Byrnes brothers close TV repair shop after half a century in business

by Lissa Blake

After half a century of service to Waukon and the surrounding area, Byrnes TV & Satellite (first known as Byrnes Radio & TV) has closed its doors as of the end of October.
“We were the only repair place in the county,” said co-owner Bill Byrnes of the business, which originally was located at 3 East Main Street in Waukon.
After growing up in rural Waukon, both brothers graduated from St. Pat’s High School (Bill in 1951 and Frank in 1953) before joining the Air Force. Although Frank served in Morocco and Bill in Japan, they both were able to attend radio school during their time in the military.
After they were discharged, both took the opportunity to attend the Milwaukee School of Engineering with their GI Bill benefits. Frank studied computers and Bill studied electronic communications technology.
Following graduation, Bill came home and bought out Harold Lindbloom TV, starting Byrnes Radio and TV in 1960. Frank decided to branch out a little, taking a job for IBM computers in New York.
Frank said while he enjoyed the change, the work wasn’t much of a challenge for him. “They never really asked me to do anything. The engineers just sat around and talked all day,” he said.
As luck would have it, business was booming for Bill back in Waukon. So after about three months in New York, Frank was thrilled to get a phone call from Bill, saying he could use his help back home.

NEW LOCATION
Business was good for the Byrnes brothers, so by 1970, they decided to seek out a new location. “It was not very convenient to load and unload from our location on Main Street,” said Bill. They built a new shop near West Side Lumber on the west edge of Waukon.
Back then, color television was just emerging. “When we started out, it was all black and white. Color didn’t come until about 1965, and it involved a much bigger investment for the customers. Color sets were quite a bit more than black and whites at the time,” remembered Bill.
“Color TV was the going thing, but people still bought small black-and-white TVs, until they gradually quit making them in the early 1980s,” said Frank.
The brothers spent much of their time repairing tube televisions, usually making house calls. “We went on a lot of service calls and installed many antennas,” said Bill.

RURAL AMENITIES
Looking back, Frank said they also were responsible for bringing television to Dorchester. “Somewhere in the '60s we put up towers down by Dorchester and fed the signal down into the valley. It was a community antenna, and most of the homes in Dorchester were connected to it,” he said.
“There were these long cables that went down through the woods, so it was a high-maintenance thing, after storms and such. We made quite a few trips to Dorchester,” said Bill. “There were a couple other antennas down there, but they weren’t as successful as ours.”

BIG CHANGES
Over the years, the brothers have seen televisions change from tube type to transistor to integrated circuits. “They’re practically not repairable,” said Frank, adding the new televisions are supposed to last longer than the old-school models. “Time will tell,” he said.
While the Byrnes’ lamented that most of today’s electronics are manufactured overseas, they said it wasn’t always that way. “We always encouraged people to buy Zenith because it was made in America,” said Bill.
“They’re not in business any more… maybe they hung on to the old ways too long,” said Frank.
When asked what other changes they’ve seen, Frank and Bill said it’s been hard to stay competitive with merchandise in recent years. “Places like Walmart or Pamida can sell them for less money than we can buy them wholesale,” said Frank.
“It’s getting to be a throwaway society and the merchandise has gotten harder and harder to work on,” added Bill.

HOME LIFE
When the brothers weren’t fixing televisions, they enjoyed a busy social life outside of work. Both men were active in the Waukon Jaycees, and Bill was a charter member of the Allamakee Flying Club. Frank later joined. “I used to fly quite a bit. I’ve logged over 1,000 hours,” said Frank.
Bill married Franny Peterson in 1962, and the couple has three children. Frank married Mary Foley in 1967 and they have two children. “We’ve seen a lot of changes in Waukon, but the town has really been good to us,” said Frank.

WHAT’S NEXT?
In their free time, they said they stay busy tending to 63 acres of forest reserve north of town they acquired from their father years ago. “That gives us something to do,” said Frank.
Bill’s wife, Franny, is a retired school cook, and Frank’s wife, Mary, recently retired from Waukon State Bank. When asked what their wives think of their decision to retire, Frank said, “I think Mary’s okay with that.”
“Franny’s been waiting for the day we closed that shop,” said Bill.
Both Frank and Bill plan to stay in the antenna and satellite dish business from home and can be reached at 563-568-4356 (Frank), or 563-568-4159 (Bill).