KEEPING CAT IN THE FAMILY

For the Gray family, Caterpillar equipment was a part of their lives from the beginning.

Josh and Jason Gray grew up watching their father, Neil, come home every night with his field service truck. For both of them, seeing their dad’s truck (and sometimes customers’ equipment) in their driveway became a lasting childhood memory.

“There’s basically been Western States in the family for as long as I can remember,” said Josh, who now works out of Hayden as a PSSR, “One of the things I took away from seeing my dad at work was seeing how much he enjoyed what he did.”

Jason, who is the Parts Counter Supervisor for the Colville store, echoed his brother’s sentiment. “I think back to my childhood, and I really remember the pride he took in his truck,” he agreed, “I saw how happy my dad was doing his job.”

As kids, both Jason and Josh vividly remember helping their dad wash the service truck every week. When customers would occasionally bring their equipment to their house for Neil to work on, both boys were fascinated by the equipment, especially the dozers.

Neil, who now works for Avista as he nears retirement, collects Caterpillar memorabilia. He’s still passionate about Caterpillar, a passion he passed on to his sons.

“I think it’s a great company—the people are amazing. My best friends are here. It’s a lot of hard work, but there’s a lot of rewards, and there’s pride that comes with working for the Caterpillar brand,” said Jason.

“For me, I always knew that’s where I wanted to work. It was just part of our lives—there was no better brand than Cat,” Josh said.