Lamar Steed, owner of Steed Tire Service in Brundidge, has been inducted into the Alabama Tire Dealers Association Hall of Fame.

Steed was honored at the association’s annual convention June 16 at Orange Beach.

The Alabama Tire Dealers Association Hall of Fame honors individuals who have played a significant role in the growth and development of the tire industry and the Alabama Tire Dealers Association (ATDA).

“Being inducted into the Association’s Hall of Fame was a great honor for me,” Steed said. “It means a lot to be because it is a recognition by the statewide Tire Dealers Association. I’ve been a member of the Association for 35 years. And, what makes the award even more special is that I was inducted on the 50th anniversary of the association. It was just a real great honor and I appreciate that the association thought that I was worthy of this recognition.”

Steed graduated from Pike County High School in 1954 and Lamar Belcher hired him at the City Market.

“Harold Nicholson was making deliveries for the City Market but he was called to the Korean War,” Steed said. “Mr. Belcher told me that the job would be only for two years because it was Harold’s when he came back home, only if he wanted it.”

But, before Steed found himself out of work, he was offered a job with Kelly Sales & Tire Works in Brundidge.

“I guess I had found the place that I needed to be,” Steed said. “I liked the work and I did the best job that I knew how to do.”

Steed was promoted to manager of the Brundidge store in 1964. He readily accepted the responsibilities of store manager and entertained the thoughts of one day having a tire store of his own.

The Kelly brothers were focused on managing the tire store in Troy so, in 1977, Lamar and Shirley Steed bought Kelly’s in Brundidge and renamed the business Steed Tire Service.

Steed became a member of the Alabama Tire Dealers Association when he took ownership of the tire store. However, he had been involved with the Association in the mid-1960s in a supporting role as a recruiter. He focused on Pike County businesses, including service stations and tire and automotive businesses.

He believed that, to be successful in business, he needed to draw from the knowledge and experiences of other like businesses.

At the Brundidge Main Street “tire store,” Steed is known as the “Tire Doctor.” He employs 10 people and provides tire and automotive services from a 10-bay shop.

“The tire business has been good to our family,” Steed said. “Our three children, Beverly Helton, Maria Strother and Mark Steed, worked in the store while they were attending high school and college and two of our grandchildren did, too. We enjoyed working together as a family.”

Steed’s children nominated him for the award because, as his daughter, Beverly Helton, said, “no one has been harder working or more dedicated to the tire business.”

“Because my children nominated me for the award, it’s even more special,” Steed said. “For them to think that I’ve done a good job means an awful lot to me. I’ve been fortunate to do something that I love and to have my family as a part of what I do. I have good, dependable employees and wonderful customers. They are the reason that Steed Tire Service has been able to stay in business for 35 years. I thank them all.”

Steed has been actively involved in his hometown community and has been recognized for his contributions. He is a long time member of the Brundidge Rotary Club and a club past president. He has been honored with Rotary’s Paul Harris Fellow Award. He is a recipient of the Pike County Farm-City Beef Award and was the Brundidge Business Association’s 2004 Man of the Year.

Steed is a past president of the Brundidge Business Association, a past director of the Pike County Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Brundidge Industrial Board and the Pike County Cattlemen’s Association. He has been a member of the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life and United Way fund-raising teams.

Steed is a member of Richland Baptist Church where he is a deacon. He and his wife, Shirley, make their home in the Richland Community where they own and operate L&S Farms.