They met on a blind date when she was 19 and he was 20. He took her to the races at Mahoning Valley Speedway.

"We still love the races up to this day," Elaine Leaser says.She speaks of Marshall, her husband of more than three decades, in the present tense, as though he may stride in from the couple's garage any minute, wiping black grease from his hands and explaining to a customer why her car doesn't need that expensive part the dealership had tried to sell her.But he won't be walking through that door: Marshall, who loved travel, hunting, snowmobiling, and getaways to the couple's Potter County cabin, died suddenly, unexpectedly, on May 9. He was 54.Now, Elaine, who has managed the office, estimated job costs, made appointments, done the accounting and payroll, handled government forms, ordered parts and absorbed a thorough knowledge of car repair over her years of working at her late husband's side, will keep the 15-year-old business going."I think it was meant to happen this way, that I would know exactly what I needed to know. Because everybody has a journey, and his journey ended," she says. "Now I'm supposed to continue on with his journey. This is what he would want to keep this place going."In the weeks following Marshall's death, from a blood clot that traveled into his heart after cancer surgery, Elaine received hundreds of phone calls and messages of support and condolences, many of which also expressing hope the business would continue.They never discussed what would become of the family business if Marshall died, because he was expected to come home.After his death, Elaine talked with her son, Marshall III, known as Booper, about the business' future."He said, 'Mom, I think Dad would want the business to go on. We're going to find somebody to take his place'," she says.Leaser's Garage, on Mahoning Drive West, close to the Mill Road intersection, has a full-time mechanic, Ross Smith, part-time help and help from Booper. Elaine expects to soon begin interviewing candidates for the full-time mechanic's job once held by her husband.The garage seems strange without Marshall. Elaine worked with him at the business since leaving her job with AT&T in Allentown."We've been together 24/7 for the past nine years," she says.As she talks, the couple's 2-year-old Schnauzer, Axel, brings visitors his squeaky toys and asks to be petted. Axel, known as the garage greeter, jumping onto Elaine's desk behind the counter and putting his front paws on the counter to invite ear-scratches from customers.The business has a solid customer base, people who have been coming to the garage for repairs and inspections for years. Elaine says they were drawn and stayed by Marshall's honesty."He loved his customers and they loved him," Elaine says. "They like the honesty that we have here, the service they get, and we don't nickel-and-dime you to death. People know they won't get ripped off."The garage is open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays; from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, and from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Fridays.Elaine vows to keep the business operating just as it did when Marshall was alive."We take care of customers' cars like they are our own," she says.