Lori Schoenberger – Service Mgr. at Runde’s in Hazel Green

Lori Schoenberger

So Lori Schoenberger, I’m told you’re the service manager here at the Runde PreDriven store … please tell me exactly what you do here over the course of a normal day.
Pretty much everything? Parts coordinator, warranty administrator, service advisor… psychiatrist — isn’t that the one who helps people with their problems?

Yea… psychiatrist, or shrink?
Yea, part time shrink and… umm… yep.

Sounds like you do pretty much everything. How long have you worked at Runde’s?
Since 2001, almost eight years.

How has the ride been for ya?
Great. I used to work at Runde Chevrolet in East Dubuque as a title clerk but then I transferred up here three or four years ago.

Are you originally from the area?
Yep, I’ve lived in the Dubuque area all my life.

What do you like to do outside of work?
Chase around my grandchildren, work on my yard, the occasional boat ride, and sometimes I go camping.

Where do you go campin’?
We have a permanent spot up at Backbone State Park near Strawberry Point, IA where the family and I like to go.

What’s your best experience at Runde’s, to date?
One day, me and a colleague of mine (Becky – last name withheld) got into a verbal altercation.  It was extremely heated over who was hotter – Tom Cruise or David Hasselhoff, but we were able to settle our differences peacefully.  And now we’re really great friends.  In fact, she actually has Sunday brunch over at our house about once a month.  It just goes to show relationships between co-workers can evolve when we try to resolve our differences peacefully.

But in all sincerity, every day is a good day here at Runde’s.  I’ve had plenty of  jobs in the past where I had to talk myself into driving to work everyday. Runde’s is different.  Here at Runde’s,  I actually enjoy going to work everyday — it’s so laid back.

So are you married?
Yes. For 20 WONDERFUL years.

How many kids do you have?
Two girls, Julie is going to be twenty in July. Dani is 17.

What’s your husband’s name?
Ben. He’s a supervisor at Quebecor.

Do you have a favorite hangout spot in Dubuque?
Probably Eagle Point Park or anywhere scenic.

Have any pets?
Yep. We have a Black Lab mix – Maggie, a Yellow Lab – Sunny, and two Siamese cats named Rudy and Riley.  My daughter has a snake but I wouldn’t say that’s my pet, yuck!

What’s your most memorable experience in a car or truck?
Racing some guy out on the quarter mile strip at John Deere in our ’66 GTO vs. his Nova.

Did you win?
Haha, no.

What’s your favorite movie?
Definitely Dirty Dancing.

The new one or the original?
The original! Patrick Swayze (she makes a “grrrrooowwwlll” noise). I don’t even have to have the volume up and I can enjoy that one! Other than that I like fun movies like Caddie Shack.

What’s in the CD player of your car right now?
Prince.

Does Lori Schoenberger have a favorite Prince song?
Purple Rain, Nikki, and When Doves Cry and…

That’s probably enough, there… thanks. If you were to win the lottery what would you do with the money?
Buy an island in the middle of nowhere, build a huge house, and drink raspberry margarita’s all day.

Would you let people accompany you?
I might let them visit… well… I guess I better say “yes” since I’m married… I’d have to take my husband.

What is the one invention you could not live life without?
Deodorant.

I think that’s about all the questions I had, anything you’d like to add?
Ummm… my favorite color is yellow.

Oh… do you like Big Bird, then?
Not so much, I like Tigger.

He’s not yellow at all…  nor is he in any way, shape or form related to Big Bird or the show he’s on.
I know, but he has SOME yellow on him!

Well, thank you very much, Lori Schoenberger, for taking some time out of your day to do this interview, have a great day!