History of Bonestroo Salvage

Bonestroo Salvage was started in 1965 by Thomas A. Bonestroo in Perkins, IA. He owned and operated the salvage yard for the next 31 years with minimal equipment such as a loader tractor and a flatbed truck. In April of 1996, Tom L. Bonestroo, son of Thomas, took over ownership of the salvage yard under his direction. They had hopes of continuing to run the business together for years to come.

Sadly, in September of that year, Thomas was diagnosed with cancer. Thomas continued to be involved in the business as much as possible while receiving treatment. In 1997, a new shop was built in addition to the original shop building. Thomas was skeptical of building the new shop but saw the many benefits of the space once it was completed, especially enjoying having indoor plumbing! After a courageous two and a half year battle, Thomas unfortunately passed away in February of 1999. 

Tom continued to run the business after the passing of his father. He added roll off services and also added new equipment such as a magnet crane, grapple crane, payloader, and skid loader. By adding the roll-off services, Tom increased the business fleet from a one truck operation to a four truck operation including two semi roll-offs and a straight truck roll-off. 

In 2011, Tom was joined by his son, Thomas Anthony Bonestroo (Tony) named after Grandpa Bonestroo. Tom and Tony added another shop addition in 2012.

In 2021, Tony’s wife Jessica began helping out with the daily bookkeeping to allow Tom to be in the shop more.

In the Spring of 2022, another upgrade was made by adding an weigh scale on-site. The scale was put in just to the North of the shop building. This addition made things much more efficient for the business in hauling our own loads as well as weighing customer loads.

In late 2022, Tom was sadly diagnosed with colon cancer. Tom and Tony continued to run the business together with Tom working as much as possible as he finished out his treatments. In the Spring of 2023, Tom was declared in remission! Shortly after in June 2023, they held an open house for the newly completed office addition. The addition added a new reception area, two offices, bathrooms, a locker area for employees, and a mechanical room.

In November of 2023, the family suffered a devastating loss as Tom passed away due to complications from a hernia surgery. It was a huge loss to the family and the employees as Tom always treated them as family as well.

Following Tom’s passing, Tony took over as owner and operates the business with his wife, Jessica. Tony and Jessica keep busy with their three children, Micah, Kohen, and Maelyn. You may often see them around the salvage yard as well. The business continues to run with Thomas A. Bonestroo’s original vision and morals, treating our customer and employees as family and friends by offering fair prices and friendly service.