Woitte’s retire after nearly 30 years with John Deere and three owners of the dealership

Joe and Bobbi Woitte have retired from positions in the work force in Philip. Grossenburg Implement held an open house for the couple April 1st at their dealership in Philip. The couple worked for Baye and Sons Inc., until March of 1997, and stayed on board with Moddie Implement until 2008, when Grossenburg purchased the dealership. “It was a very rewarding experience working for John Deere over the years,” said Joe Woitte. Joe came to work for Baye and Sons in October of 1993 and Bobbie joined him in 1994. “When I left the Air Force and came to work for Baye and Sons, it was supposed to be a temporary ‘fill in’ position for my father-in-law and it turned into a career,” said Joe. “My wife Bobbi had been part of Baye and Sons her whole life and then I joined in as well.” Bobbi is the granddaughter of the late Edmund Baye Sr. who began many years ago, turning the wheels of Baye and Sons in the downtown Philip John Deere dealership, which is now the home of the Pioneer Review newspaper. 

Barry Grossenburg, President of Grossenburg Implement was on hand for the open house celebration, as well and his son Charlie the CEO of Grossenburgs. “Joe and Bobbi have always been a huge part of the success of the Philip Store,” said Charlie Grossenburg. "It was common for them to be there well before the doors open to make sure everything was ready for the day. Joe and Bobbi were team players, they always did what was best for the team even if there were changes that needed to be made.”  

“When I started working for Baye and Sons, I was asked to fill in the service manager position temporarily,” said Joe, "and I also worked as a tractor mechanic at that time.  When Moodie Implement bought the business Joe stopped being a mechanic and worked solely as the service manager.  “When Grossenburgs purchased the Implement, I was moved to store manager and salesman,” said Woitte. “We stayed with them as they expanded to Nebraska and then Wyoming. It was very fulfilling to do what we could to help out the people we did in agriculture, and also the town people that needed yard machines and gators.”  Barry Grossenburg added, “Joes’ knowledge for equipment is very impressive and he always keep up on the changing technology." 

Over the years of working for the John Deere dealerships, Bobbi has gone from reception to bookkeeping and lately taken on the job of service writer also, she noted. “I had also occasionally worked in the parts department,” said Bobbie Woitte, “and also prepared meals and snacks for our special events over the years. We met and interacted with some very interesting and honorable people in the 29 years of our employment. Grossenburgs have been good employers and have been good to us. “Bobbi worked closely with Jason Peterson (service manager) to make our Philip Shop succeed,” said Barry Grossenburg.

“Both Joe and Bobbi were very active in the community. They loved building floats and lighting up equipment for the local Christmas Parade,” said Charlie Grossenburg. “They were part of a great group of people at our Philip location, and we will miss the Woittes,” said Charlie. “They always know they are welcome, for a cup of coffee, anytime at any location.”

Joe noted, there have been enormous equipment changes over the years. “We watched tractors increase in size and technology until they are now coming out with autonomous machines,” said Joe Woitte.  “We have watched the price of a new tractor go from 30k to 700k.”   Joe stated that other equipment like combines, tillage and planting tools have also had extreme changes. “We really enjoyed working there,” said Joe, “but most of all we enjoyed the people we worked with and the people we worked for.”