McKee, Darwin, GMG3

After Byron Mckee put in a 21 year military career serving his country
he completed watch & clock repairing correspondent courses.
Moved his family back to Iowa & went to work as a watchmakers apprentice
for 3 years before taking the State watchmaking test to be a licensed watchmaker.
Worked two more years for a big Jewelry store in Des Moines as a watchmaker
and bench jeweler. He then opened a small repair shop in a small room in
the front of a pool hall....use to be a barber shop. When the state passed the law that
all repair work needed a sales tax permit he put in a few pieces of jewelry and
made a lot of other pieces. Then moved in to a 15 x 40 space and expanded his
inventory with him & mom running it all. My brother went to work with him after
High School and spent his apprentice ship under my dad. In 1977 I moved back
to town and bought in to 1/3 of the business.... A few years later we doubled
the size of the store & completely remodeled it.....We did all the remodeling ourselves.
When Dad first moved in to his larger space a local banker came to him and
said he could loan him enough money to make him the biggest Jewelry store in town.
Dad said instead of being the biggest and the bank owning it, he would rather
be the smallest one and he would own it. Dad passed in 93.....My health went
South in 2000...... Brother didn't want to run it with Dad & me gone so we
sold it out. 1967-2000.....Pretty good run and the Government or a bank had
nothing to do with it.

We did all our own in store repair & custom casting.
No store in town before or since us can make that claim.