Agree we were. Gene retired a few years after I graduated, I kept in contact with him while I was in college but lost touch after that. He was tenure and I believe he retired wealthy on a beach somewhere warm. Or at least I hope he did. Our auto shop sounds similar to yours, he ran a tight ship and could tell who was there because they wanted to be and who was there for “an easy A elective” and he didn’t let them skate through, but he let us pretty much do whatever we wanted.