Garey Roofing Services is proud to be celebrating it's 100th birthday as South West Michigan's premier roofing contractor. As you can
see from the photograph of one of our earliest vehicles things have certainly changed since 1913. When Charlie Garey, whom you see in the passenger seat, decided to start a roofing
company out of his house in Benton Harbor, he never could have imagined that his descendants would still be in the business of installing the best roofs for their customers. In the early years if
Charlie needed to have materials brought to Berrien Springs he would have to put them on a small commercial steamer that
traveled up the St. Joseph River to a dock in the village. All work was performed by hand off of wooden ladders using simple hammers and nails, no nail guns, generators, safety ropes or hard
hats.
Once Charlie retired my grandfather Lloyd took the reins in the late 20's and moved the office to his house on Napier Ave. in Fairplain
neighborhood. From this location he added siding and insulation to the services he could offer to his customers. On an old pencil it gave the address of Garey Roofing as "On Napier near
Colfax". Now that is a small town!
My father Bob Garey became president in 1953 and the business grew as did the local area in the 50's through the 70's. By the end of the 70's we discontinued the siding and insulation, focusing on both flat and steep roof applications. I came on board in 1976 just at the beginning of the single ply roof systems that where being introduced to the market. At that time, and I'm not kidding, you could fill out a manufacturer application in the morning, be approved by noon and be bidding a job that afternoon! Needless to say many of the early manufacturers of single ply roof systems have disappeared or merged into one of the current firms.
At the time my son Dan joined the firm in 1999, the area was changing, the business climate became more demanding and our local client
base was diminishing but instead of ignoring the challenges we embraced them and became the company we are today, one that is focused on solving the roofing problems of existing business by using the
best products possible for service work and replacement. We also have expanded
our work territory to include South Haven, Kalamazoo, South Bend and Elkhart.
For 100 years and five generations Garey Roofing has been the leader in South Western Michigan for all of your roofing needs.
Thank you to our many customers, friends and employees that have made all of this possible.
Mike Garey,
President
Dan Garey, Sales
Manger