Auto body shop is a monument to owner's late husband.

To Ann Cramer-Eldridge, the success of Benny's Auto Body in Keene is her husband's legacy

When Ben Cramer, owner of Benny's Auto Body, died of a heart attack in 1994, there was no question in his wife's mind that she would continue the business.

"We had worked side by side for more than 20 years," says Ann Cramer-Eldridge. "I consider this (the business) a legacy to Benny."

That legacy is evident at the, shop on Winchester Street in Keene. Not only does the business retain his name, but a plaque dedicating the building to Benny hangs in the building entrance. It commemorates "a man with a reputation as a loyal and compassionate person who built a successful business by treating customers as friends, a self-made man who never let success go to his head." The license plates on Cramer-Eldridge's Cadillac' say "BEN." And Cramer-Eldridge, who remarried in 1995, has created a $1,000 annual scholarship in Benny's name for students from the Monadnock region," with preference for those pursuing careers in automotive repair.

"Benny would do anything for anyone,", says Cramer-Eldridge, "often without day. He always did a good deed a day. He loved older people and children. There wasn't anything he wouldn't do for kids."

Cramer started the business in 1966 with a one-bay garage, three employees and less than $100 in his pocket, says Cramer-Eldridge. When he died in 1994, he was in the midst of doubling the operation with a new building of 4,500 square feet. Today, the business has 10 employees, including general manager Timothy Cramer, Cramer's son, and for the last three years has grossed in excess of $1 million. For the fourth year in a row, it has been named the premier auto body shop in the Monadnock Region by Market Surveys of America.

After she married Benny in 1972, Cramer-Eldridge started out doing the books for the business. She became even more involved when Benny got sick with heart, and kidney disease in 1983.

"He would talk me through problems," she says. "He was my confidant. He loved to see me working here, and I idolized him. There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about him."

A woman's touch

Her late husband based his business on sound practices, adds Cramer-Eldridge, and she continues to carry out those practices. "We try to do everything for our customers," she says, "to be a one-stop body shop."

This includes filling out accident reports, working with insurance companies and driving the customer home. "We try to turn over a car as quickly as possible after the accident," Cramer-Eldridge says, "and we guarantee our work for as long as they own the vehicle, rust excluded."

Cramer-Eldridge has not run into any negative attitudes from customers because she's a woman in an unconventional role, she says. "I don't try to pretend to know what I don't. I cannot do body work. I can give ballpark estimates, but I'm not an estimator. But I refer customers to someone who does know what they're doing. If not, for all the people who work here -- my foreman, the estimators, the auto body techs -- Benny's wouldn't be successful."

Cramer-Eldridge has brought her own special "woman's touch" to Benny's Auto Body, however. When the business was enlarged and remodeled in 1994, she made sure the entry and office were totally separate from the body shop. When you walk into Benny's, it's like entering a small living room with forest green wainscoting, wicker furniture and green and pink curtains. You don't hear the whine of power tools or smell the fumes of car exhaust.

"My goal is to change the image of auto body repair shops," she says.

"Our clientele is more than 50 percent women. I want this to be a place where people in suits and women in heels are comfortable," said Cramer-Eldridge.

As she reflects on the last few years and the progress her business has made, she also is beginning to think about retirement. "But I won't retire until I'm sure that whoever ends up with the business will bring honor to Benny's name," she says. "The name Benny's has always stood for loyalty, honesty and integrity. It's a name that's very important to me."