something to be proud of.

Pattie Krengel (00:58:05):

We’re one of the oldest curling club … We are the oldest curling club in Minnesota.

Jamie (00:58:10):

Really?

Pattie Krengel (00:58:11):

And it’s active, yet? It’s active. I used to curl.

Jamie (00:58:14):

Okay.

Pattie Krengel (00:58:14):

I was a good curler. Had a team. We won the Nationals in Portage, Wisconsin.

Jamie (00:58:21):

Really?

Pattie Krengel (00:58:22):

Yeah. I was a skip. Have you ever curled?

Jamie (00:58:25):

No. I mean, I’ve-

Pattie Krengel (00:58:25):

We got to get you down there.

Jamie (00:58:26):

Yeah, I’ll come down.

Pattie Krengel (00:58:28):

Would you?

Jamie (00:58:28):

I’ve done it one time, but I wouldn’t even know what the rules are or anything, but you invite me and I’ll come down.

Pattie Krengel (00:58:36):

You would love it.

Jamie (00:58:37):

I know I would.

Pattie Krengel (00:58:38):

Yeah, I’m going to do it.

Jamie (00:58:39):

Okay.

Tim Krengel (00:58:40):

You’d have to learn how the back room works.

Jamie (00:58:48):

Okay.

Pattie Krengel (00:58:48):

Where’s the back room there?

Tim Krengel (00:58:48):

Yep. After … Then the spieling starts.

Jamie (00:58:49):

Yeah.

Tim Krengel (00:58:49):

Right in the back room.

Jamie (00:58:50):

Yeah.

Pattie Krengel (00:58:51):

We’re a Scottish town?

Jamie (00:58:52):

Okay, tell me about that. That’s pretty rare, isn’t it, in Minnesota, Scottish?

Pattie Krengel (00:58:59):

Well, we have Burns Club Night once a year in January, and that’s a big deal. Bobby Burns. They wear the kilts and all that stuff.

Jamie (00:59:10):

Because when you think about it, you get through a lot of Minnesota, it’s Scandinavian, Swedish and Norwegian. And then, there’s the Pockets, and you’re pretty close to the pocket of very strong German. And there is north of here in Stearns County too, but I was not aware of that. And that’s interesting.

Pattie Krengel (00:59:32):

It’s a big deal. The Burns Club night and the curling is very big deal in Mapleton.

Jamie (00:59:39):

What’s your nationalities?

Pattie Krengel (00:59:41):

I’m Scotch and English.

Jamie (00:59:42):

You’re Scotch, and what’s the Krengels?

Tim Krengel (00:59:44):

German.

Jamie (00:59:45):

German. And now here … Yeah.

Pattie Krengel (00:59:47):

Scotch and English.

Tim Krengel (00:59:47):

German.

Jamie (00:59:47):

Yeah.

Tim Krengel (00:59:49):

Yeah, German, Scotch, English.

Jamie (00:59:51):

Yeah. Okay.

Tim Krengel (00:59:51):

Got a handful.

Pattie Krengel (00:59:53):

Yeah. Harold was 100% German. All German. But my grandpa was the state representative and my aunt, his daughter, was the first woman page in the state of Minnesota. There was a write-up on that in the paper this week.

Jamie (01:00:13):

Interesting. When would’ve that been?

Pattie Krengel (01:00:15):

1925.

Jamie (01:00:15):

Wow.

Pattie Krengel (01:00:18):

So I wasn’t born yet.

Jamie (01:00:20):

Yeah.

Pattie Krengel (01:00:21):

I waited for a few years, 13, I guess.

Jamie (01:00:24):

Well, you can see where some of that lineage comes from of you having a desire to be a leader.

Pattie Krengel (01:00:30):

Yeah. He was a leader.

Jamie (01:00:32):

And you too, wanting to-

Pattie Krengel (01:00:34):

And my aunt was very active. She was very political, very smart. And they were all gifted musicians. Most of them. Yeah. All of them were.

Jamie (01:00:47):

Interesting.

Pattie Krengel (01:00:49):

So I think that’s where my singing came from.

