History of Shell Oil Station
Presentation to the Annandale History
Club
November, 1997
Lillian Logeais
In November of 1997 History Club was honored to have Lillian Logeais as
their guest speaker. Her story centered on her husband, Canute, and the
family business that he founded, Logeais Oil Company
Canute was born on January 19, 1909 on his family's farm 5 miles south
of Annandale. The house is still there and now owned by Frieda
Gunderson. Although Canute had trouble with asthma and was tutored some
at home, he attended Dykman School on County Road 35 east of County Road
5. His older sister, Marcellin was his teacher there. Canute drove a
horse and buggy to high school in Annandale staying with town relatives
during the week. He always enjoy telling the story that for a while he
was able to offer rides to a gal from his class, and although he did his
best to impress her, the horse had this habit of farting when she was
riding with him!
Lillian was born and raised on the north side of Mink Lake where her brother's family still owns the farm. She and her siblings walked two miles north to a red brick school 3/4 mile north of County Road 39 and 7. She and Canute met at barn dance and were married in November 1933. Canute leased the Shell Oil Station and they were able to buy it and the house behind the station within a few years. Canute's father died shortly after their marriage and his mother came to live with the family until her death in 1963.
The station was a "family" business. Canute would open early filling
gas, washing windshields, checking oil and doing bookwork until Lil had
the children fed and off to school. Then she would step out the back
door into the station while Canute would go home and have breakfast. The
station was open 12-16 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year. They
would close a little early on Christmas Eve so the employees and family
could celebrate the holiday. The family really was spoiled in the 1970's
during the gas shortage when President Nixon ordered all stations to be
closed on Sundays.
One problem of living so close to work was that people knew where to
find you! Once in a while, someone would knock on the house door in the
middle of the night with a need for fuel or gas. Seldom were they turned
away.
Times were hard during the depression. Money was short for everyone.
Many times farmers paid with produce or meat they had raised. Some
exchanged ration coupons for fuel.
At one time there were as many as eight gas stations in Annandale. For many years Logeais and Lundeen's were side by side competitors but they were always good friends. Canute was a true business man. He always endorsed the main street business community. He would tell his family he needed those businesses to scratch his back so he would scratch theirs. Woe to you if you bought something out of town that could have been purchased in Annandale. "Service Is Our Business" was the motto that appeared over the garage when the new station was built in the early 1970's.
Lil and Canute's sons, Francis (Ozzie) and Jim, say they started working at the station as soon as they were able to push a broom. They purchased the station from their dad in 1969, and their sons were also involved in the family tradition. Canute loved visiting with the friends he had made though out the years. He continued to go to work daily for many years to help out.
Lillian, too, enjoy the business friendships and retained the social
involvement by entertaining, golfing and belonging to church and social
clubs. She loved to garden. For many years the Annandale Improvement
Club raised money for projects by arranging and selling flower bouquets
on Saturday mornings during the summer month, and many of the flowers
came from Lil's garden.
Canute died of a stroke in 1991. The station was sold to Ampride in 1995
after being in the family for 65 years. Lillian died in 2004 at the age
of 93.
Submitted 2007 by Renee Logeais, wife of Jim Logeais
Shell Station - Canute
Logeais - 1978
The following is from an August 1978 Annandale Advocate article
titled "Nute, One of a Kind! Honored
by Shell for Fifty Years of Service" by Jane Shultzenberg.
For over fifty years there's been a Shell Oil station at the corner of Highway 55 and Cherry Avenue in Annandale. And. for fifty years, Canute "Nute" Logeais has operated that station, doing credit to Shell's motto: "Service is our business."
At its convention in Minneapolis this spring, the Shell Oil Company
honored Nute as the only fifty year Shell dealer ever in Minnesota! (Nute's
fifty-year plaque hangs above the station's counter.) He
and his family were recognized at a luncheon in the IDS Tower, and
treated to a banquet at the Edgewater.
