Mechanic fixes his way to her heart

Roger: “I hadn’t seen my two brothers in Michigan in quite a while, so I went up there to visit. One day while I was driving to the park, I noticed a woman whose car was broke down on the side of the road. It was where three busy highways came together. Somehow I was able to go from the far left-hand lane all the way across to where she was before any other cars came by.”

Pat: “I was a single mom. I had three kids. I had bought a cheap car, and I needed to put an exhaust system on it. I didn’t have anybody to help me, so I learned how to do it myself. Every once in a while, it would come loose. We were on our way to a picnic when it happened again. I was getting under there to tighten it up when he came by. I kind of hid behind my car at first. I wasn’t quite sure what to do. He said he had some better tools than I had. When he opened his trunk and I saw the tools, I was a little relieved.”

Roger: “Growing up, I watched my dad do everything. He said I needed to learn how to fix things. So I started working on cars and building race cars. I became a mechanic. I was head mechanic at a lot of garages through the years. So it took maybe 10-15 minutes to fix her up.”

Pat: “He asked for my phone number. I thought, well, I’m not telling him where I live, but I guess I’ll give him my number. I figured he’d never call me. How many guys are going to call a woman with three kids? I just kind of laughed it off. But he did call a few days later. We just started talking, and he asked me to a show at the drive-in. Then he started taking me and the kids fishing and different things. He had to come back to Texas, and he was down here for probably six months when he called and asked if I wanted to join him. So I did. I moved down with my kids, two boys and a girl. It just felt right. I don’t know how else to explain it. We started living together. And then five years later, we got married. We met on June 23, 1980, and we got married on June 23, 1985. We did it on the same day on purpose. We both had gone through a bad divorce. So we just wanted to make it something special that hopefully would last. And so far, it has.”

— Pat and Roger Williamson

Helping others, like his future wife 41 years ago, is nothing new for Roger. At 75, he continues lending a hand to friends and strangers alike. He helped several people with plumbing issues during the recent winter storm. Also an avid fisherman, Roger has been known to catch and donate hundreds of pounds of catfish to support various fundraising efforts.