Mechanic To Give Retired Mounds Teacher A Car

MOUNDS, OK -- A retired teacher thought she received the surprise of a lifetime when her students bought her a car, but things didn't work out as planned.

Now a mechanic in Mounds is stepping up for a special reason of his own.

It was all smiles for Pat Wasiller at the end of May. The veteran teacher had been in the classroom for nearly four decades and the Mounds Middle School teacher was retiring. And for a special woman, her students had a big thank you.

5/26/2009  Related Story: Mounds Students Give Retiring Teacher A Car

But the story only starts there.

"I drove it for about a total of 25 miles, and the radiator holes blew in half, and it burned up the motor," said Pat Wasiller, a retired Mounds teacher.

By mistakenly burning up the motor, the car was gone in half a day.

And for the last two months, Wasiller depended on the kindness of her neighbors for a lift.

"I'm afoot. I'm not a good afoot person," said Pat Wasiller.

Here's the twist, when the school pitched in to buy the $2,100 car, it was Joe Haddock's first sale.

"That first sale, it let me get all of my utilities on, everything that I needed to start my business," said Joe Haddock.

"We're going to give her a car," said Joe Haddock of J & J Auto.

It took a month, but Haddock found the same car and went to work.

"This car has 129,000 miles on it, the other one had nearly 300,000 on it, and it ran perfect," said Joe Haddock.

And after a bumpy start to Pat Wasiller's retirement, Haddock says he'll do what it takes to give her a smooth ride. After all, Pat's story put him in business.

"It gave me a foothold in the community, for sure," said Joe Haddock.

Haddock says the only thing he's waiting for is to get the title transferred. He hopes to give her the car by the end of this week. And he threw in six free oil changes.