If Shell's entire public relations staff drew a profile of the ideal
dealer, Nute Logeais' good nature, ready smile, neat station, business
acumen, and appetite for work could be their guide! Those
traits in Nute have made many loyal Shell customers in Annandale and
elsewhere. Fifty
years of goodwill are priceless.
Nute recalls the beginnings of his half-century occupation: "After
graduation (from Annandale High School, Class of '28), Dave Hart and I
went to Milwaukee and worked for International Harvester." But
that lasted only until fall, when Nute returned to Annandale because of
his father's illness.
On Nov. 20, 1928, Nute opened the brand new little yellow stucco Shell
Station with two "visible" gas pumps. The
gas pumped up into the glass tops so you could see it. (Nute says he
didn't keep any Shell momentos along the way: "I
didn't think I'd be in the business that long." The station
has always been on that corner on Highway 55, only then the highway
didn't run straight to Maple Lake. It
used to turn and go by Purcell."
In 1929, Nute bought his first fuel truck, a shiny new Model A Ford with
wire wheels and a 350 gallon tank. "I
should have kept that truck; it was kind of cute," chuckles Nute. He
had to haul his fuel from Monticello in that truck. "We
sold a little fuel oil, but mostly kerosene for cooking -- the stoves
and lamps used kerosene. The
farmers had fifty-gallon barrels for gasoline -- no big tanks. We
used buckets to transfer gas from the truck to the barrels."
When business began to be more than he could handle alone, Nute married
Lillian Dircks of Maple Lake. That
was in 1933. They'll
celebrate their 45th anniversary
this fall. The
two of them managed the station without help for the first 15 years. Lillian
pumped gas, washed windshields and added oil 45 years ago -- eat your
heart out women's libbers! Oh
yes, they also raised three offspring along the way: Francis,
James and Carol Ann, who have all married and live in the area with
their children.
There were hard times for the Logeais, as there were for everyone during
the thirties -- times when Nute had so many tardy charge accounts that
he didn't know if he'd get in enough money to pay for his bulk fuel when
it was delivered.
And the Minnesota weather has delivered its blows over the years; Nute
lost a driver and truck for two days in the infamous blizzard of Nov.
11, 1940. The
fellow turned up safe and sound at the Highway Dept. garage in Silver
Creek.
The Logeais men have always put customer service first, and have
shoveled their way through many a snowdrift to prove it. On
a delivery run out near Turtle Bay one day with Francis driving, the
truck was caught by a speeding blizzard and had to inch its way clear
back to the highway behind Ken Rudolph's tractor and bucket.
Through gas rationing and energy crisis, Nute has never run out of gas,
though there have been close calls. He
remembers one time during World War II, "We were just nip and tuck. Lundeen's
didn't have any and I got a tank car -- everything was shipped by rail.
I split it with Lundeen's, so they could keep their customers. (Nute
was quick to add that Lundeen's returned a like amount later on.)
Lillian Logeais recalled, "Mrs. Jude (Jude's ran the grocery store) used
to trade sugar ration stamps for gas stamps, so she could have a little
extra gas and we could have a little extra sugar."
As Francis and Jim grew into the business, Nute and Lillian were able to
take some warm climate winter vacations. They
visited Cuba before Fidel Castro took over. They've
traveled to Florida, Hawaii, France and several times to Arizona which
is their favorite spot, next to Annandale.
No one would guess it by the hours Nute still spends pumping gas at the
attractive new station constructed in 1970 directly behind the original
one, but he officially "retired" on Jan. 1, 1974, when his sons took
over the Logeais Oil Co. If
it remained "Canute Logeais & Sons," as it was for a number of years,
the word "grandsons" could be added to the name. Three
of Nute and Lillian's 13 grandchildren now work weekends, after school
and summers maintaining the "Service is our Business" motto for three
generations of Logeais and as many generations of customers.
This Advocate article was added by the Annandale History Club secretary
in August 2016.
Note: Logeais
Oil sold to Ampride in 1993. It's
now Centra-Sota Cenex gas station and convenience store.