After decades of ownership by the West and Hodson families, operation of the West- Hodson Lumber Yard in Crofton will be turned over to Joe and Leah Van Walbeek on April 4.
The roots of Kelly and Luella Hodson’s association with the business go back many years when Luella’s great grandfather Harry West and her grandfather, Loyd West, lived in Crofton and worked for the Loonan Lumber Company, which eventually became West-Hodson Lumber.
Loyd West helped manage the Crofton business in 1920 after returning from service in World War I, and in 1930 purchased his first lumber yard in Osmond. Over the years, the family added other lumber yards and concrete plants in Plainview, Bloomfield and Norfolk.
Kelly Hodson started working at the Crofton yard in March of 1977, scooping snow and doing whatever work was needed. He and Luella were married in August 1977. The Crofton business was managed by Jack Frady until 1982, and then Leroy Walter until 2012. Brett Schmidt served as manager until January 2021. In the early 1980s, Kelly and Luella Hodson became the sole owners of the lumber yard in Osmond, and purchased the Crofton business in 1993.
The Hodsons’ decision to sell the business was because of their desire to cut back on work. They will continue to operate their Osmond business with their son-in-law Adam Bloomquist as the assistant manager, and son, Richard Hodson, who manages the concrete portion of the business. Manager Joanne Eckberg will continue to work at the Osmond business.
New owners, Joe and Leah Van Walbeek, have been owners of a lumber yard in Akron, Iowa since 2018, and learned of Kelly and Luella’s interest in finding a new owner by word of mouth. The name of the business will be changed to Crofton Lumber, and Joe will commute from their home in Orange City, Iowa to manage the business for the time being while they continue to operate their business in Akron. The couple has four young children: Ethan, age 7; Levi, age 5; Bethany, age 2; and Hannah, age 9 months.
The Walbeek’s expect to continue to stock the traditional building supplies of siding, insulation, shingles, windows and sheetrock. They also plan to expand their inventory to include electrical, plumbing, water heaters (gas and electric), lawn and garden equipment, snow blowers and lawn chemicals.
Employees Brian Donner, Scott Jones and Chuck Potts are expected to continue with Joe as manager. Leah has worked behind the scenes doing bookkeeping for their business in Akron, and will continue for now. They anticipate hiring additional employees to include an estimator/contractor/sales person, a designer/inside sales person, and a delivery driver with a Class B CDL.
Joe and Leah Van Walbeek said they were excited to be part of the Crofton business community and look forward to getting to know their customers and fulfilling their business motto: “Making Dreams Happen.” Their email address is: croftonlumber@gmail.com, and the phone number will remain the same 402-388-4330.