Time's up: Percy and Holly Parsons, who are honeys, close shop

"Honey honey, how you thrill me, a-ha, honey honey

Honey honey, nearly kill me, a-ha, honey honey."

- ABBA

Percy and Holly Parson are honeys. A Diet Dr Pepper delivered from him to her at a car wash marked the start of something sweet.

Now, the "R" in their business name R. Honey's also can stand for retired.

The couple last week taped a simple, hand-written message on the door of their clock and watch repair business in south Abilene: Permanently CLOSED.

Passersby won't see his bright yellow 1948 Ford Deluxe Sedan Delivery parked outside the couple's shop just off South 14th Street.

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Customers have come in, Percy said, and asked: "What are we going to do when you close?"

His response?

"I don't care," he said. He was smiling. Percy has a wry sense of humor. "I have to be careful who I say that to."

Holly laughed, by now used to her husband's quips.

"We have had the best customers in the world," she said. "And we enjoyed working together."

Hence the business name, which Percy came up with one morning while they were washing dishes.

"We could do anything" as a business, and, he said, "we are honeys."

For 29 years in December.

Closing their shop may be the end of an era in Abilene. If you have ghosts in your clock or watch, who ya gonna call now?

Moments in time

The Parsons have been in business about 25 years, starting in River Oaks shopping center a few blocks west. They were there for two years, then took over a small, curbside shop facing Barrow Street.

That was torn down and they had the option in 2000 to move into their current space, which has a parking lot between the front door and the street. It was larger and the rent was higher.

"It scared us to death," Holly said. "But we said, 'Oh, well, we've got to do it.' And we did."

Chimed in Percy, "And we filled that 1,200 square feet."

The Parsons started with an antique store in River Oaks. Customers mentioned the lack of timely clock repair.

"We thought, 'We need to get in the clock repair business,'" Percy said.

He called Lloyd Huff, a local college professor who dabbled in clocks, and asked if he could be taught the trade.

"He said, 'You can do it. It's just mechanical,'" Percy said. "I had never seen the inside of a clock. I said, 'I don't have any of the tools.' He said, 'Pliers and a screwdriver.'"

There is more to it, and the Parsons acquired the right tools at a vendor show in Arlington.

"We ran an ad in the paper for clock repair," he said. "And hadn't done a clock yet."

Yet, they were off and running.

They worked out a deal with a man named Gene McDougall, who did watch repair and had the South 14th and Barrow space. They took out the lease and McDougall worked from home, coming in occasionally. Soon enough, he suggested that they do watch batteries. He showed Holly what he knew.

He also suggested jewelry repair. He would teach them. Again, they went to an out-of-town show and got what they needed.

Someone the first week brought in a broken box chain and Percy soldered it. McDougall was amazed. He didn't do that.

"Repair is ... well, the more you do, the better you get," said Holly, who also did jewelry repair. They avoided gemstones and diamonds.

"I did auto body shop at Cooper," Percy said. "Jewelry repair is exactly the same process, just in smaller scale. It was real easy to pick up and do.

"You use gold instead of Bondo."

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"One thing led to another," Holly said. "People would bring in off-the-wall things that nobody else could fix and Percy fixed them."

They stopped doing jewelry as they aged. Their thumbs were not as nimble as before.

Percy also did lamp repair, and they had a key machine. It's no wonder that their 1,200-square-foot space filled quickly.

"We just wanted to offer all the services," he said.

Even sunglasses. Knowing how much those are marked up from his grocery store days, they sold a polarized pair for $10.

Funny how many people picked out a pair while waiting for a new watch battery.

Making good use of their time

Percy has held a wide variety of jobs.

He worked for 15 years for Albertsons, coming back to Abilene from San Antonio to manage the store here.

He later worked for a year for H-E-B in Big Spring.

Holly was an X-ray tech for years here, then became the office nurse for Dr. Victor Hudman. She held that job when the couple had the antiques store but quit when the Parsons move to the repair store.

They both worked part time at Abilene State Supported Living Center for 10 years with a primary purpose - to get healthcare benefits.

"That is the biggest boon we could ever have had," said Percy, who has been sidelined more than a time or two in recent years with health issues. He worked through a detached retina.

"We're doing little bitty stuff," he said. "My vision is not as good as it was."

But, wait, there's more on their resume. They opened a cleaning company and, with a small crew, took care of the local Toyota and Honda dealerships until 2008.

A "normal" work day was opening their business at 9 a.m. and working until 4:30 p.m.

"Then go to the State School and work from 5 to 9," he said. "Then go to Toyota or Honda or both and work until 1 or 2 in the morning."

"Then get up and do it again," Holly said. They maintained that pace until 2008.

"We look back now and say, 'How did we do that?'" Holly said.

People today will ask the same thing.

"We worked hard," Percy said.

Perfect timing

A 1963 graduate of Cooper High School, Percy Parsons was working in Big Spring when he was connected with Holly via a mutual friend.

Both drove Nissan 300 ZXs. Surely that meant they were destined for each other. But, no, she turned down his request for a date.

Still, they exchanged letters.

"He wrote the sweetest letters," she said.

The tide turned for Percy when he saw her washing her red ZX at a car wash in Abilene. He dashed into a convenience store, showing up in the wash bay with two cold sodas. Turns out, her favorite.

"She had the biggest smile on her face," he said. Holly, sitting next to him, smiled at the memory.

The tactic was just what the Dr ordered. They dated a month and married.

"That was something else. It was meant to be," said Holly, who had to buy into Percy's love of vehicles, new and old.

Eventually, he became the clock guy and she became the watch battery gal. Even in the era of Apple watches and smartphones, there remained a need to keep time a conventional way.

But their time as business owners is up. What led to the decision?

"Our hands," Percy said. It had been getting harder to do that precision work.

Time to play it safe

The Parson are getting rid of everything, even the huge floor safe that Percy for years refused to sell.

A hole had to be knocked in the wall to get it inside the store.

"The safe came from the old pawn shop next to Bible Hardware. It says 1881, and they said it came to Abilene when Abilene first was incorporated," Percy said.

Late banker Scotty Lindley tried several times to buy it to display but Percy always turned him down. But Percy has found a home for it now.

But they didn't know what to do with their watch bands.

"Need a watch band?" Holly asked.

She believed they would work until their last breaths.

"Somebody would walk in and find us here," she said, laughing. "And that would be it.

"But a few months ago, he said, 'I think I'm ready to retire.' And I thought, 'All right.'"

"We're going to play it by ear," Percy said of the days ahead.

The store grew quiet for a moment. The only sound was a clock ticking.

The last minutes for R. Honey's.

∎ More from Greg:

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This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Time's up: Percy and Holly Parsons, who are honeys, close shop