Its takes a special kind of someone to help pay tribute to someone’s hard work of taking care of a family over the years and that is what two brothers along with the help of so many more did for their father and friend on Saturday.
“I am very honored to receive this gift from the kids,” Bill Unruh said. “It really means a lot to me and it means a lot to me that the kids took the time to restore it. It is something else.”
On Saturday at the family farm, Bill Unruh was given back his 1964 Ford F-100 pickup that two brothers, August and Elba Unruh secretly worked on for the past two years to restoring it from the ground up, making it even better than it ever was.
“They’ve traveled endless miles and searched the entire country (and even Canada) to find all of the parts to make this dream a reality,” Bill’s daughter Day Granzella said. “My dad was born and raised in Pawnee Rock, and he and my mom raised us in Macksville before moving to Salina several years for retirement. Most of the Unruh clan is still in the Pawnee Rock/Great Bend area.”
This truck was the first vehicle that the three kids ever drove. Spending lots of time in the back of the truck while Bill drove them around on summer nights and also going on frequent hunting trips.
In the 80’s when farming wasn’t so good and oil prices weren’t much better, Bill sold the old truck to his younger brother, George Unruh of St. John, really cheap. It got George and then cousin Gary Unruh of Great Bend through some tough times when they needed a ride. George gave the title back to the two brothers two years ago after it set untouched in the shed for 20 years. This is when the restoring the vehicle and giving it back to Bill came a reality for the two brothers and fulling a dream for their dad.
“This truck is really about surviving, it has been in the family for many years,” Elba Unruh said. “This truck is a symbol of the Unruh family. This truck got the family through some tough times. I am very happy to give it back to dad and thankful to the family for helping to surprise him with it.”