Pursuing the Dream in Pacifica: Following in a father’s footsteps
by Gwen O’Neill
Tim Palengat and Eric Ward in the What It Is garage. Staff photo.
Imagine having your father for a role model and following his lead in business ownership. Eric Ward is the current owner and operator of the body shop What It Is in Pacifica. Ward’s father started the business in 2001. “My dad was really into cars and always wanted to own his own business,” he said.
Eric Ward graduated from high school in 2003 and, with his friend Tim Palengat, went to WyoTech, the official technical school of the National Hot Rod Association. There are three WyoTech locations in California, but Ward and Palengat chose to go to Laramie, Wyo. “We were thinking about going to the school in Sacramento, but it was a fairly new campus at the time,” said Ward. He and Palengat didn’t feel the Sacramento campus had as complete a program as the Laramie campus, or the same amount of tools and equipment.
“After we got back from school, we worked for two years with my dad in the business. It was really going strong until 2007 when my dad developed cancer. He died in April of that year,” said Ward. Pacifica attorney Robin Crawford guided Ward through the complicated process of probate and helped him deal with running the business.
Photo courtesy of Eric Ward.
“Tim and I gradually started taking over the business. Because we’re not a direct repair shop that automatically gets jobs directly from an insurance company, it makes it a little harder. We rely on word of mouth and I guess we’re doing something right. We care about the quality of service and the work we do for our customers,” Ward said.
Ward’s first love is custom restoration. “That is what I really like to do and there are not as many doing it now,” he said. The paint job on the car shown at the top of this article is amazing. It shimmers from green to purple as the light changes. The car belonged to Ward’s father.
Interested car enthusiasts can visit the Second Annual Derrick Ward Memorial Car and Motorcycle Show on April 19, 2009 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Sierra Point Marina in Brisbane. Space is limited to 250 vehicles, and the Ward family will be giving out awards. For more information, visit the Volunteer Efforts section of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Web site — or contact Cindy Langley at 650-589-1467 or aggsmu@aol.com.
Ward did much of the custom work on the award-winning roadster. Photo courtesy of What It Is.
What It Is is located at 1137 Palmetto Ave., Pacifica, and Ward can be reached at 650-557-0465.
On the Web:
www.pancan.org/Volunteer/ca/bay/index.html
Photo courtesy of Eric Ward.
A work in progress. Photo courtesy of What It Is.
