President of Royer's corporation Dick Royer and his wife Mavis celebrate with a beautiful anniversary cake.

A Winnebago fixture staple since 1965 is celebrating its 60th year in business.

Royer’s Plumbing and Heating has been a part of Winnebago’s downtown for close to 45 years. The business itself has been in the town since it began in Neil Royer’s home back in 1965.

Mavis Royer, daughter-in-law to Neil Royer, and wife of current president of the corporation, Dick Royer says the Royer’s business started out of Neil Royer’s garage.

“All three of his sons helped him with jobs as they grew up,” says Royer of her husband’s family. “Two of the brothers, my husband Dick, and his brother Jeff, are still very much a part of the business here in Winnebago.”

The third brother, Mavis Royer shares, had to take a back seat to the business due to a bad back.

Royer’s Plumbing and Heating has recently reached their 60-year mark for their business in downtown Winnebago. This building used to be the Winnebago Opera House at 44 Main Street South. But for quite some time, it has been the business front of Royer’s

The building in which Royer’s has been located for the majority of their time was originally Winnebago’s Opera House. At the time, an additional story stood on the building, but due to a fire, was later taken down. The building has been home to a handful of local businesses but Royer’s has stayed the course since the 1970s.

Neil Royer, the founder and owner of Royer’s, is still very much alive and well at 93 years old. He is a resident of Friendship Court assisted living in Blue Earth. Unfortunately, his beloved wife and business guru, Berniece Royer, passed away a few years ago.

“Neil has made an impact not only in the business, but the community he has lived in. Everyone knows who Neil is,” said Mavis Royer.

And now that Neil Royer is retired, his son Dick Royer has taken the lead in the family business by becoming the president of the corporation.

With more than 50 years of experience and seven full-time plumbing and heating specialists, the Royer’s corporation has become very diversified and does both commercial and residential plumbing and heating.

Office Manager Don Selvig, who has been the office manager for close to 30 years, shares that Royer’s has kept up with the times when it comes to the multiple changes and updates the plumbing and heating world has had to adjust to.

“A lot of situations we see are when a family’s plumbing or heating no longer has the parts they need. Part of that reason is because the government updates what can be used safely in homes when it comes to parts, and we help families regularly with getting safe, up-to-date equipment for their homes that is up to government code,” says Selvig.

Royer’s has also been up to date with all of the newest techniques of plumbing, heating and air conditioning. Whether it’s heated floors, geothermal systems, or central air, Royer’s has worked with it.

One thing they haven’t worked with are appliances. Royer says her husband gets calls almost weekly with questions about washers and dryers. Chalk it up to Roerig Hardware being a mere block away in downtown Winnebago, but Royer’s has never dealt with washers, dryers, TVs or microwaves.

They do, however, have 24 hour on-call services.

“We understand that when a heater goes out, it doesn’t necessarily go out on a 9 to 5, Monday through Friday schedule,” says Selvig.

Many a family has been saved in the roughest situations thanks to this prosperous Winnebago business. Selvig believes the people they have serviced over 60 years has been in the thousands, if not more.

And as the wind gets a little cooler, Royer’s is ready to take on the upcoming winter season, and that is a fairly easy thing to do when you have 60 years of service experience under your belt. They certainly know how to keep their community nice and warm.