Jamie (01:00:52):

So what would you … As you think about your life, and it’s been fun to just reminisce and visit for me anyway, I hope you enjoyed this, but-

Pattie Krengel (01:01:00):

I loved it.

Jamie (01:01:03):

If you could tell your younger self something, what would you tell your younger self?

Pattie Krengel (01:01:10):

Well, I don’t know. I don’t think I’d have changed a whole lot because I just want my kids to remember me as being a good mother, and I love my grandkids and just be … Put God first, right?

Jamie (01:01:35):

Yeah, absolutely.

Pattie Krengel (01:01:36):

Yeah.

Jamie (01:01:37):

I didn’t have any idea what you were going to say, but I think it’s pretty neat that you said I wouldn’t change much because I think you are a unique person and you’re very comfortable with who you are. And so that was … When you said it was kind of just obvious that, that’s what you should say.

Tim Krengel (01:01:56):

Yeah, good point. We talked about that on the way up here, and we both said I wouldn’t change a darn thing. I can’t think of anything I’d change.

Pattie Krengel (01:02:06):

No.

Tim Krengel (01:02:07):

We’re pretty happy in the shoes that we wear.

Pattie Krengel (01:02:11):

We used to walk to school every day to a mile. I went to country school, walked a mile every day to school and back home, in the winter time. We hooked up the toboggan behind the horse’s tail and rode to school on Ginger, the horse. And then we’d ski behind the horse with a rope tied on it and ski.

Jamie (01:02:33):

On the way home.

Pattie Krengel (01:02:35):

Whatever. Yeah.

Jamie (01:02:39):

Would that be your dad taking you or would you leave the horse in that-

Pattie Krengel (01:02:42):

No, we rode the horses and then we left them at the neighbor’s in his barn, right? By the school.

Tim Krengel (01:02:47):

That school was a mile away.

Pattie Krengel (01:02:49):

A mile. Just exactly a mile. We walked every day. I had have near killed one of my friends.

Jamie (01:02:59):

Tell me that story.

Pattie Krengel (01:03:01):

Well, we always … The neighbors lived right across the road from us, and they were … We kids, we’re all the same age. We played together and we got in a snowball fight on the way home. And that one snowball, I had a little ice in it, and he got a concussion, and I felt terrible about it, but that’s just the way it was. We played hard in those days.

Tim Krengel (01:03:22):

Still good friends, right up to-

Pattie Krengel (01:03:24):

Yeah, we graduated together.

Tim Krengel (01:03:25):

Yeah.

Pattie Krengel (01:03:26):

Never dated though.

Jamie (01:03:31):

He probably wanted to, until you hit him with the snowball-

Pattie Krengel (01:03:33):

No, I don’t think he did. Probably. We’re just really good friends.

Jamie (01:03:39):

Yeah. Yeah.

Pattie Krengel (01:03:39):

And he comes to my house a couple of times a year. I have him over.

Jamie (01:03:43):

He’s still in the area.

Pattie Krengel (01:03:46):

Yeah, he is actually. You would like him. He’s very-

Tim Krengel (01:03:53):

Political.

Pattie Krengel (01:03:53):

Political or he’s intelligent, smart.

Jamie (01:03:58):

Yeah. Yeah.

Tim Krengel (01:03:58):

So his son and grandson hire us to do work. I used to work with David too, and David will come out into the field every now and then, and he’ll have to tell me that story. Your mother almost killed me. Every time that he comes out, he has to talk about that.

Pattie Krengel (01:04:17):

Well, we were the tough Whitney kids. Barefoot and dirty feet and all that. And they were cleaner than we were. Not that we were dirty, but we were just rough. We rode our horses.

Jamie (01:04:30):

So when you went to … you mentioned you went to, what was the Minnesota Business-

Pattie Krengel (01:04:39):

Minnesota School of Business. Minneapolis.

Jamie (01:04:42):

That was in Minneapolis. So was that right when you graduated high school or-

Pattie Krengel (01:04:45):

Yeah. Well, right away.

Jamie (01:04:47):

So what was that like? What was the change for you like?

Pattie Krengel (01:04:49):

Well, that was different living there. I lived in the dormitory and then, I worked part-time going to college too, but I liked college.

Jamie (01:04:58):

You were already dating Harold then?

