Small-town mechanic lends a stranded Iowa traveler his truck so he doesn't miss a funeral

Editor's Note: This story was originally published Feb. 23, 2017. 

Forty-five minutes into his early Tuesday morning drive from La Crosse, Wis., Todd Steinkamp heard a "grinding noise" in one of the tires of his 2005 Chevrolet Avalanche. The thought of missing a loved one's funeral started to sink in.

Little did the 39-year-old from Marshalltown know, he was about to meet a man known for "a lifetime of kind deeds" during an unplanned yet needed pit-stop in small-town Wisconsin.

"Everybody loves Glenn," Steinkamp told the Register on Thursday.

Steinkamp pulled into Wild Rose — a town of fewer than 1,000 people — and parked outside Lauritzen's, a tiny auto-repair shop. That's where he saw a "little old guy" stocking the shelves.

Steinkamp, dressed in his suit and slacks, explained the issue to Glenn Geib  and mentioned where he was headed — De Pere, Wisc. — 75 miles away.

"I think he knew I was a little stressed out," Steinkamp said of Geib, "so he said, 'Pull it around back.'"

Geib told Steinkamp that the wheel bearing in one of his tires needed fixing. Their conversation transitioned to rental vehicles.

"Does anybody have rental cars here in the area?" Steinkamp asked Geib.

"One store up the street used to have one, let me call them," Geib said.

No luck.

Steinkamp asked if Geib could fix his truck. Yes, but it would take a few hours. Steinkamp "plummeted right back off that emotional cliff again."

But then Geib reached into his pocket and pulled out his personal truck keys to his gold 1999 Chevy Silverado. He said: "Here. You take mine, and we'll get yours fixed." No charge for the rental.

Steinkamp was dumbfounded. They didn't even know each other's names.

“He looked burned out like he was tired, and it looked like he had a rough night — you know, had things on his mind, worried about getting there," Geib told WBAY.com about Steinkamp. "That’s about it. Looked like he needed some help."

Steinkamp couldn't accept Geib's generous offering, but the 74-year-old remained persistent.

"He said: 'Take it. Fill it up with gas. If you're running behind it'll do 120 (mph) and get going,'" Steinkamp remembers Geib saying.

After a minute of back-and-forths, the two men shook hands in agreement. Steinkamp filled the truck with gas and was back on the road.

He made the funeral in time. His encounter was one of the main talking points during the luncheon.

Steinkamp traveled back from Wild Rose. He returned Geib's keys and paid his bill, then the pair sat down and talked for almost 30 minutes.

They finally learned each other's names.

"He talked about Wild Rose, talked about the shop, I met the owner and his wife," Steinkamp said. "That was a really nice decompression time to sit there and talk to all them.

"When you're out in the middle of nowhere by yourself, you feel pretty lonely. But by the end of that day, when I was leaving, I could have sat and talked to those people for another couple hours yet and not batted an eye about it."

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Steinkamp, who is the general manager at KIX 101.1-FM, told his wife and kids after returning home later that night about his encounter with Geib. He woke up Wednesday morning and created what he thought was "a simple post" about his experience on Facebook.

As of 1 p.m. Thursday, that "simple post" has gone viral, generating more than 4,900 shares and 1,300 comments. Some commenters are even adding their own memories of Geib.

Steinkamp said he plans to visit his new friend soon within the next couple of weeks, bringing with him a couple of Iowa goodies to give Geib.

"I'm happy that a guy like that who's done nothing but good things is getting some notoriety for being a good person," Steinkamp said.

Steinkamp said his father's first name was Glenn — the same spelling as Geib's. He passed away in 2010 from cancer.

One of the commenters, who's a family friend, Steinkamp said, posted: "Another Glenn is watching out for you."

"That's a nice way to look at it," Steinkamp said.

He added that "kindness is very contagious."

"... The rest of the country could learn a lot I think from us here in the Midwest. These are good, hardworking, down-home people. Around here, you're not going to hesitate as much here in the Midwest to stop, talk to somebody and help them out.

"I think we do it right when it comes to treating other people nice."

Aaron Young is a reporter at The Des Moines Register, focusing on what Iowans are talking about on the internet and on social media. Email: ayoung2@dmreg.com. Phone: 515-284-8213. Twitter: @AaYoung15. Facebook: Facebook.com/AaronYoung28.