Lady mechanic wanted to impress her husband
MATTAWA – Cherie Kielian wanted to make an impression on her mechanic husband. So she showed up his shop and went to work.
Today Cherie is a full-fledged partner and mechanic in ACL 4X4 & Auto Performance, which is located near the Port of Mattawa. She and her husband work at their shop or at a site of the customer's choosing.
“We go wherever the work is,” Al said.
Al and Cherie met in 1978, when Cherie was just 18. She was a city girl from Seattle working at the Outpost in Schawana. Her parents had a home on the river. Al, 27, was already a long-time mechanic.
“Dad homesteaded on the Royal Slope in 1956,” he said. “The family came out (from Nebraska) in 1957. I started working on things on the farm when I was just a kid.”
The Kielian family lived on the Adams County line. Following up on what he already knew, Al attended Othello High School so he could take two years of auto shop. His first job was with Greenwood Chevrolet in Othello.
“I made more money driving the wrecker than I did as a mechanic,” he said. “The owner didn't really want to get night-time phone calls anymore. He paid me half the call and took care of the expenses from his half.”
Al went on to work for Desert Aire developer Harry Davidson. He was working for Yorgesen Farms when he came upon Cherie at the Outpost.
“She gave me back too much change one time,” Al recalled. “I was looking for a reason to talk to her.”
The Kilians married in 1979. Almost immediately, without any experience, Cherie showed up at the shop ready to turn wrenches.
“He was there,” she said. “And I wanted to impress him.”
Cherie pulled the power take-off (PTO) assembly from Dudley Watson's 1970s International Harvester hay chopper-pulling tractor.
“She was pretty proud of herself,” Al said.
“I was 19 years old,” Cherie added. “I didn't think much about it.”
In 1980, the Kielians opened AC Auto Parts & Repair in Mattawa. Cherie sold the parts, and Al worked the shop. Today it is Carquest Auto Parts.
Cherie doesn't have the stature of most people's image of a mechanic. She weighs 98 pounds and stands 5-foot-2.
“Don't let that fool you,” Al said. “She's tough. She's stronger than you think.”
So tough that, at one time, Cherie raised and dealt dangerous cats from the wild, including Cougars, Bobcats, Lynx and jungle cats. She kept them at the couple's first property near the S curves at Sentinel Gap. She continued to handle cats when the couple lived in South Carolina in the late 1990s.
Still, Cherie's diminutive stature has been an advantage. Her little hands will fit into places where Al's larger hands won't go.
“I've done my share of heater cores,” she said.
The Kielians came back from South Carolina in 2001. The old place had been sold. So they bought the property next to Port of Mattawa and set up shop.
Al is employed by the South Columbia Basin Irrigation District for 20 and puts in eight hours a day. So he and Cherie conduct their business on the side.
“She has dinner ready at 3:30,” Al said. “After we eat, we go to work.”
The Kielians work as late as 9 p.m. daily. They put in full days on Saturdays and Sundays.
“We didn't get to take out boat our this year,” Cherie said.
But that's okay. The Kielians get to spend a lot time together every day.