Patsy McIntire
SAN ANGELO, Texas - All good stories must come to an end. And for Patsy McIntire, that means retirement after 36 years as a pest management professional.
McIntire, co-founder of Bug Express Pest Control, San Angelo, Texas, didn’t get her start in pest control right away, but rather as an English teacher, and junior and high school girls’ basketball coach in 1976 and 1977.
“I had gone home to help my dad on the ranch, and when I came back, one of my dear friends had just become the first female manager of Terminix of Texas and the outlying areas. She kind of explained a little bit about it and I was only going to do it for six months after the new school year started,” McIntire said. “Low and behold, 36 years later, here I am.”
McIntire started her career with Terminix in October 1987, and later moved on to another pest control company, Lester Humphrey. McIntire and her business partner, Darlene Jones, were ready to invest in their own pest control company.
“At 50 years old, Darlene [and I] both emptied out our savings accounts and opened Bug Express Pest Control in March 2003,” McIntire said. “We were in Lubbock, [Texas] for about three months, then brought it all down to San Angelo and have been here ever since. Darlene passed away in 2016 and her daughter, Bridget Carr, was the current business partner until I retired.”
And how did the company eventually find its niche? McIntire said, “Good old fashioned customer service.”
“The yellow trucks were very eye catching. We would go as far as 200 miles to do a service, and it just kind of built up in between,” she said.
The company received the Best Pest Control Company honor of San Angelo for 14 years, multiple awards through the San Angelo Apartment Association and the Industry Expansion award in 2014 by the San Angelo Chamber of Commerce, according to the company’s Facebook post.
McIntire was also a PCT Technician of the Year honoree.
McIntire said the company started with three technicians, including Jones, traveling routes and meeting the needs of customers. Now, it has nearly 20 employees.
“We have a fantastic crew and I felt it was in good hands,” she said.
WOMEN IN PEST CONTROL.
McIntire was raised on a ranch and grew up on her family’s farm, which led her to have a “no fear” mentality. “I was kind of a tomboy and my dad said I could do [whatever I wanted],” she said.
McIntire said being a woman in the pest control industry is a lot easier today than it was decades ago.
“It's a lot easier for women to get into the field now,” she said. “[Women homeowners] feel more comfortable with a woman coming in.”
Most customers accept women technicians; however, older customers still have a hard time coming to terms with women handling pest control problems under ranch homes, McIntire said.
“Some of the old ranchers don't feel comfortable with the woman crawling under the house because of the rattlesnakes being under there,” she said.
WHATS ON THE HORIZON?
Even though McIntire is stepping away from the yellow truck, she still plans on being around for community and company events.
“I drop in still with different parties coming up, so we’ll see each other,” McIntire said.
But she is enjoying time for herself in retirement.
“I just got back from visiting a high school friend and her granddaughters go to school in [San] Antonio and they go see Christmas light show at botanical gardens. She called me and she said, ‘Well, it's not till Sunday, so you have to stay over Monday.’ I said, ‘Hey, I don't work on Mondays anymore, so I’m in.”
She also plans on spending time with her family and pursuing other adventures.
“I miss the contacts with the people and solving their problems, but on the same token, I get to spend time with my grandson, golf and just go and do [things],” McIntire said.