Richard “Zip” Zimmerman started working on vehicles at the age of 12.

He was hired by his neighbor, Joe Garrison, to work at Joe’s Garage & Body Shop near the airport south of Rochelle in 1969. That was the start of Zimmerman’s 55 years of repairing, restoring and painting vehicles. On June 30, 2025, he closed his own shop, Zip’s Auto Body, after 41 years in business, and retired.

“When I started out at 12 years old I was paid $20 a week,” Zimmerman said. “But $20 was pretty good for me, because all I wanted was my Stingray bicycle. I worked in the summers and after school and on weekends. I did that through high school.

“It started off as something to do when I was young and I kept learning and learned fast. I thought about trying something different a time or two, but it never worked out. So I just kept on going. I was manager at a couple places and learned how to do things on my own.”

Before opening his own business at 1033 S. Seventh St. in 1984, Zimmerman also worked at Sawicki Motors and had another stop at Joe’s Garage & Body Shop, which was under new ownership.

Zimmerman was 26 when he opened his own business on the south side of town. After three years in business he bought the property, renovated it, moved into the building at the front of the lot and expanded several times over the years. Zip’s Auto Body handled mostly auto body repair and collision work, along with some restoration and Rhino Lining.

“Working in a small town was the best part of it, giving people good service and keeping them coming back,” Zimmerman said. “When I put up a social media post about the closing, I was shocked at the support and the kind words from people in this community. There were hundreds of comments. That was a ‘wow’ factor, reading all those. I figured there would be a few dozen. It was a big deal for me knowing that many people care.”

Zimmerman was diagnosed with prostate cancer in February, and in July he underwent successful surgery to remove his prostate and the cancer. He had a clean cancer scan just a few weeks ago.

The focus on his cancer fight was the catalyst for the closing and retirement, after Zimmerman had considered retirement for about a year.

Zimmerman will be renting out his buildings at 1033 S. Seventh St., but likely not to another body shop. His retirement will also include his hobbies of metal art and golf, spending time with friends, and managing his properties.

Walking into an empty and quiet shop is strange for Zimmerman, who is used to phones ringing, noise from tools in the shop and customers dropping off and picking up vehicles. The thing he misses most since closing is working with customers.

Zimmerman recalls when Rochelle had 10 body shops in town; now it only has a couple. That was one of the reasons his decision to close was tough.

“Running a small business was great in this town,” Zimmerman said. “I grew up here. I got to know a lot of people. I loved it here. I never considered doing it anywhere else. I was born and raised here and this is where I learned my craft. It wasn’t always easy, but I enjoyed it. To me, it was just a job and it was all about making sure the customers and employees were happy. I got better at working with insurance companies.”

His work at Zip’s Body Shop allowed Zimmerman to pursue his hobbies like boat racing, which he traveled all over the country to do. The business became a far cry from working for $20 a week at 12 years old.

“When I got out of high school I was living paycheck to paycheck,” Zimmerman said. “When I came here I had one employee. I kept on working and saving and bought the property. It paid off. I remember working day and night at times on projects because customers needed them done. It was a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get where I’m at. Now it’s nice to reap the benefits.”