The “dangerous duo” has called it a day.

Teresa Yaroschak, 66, and Cheryl Schnitzer, 74, both retired from Hovis Auto & Truck Supply, 422 W. Jefferson St. in Butler, on July 11 after a combined nearly 100 years in the auto supply field.

Yaroschak, the store’s manager, and Schnitzer, the store’s outside sales representative, were dubbed the dangerous duo by Curt Hovis, co-owner with his brother, Cliff, of the 18-store auto supply chain.

Both women arrived at the Butler store in 2003 via different routes.

Yaroschak was 5 when her family moved to Butler so her father could take a job as a mechanical draftsman at Armco Steel, now Cleveland-Cliffs.

After graduating from Butler High School, Yaroschak started working at Kern’s Auto Supply in 1978 before moving on to Murdick’s, which was an auto-parts store, machine shop and racing team.

“I was dating a guy who had a race car. We were at Murdick’s a lot, and I decided I needed a job. He said you can be my driver. I drove 200 miles a day to the old Montgomery Ward’s up where the Target is now. They had a 10-bay garage.”

Tired of delivering auto parts, Yaroschak became a counterperson.

“I learned a lot there,” Yaroschak said. “Then I moved to Kern’s, which was a more rural setup out on (Route) 422. They handled big trucks and farm equipment. I learned hydraulics. It really helped me with everything.”

Schnitzer said, “I was married to a guy that had a race car. He needed a discount on parts and said ‘you can get a job there.’”

Schnitzer started at Blatt’s Auto Parts in 1974. She also had stints at Hoffman Auto Parts in Butler, Wilcox Brothers in Pittsburgh, Allied Auto Parts, NAPA Auto Parts and, finally, Hovis.

Yaroschak said it wasn’t easy at the beginning of her career.

“It was a man’s world. It was a struggle for the first five or six years. It wasn’t easy. Women weren’t accepted really well. It was the ’70s,” she said. “There are many more women in it now. There’s probably a girl in every store.”

As store manager, Yaroschak was in charge of 23 employees: six counterpeople and the drivers who deliver parts.

“They are all older gentlemen who are working part time,” Yaroschak said. “We are also looking for drivers.”

“I do everything,” she said. “I check on the maintenance, the employees, the banking, do the payroll. But I’m still a countergirl. Waiting on customers is my top priority.”

“I come in, get everything ready and then spend my days at the counter,” Yaroschak said. “Management is a minimal part of it, but the priority is the customers.” She estimates 60% of her customers are garages and 40% are walk-ins.

Sometimes customers present unusual challenges.

Yaroschak recalls one time a customer brought in a steering rack from a 1956 Ford truck looking to replace it. Something didn’t look right about it.

“I had to investigate it. It was here for a couple of days,” she said. It turned out the steering rack originally came from a 1980 AMC Pacer. Yaroschak guesses somebody put it into the truck as a make-do replacement.

“People with odd stuff come to me,” said Yaroschak said. “It’s a challenge, and I get to make the customer happy. Even if I lose the sale, I’ve helped the customer.”

Making customers happy is also Schnitzer’s priority. She calls on the garages that are Hovis customers.

“I visit 12 to 15 garages daily and deal with any issues,” she said. “I peddle special items on sale. When we have clinics, I make sure the customers know about it. We do a big trade show in April. I make sure they know about that. ”

She also helps client garages by updating their computer parts-ordering systems.

“She’s known for her schmoozing,” Yaorschak said. “Everybody in town knows her for her schmoozing.”

In addition to schmoozing, Schnitzer also ran contests for her customers such as guessing how much candy is in a jar to win the jar and the candy.

Schnitzer remembered one contest where a Hovis company car, a 2010 Chevrolet Blazer, was caught in a hailstorm in Philadelphia.

Afterward, she said, “I counted every dimple. There were 742 dimples. Whoever guessed correctly won a dinner.”

“If they are short on delivery drivers, I help out. We work as a team. If they need delivery drivers or help in the store, I’m here to help,” she said.

Yaroschak said it takes patience, knowledge, organization, dedication and getting along with people to do her job.

“If someone does something wrong, I’ll address it and then forget about it,” she said.

Both said the biggest thing they will miss in retirement is the customers.

Yaroschak said, however, “One thing I won’t miss is the safety inspections. A group comes down with insurance people and tells us what needs to be cleaned or fixed. It has to be done.”

As for her post-work life, Yaroschak said, “I’m still looking at my options. I’m still debating on what to do.” She mentioned she has seven 1969 Chevrolet Chevelles in various stages of restoration in her garage.

“That was the car my husband had when I first met him. He sold the Chevelle for a truck for his race car. I said without a Chevelle I don’t think you are worth marrying. We got another Chevelle,” she said.

Schnitzer said she and her husband, Jack, will continue to drag race, and he has a 1970 Plymouth Roadrunner that she still shows.

“I’ve lived a good life,” she said.

“I haven’t regretted anything I’ve done,” Yaroschak said. “I’ve stood by my decisions.”