Pattie Krengel (01:05:01):

I was in love with him. That’s why Daddy sent me off to college.

Jamie (01:05:03):

Okay.

Pattie Krengel (01:05:07):

And Harold graduated from the University of Minnesota Ag School. So he, was-

Jamie (01:05:13):

Was he similar in age to you?

Pattie Krengel (01:05:15):

No, he was four … Mother said he was too old for me. He was four years older than I was. He wasn’t too old for me. I couldn’t help, but I fell in love with him the first time I saw him in 1953, and that’s when we met. We married in ’57. So yeah, we had a good life.

Jamie (01:05:37):

Yeah.

Pattie Krengel (01:05:37):

Not always easy.

Jamie (01:05:39):

Nope. And that’s what made it good, right?

Pattie Krengel (01:05:41):

Nobody said it was going to be easy.

Jamie (01:05:43):

No one said it was going to be easy, and if it was easy, you can’t appreciate the life you had as much as if you had some challenges along the way.

Pattie Krengel (01:05:53):

Absolutely. Yeah.

Jamie (01:05:56):

So I really appreciate you guys taking the time to spend with me here for an hour on the Water Table Podcast, and just what have I missed? What do you want to leave us with?

Tim Krengel (01:06:11):

I want to tell you something. How impressed I am with your company and how many people I’ve met through you guys that I still hold very dearly. One of the people, of course, Kent, when my dad passed away, Kent would call me all the time. And he still does, but he knew for some reason, when times … when my heart wasn’t really feeling well, I would get a call from Kent. We became such good friends and your drivers … the people we get to pipe from yourself, have been nothing but wonderful for my company. I trust your product for one thing, but the people, it is amazing. And that helps me not to worry about putting stuff in the ground. That’s not going to work. I’m not saying any other … yours is the best though.

(01:07:06):

But I just want to say that, that the relationships through fishing, I’ve met a lot of contractors. It’s been quite a pleasure to work with you guys, and I appreciate you, even asking Mom and I. We’re not the biggest … Tyler’s biggest contractors, but you still treat us as we are, and that’s a very big appreciation of ours. So thank you.

Jamie (01:07:32):

Yeah, I appreciate it. It’s very kind of you to say that. I hope that we can do more of this on the podcast with other contractors. I don’t know everyone’s story. I know your story because I know Tim and because Kent has told me a lot, but I just want to say that on here right now, that if there’s people listening and they want to tell their story, give us a call and let’s do it, because I think it’s really a great way for you guys to … even things that you talked about today, you probably knew them all, Tim, but as we get older, we don’t remember everything either.

Pattie Krengel (01:08:07):

So I remember when Kent, first time Kent came too. Yeah,

Jamie (01:08:13):

Tell me that. Because that would’ve probably been about ’84.

Pattie Krengel (01:08:18):

He was so green. I had him figured out right away. I was really the one that did all the purchasing for Krengel Brothers, and they had to come to me first because our offices in our home and the men were in the field, so they had to come to me, and I think I was tough, but he talked me into some tile and that’s how we got started with Prinsco. And we never quit after that. And he would always come to see me, when he came. He got a cup of coffee or whatever, and then we were on conventions when Kitty and the girls came. They were just wonderful friends.

Jamie (01:09:08):

Yeah, yeah,

Pattie Krengel (01:09:10):

Yeah. I have a special soft spot for Kent. He is a great guy.

Jamie (01:09:15):

Yeah, you should. He taught me a lot. He was a mentor to me. And I don’t know if you know that story, Pattie, about … You’ll remember part of this I bet, of how Kent and I got, I mean, obviously, I came to work at Prinsco probably, I’m close within a year, 13, 14 years after Kent started. He’s older than me and I’m this young guy that he wouldn’t have had to be kind to me, but he was, and he taught me a lot. But then about a year into that, so he was already good to me. But about a year into that, Kent tore the muscle from his knee off to … and he had to wear a brace on that leg from his groin all the way to his ankle. Couldn’t move that leg for, I don’t know, maybe eight weeks.

(01:10:07):

Well, my job as a young guy became, to drive Kent around, and that’s probably when I met you. And so I would’ve been 98.

