DELPHOS, OH (WLIO) - A Delphos barber is celebrating a milestone many don't achieve with six decades behind the barber chair!
Ron's Hair Care has been a fixture in the Delphos community for many decades. The customers we spoke to say they always leave feeling better than when they came in and that Ron is truly a cut above the rest!
"I've been coming here to Ron as my barber for 40 years," expressed Lou Hohman, 40+ year customer of Ron's Hair Care. "I've been good friends with the family and he's been a very dedicated barber."
Ron Rode has been snipping and clipping hair for 60 years and has spent 55 of them at the same spot in Delphos.
"When I graduated from high school, I worked in a factory. I worked another construction job for a short period of time, and I realized I didn't want to work for a living so I got into barbering," said Ron Rode, owner of Ron's Hair Care.
After briefly tapping into the construction industry, a fellow barber in town invited Rode to barber college, and the rest is history. Long-time customers tell us what keeps them coming back.
"Good hair, also the conversations. Always kept up to date on Delphos happenings," commented Dan Baldauf, 30+ year customer of Ron's Hair Care.
"The comradery, he does me a very good haircut. I don't have much to cut off but he does good with it," added Hohman.
When you spend 60 years cutting hair the customers became like family, and many generations of families have sat in the barber's chair.
"I think I've had four generations of customers. Some of the guys that are coming in now that bring their grandkids in, I used to sit them on the board," said Ron Rode.
The secret to longevity? Love what you do, and you'll never work another day of your life.
"I hear people come in here and say oh man, I got to go to work tomorrow. Hey, I kind of enjoy going to work so that's a bonus," added Rode.
While Rode won't be hanging up the clippers just yet, he is talking with a student at Ohio State Cosmetology who is very interested in taking over once he graduates.
