Winnie’s Welding Service Then and Now

1800 W Wyatt Earp Blvd. – Dodge City, Kansas

Charles Winfield Rosebrook, Jr. grew up on a farm in Kearny County. In the 1920s, he worked as a mechanic in Ulysses before moving to the Jetmore area and working for E. J. Ochs. Winnie relocated to Dodge City in the early 1930s and worked for Logan R Tyson at the General Machine Shop.

His brother, Bob, was more than ten years younger so he didn’t move to Dodge until a bit later. Around 1938, the Rosebrook brothers opened Winnie’s Welding Shop at 206 S Second Avenue.

In the mid-1940s, Fred Russell opened Russell Automotive Service one door north of Winnie’s.

Shortly afterward, the two shops teamed up to build a new facility at the northwest corner of La Salle and what was then Chestnut Street. A new metal building measuring 40×120 feet originally housed both businesses, which opened in March of 1948.

Russell moved his shop to 201 W Trail Street by 1950 leaving the Rosebrook brothers to occupy the property on Chestnut, which ultimately had two connected structures.

Evelyn (Frankenberger) Kennedy began working in the office in March of 1952 after placing an ad on KGNO looking for a job. Claude Allen, Sr. heard the ad and mentioned it to Winnie, who just happened to be in need of a bookkeeper. Around that time, Bob began a related shop called Bob’s Motor Repair. His son, Don, also worked there during high school.

That business in the east building became Bob’s Engine Rebuilders.

Winnie’s Welding Service was located in the smaller building to the west.

I don’t want to assume this is a Claude Allen sign but it looks to me like a Claude Allen sign. Let me know in the comments if this is correct.

Richard Burns and Wilfred Johnson bought the businesses when Bob and Winnie retired in 1988. Winnie’s, Inc. was officially formed in February of 1989. Evelyn stayed on through the transition and finally retired in October of 1989 after nearly 38 years of service. It is unclear whether the red and chrome rotary desk phone went with her.

Winnie’s, Inc. was dissolved in January of 1996 and the property was occupied by Dodge City Engine Service until around 2001. It sat vacant for several years until about 2009 when JAG Construction used it during the Wyatt Earp widening project. Once that was completed, the property became vacant again and the buildings were removed in 2014 or 2015.

Dodge Custard, LLC was formed on June 30, 2015 for the purpose of operating a location of Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers. The new restaurant opened in March of 2016.

This is how the site of Winnie’s Welding Service looks today:

All I ever heard about Bob and Winnie was that they were good people who did good work. I think they would get a kick out of knowing their old promotional pens are being sold for $20 each on eBay. You can get a couple burgers at Freddy’s for that.

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