Tim Krengel (01:10:16):

98.

Jamie (01:10:17):

Yeah, and that’s probably when I met you in ’98, ’99 and there. I don’t remember which year that was. I started in ’97, so it was soon after that. And I just learned so much during … At the time I thought, okay, well they’re asking me to do this. This is what I’ll do, and no, I didn’t have any problem with it. But looking back, just the conversations that happened about life and about business and about parenting and about his kids were in the throes of teenage years and junior high years at the time. So I was just listening and learning, not knowing how much I was going to learn. So it was really a neat experience for me.

Pattie Krengel (01:11:01):

Nice to go around with it.

Jamie (01:11:02):

Yeah. Yeah. To be able to do that.

Tim Krengel (01:11:04):

How old are you, Jamie?

Jamie (01:11:05):

I’m 53.

Tim Krengel (01:11:07):

Okay, because I remember first meeting you too, Kent called. I was in the office and he said, I’m bringing my boss over. And then you came in the door and I said, where’s your boss, because you look so much younger.

Jamie (01:11:21):

Well, and I was.

Tim Krengel (01:11:22):

Yeah, you were young. So then I figured out-

Jamie (01:11:24):

I’d finally grown into the looks.

Tim Krengel (01:11:26):

Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, that was ’98.

Jamie (01:11:31):

That’d have been, yeah … It could have been ’97, but I think when I was spending more time with Kent, it would’ve been ’98, ’99.

Pattie Krengel (01:11:38):

That’s when I was president of LICAA, right?

Jamie (01:11:42):

Yeah.

Pattie Krengel (01:11:42):

How about you? Is your mom and dad still here?

Jamie (01:11:45):

Yeah. Yeah. And my father is ’86. Same as you.

Pattie Krengel (01:11:50):

He’s my age.

Jamie (01:11:51):

Yeah. He’ll be 87 in June. And my mother’s a few years younger, so not much. She’s 80 … I’m saying this on air now, actually, 83, I think.

Pattie Krengel (01:12:03):

Okay. Is your dad involved in the business some?

Jamie (01:12:07):

He still is interested. He isn’t as active as he was, but yeah, he still ask questions often and is still very active like you.

Pattie Krengel (01:12:19):

I’d like to meet them sometime.

Jamie (01:12:20):

Yeah, absolutely.

Pattie Krengel (01:12:22):

Well, bring them on down.

Jamie (01:12:22):

We’ll come down and have some coffee and some mushrooms-

Pattie Krengel (01:12:28):

Boy, that would be nice, wouldn’t it?

Jamie (01:12:30):

When Tim was talking a little bit ago and said some really kind words about Prinsco, it’s just … When you have conversations like this or when you know people, it’s so evident to me why the relationship between the two companies have been good. And it’s just a shared value system, is how it is. Prinsco’s values are stated values that I hope all of our employees know, and I think most of them do. Our integrity, hard work, relationships, and humility. And when I look at Krengel family, all those things are very important to you guys. And they started with you and Harold. You guys are the ones who really instilled those values, not only in your children, but in your company.

(01:13:20):

So well done, and that’s why we can have fun, smiling and reminiscing about the past together because we have shared values that we’re going to carry into the future together.

Pattie Krengel (01:13:35):

Good.

Tim Krengel (01:13:36):

Makes sense.

Pattie Krengel (01:13:37):

Well done. Good and faithful servant.

Jamie (01:13:40):

Well, thank you. Thanks for joining me today on the Water Table.

Pattie Krengel (01:13:44):

Thank you for having us.

Tim Krengel (01:13:45):

Thanks for having us. It was real fun.

Pattie Krengel (01:13:45):

Yep.

Podcast Episode 126

From the Ground Up: A Legacy of Breaking Barriers & Land Stewardship

Episode 126 | 75 min

With Guests:

Listen Now

Guest Bios

Pattie Krengel

Tim Krengel

Transcript

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Podcast Episode 126

From the Ground Up: A Legacy of Breaking Barriers & Land Stewardship

Episode 126 | 75 min

With Guests:

Listen Now

Also Available On

Guest Bios

Pattie Krengel

Tim Krengel

Transcript

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