Wichita Ground Services Owner Lands on Paragon TV Thanks to a Good Deed

The Wichita Eagle

What was just another day at the office has resulted in a bit of attention for Pete Engler, who owns Wichita Ground Services.

Engler does ground handling for Frontier Airlines.

One recent customer flew to Wichita to go whitetail hunting but arrived without his wallet. He was able to retrieve his checked hunting gun thanks to a claim ticket, but he wasn’t able to rent a car to drive the hour to where he would be staying.

“I listened to what he had to say, and I said, ‘You know what? I’ll take you,’ ” Engler says.

“He goes, ‘Really?’ I could tell he was a little leery.”

It was 10:30 p.m.

Engler never thought he’d be in danger, but he says his colleagues were relieved the trip didn’t end badly.

“Oh, good, we don’t have to call your wife and tell her you were in a ditch left for dead,” one said.

Engler made it home at 1 a.m. that night and didn’t think much more about it.

“We’ve done a lot of different things for a lot of different people,” he says of his staff of 11. “Pretty much anything they’ve needed. If we can do it, we do.”

That includes getting someone something to eat if they don’t have the money or even giving them money.

“We’ve got a unique group,” Engler says.

It made an impression on the customer, who turned out to be Dave Young, the president of Paragon Wealth Management, which includes Paragon TV.

Young used his network to tell the story of Engler helping him.

“I was shocked,” Engler says. “I was like, no way.”

When he was still in Kansas, Young wanted Engler’s address so he could at least send him gas money. Engler wouldn’t accept anything.

“That’s not the reason I did it,” Engler says. “It was just to help him out. He was in a bind.”

He told Young there was something he wanted, though.

“By the look on his face, it was like, OK, where’s this going?” Engler says.

He told Young he hoped he would return the favor by one day helping someone else in need.

“I could tell by his video that he was touched by it, and he would do the same in the future for somebody if the situation arised,” Engler says.

That made it all worthwhile.

“If you can help out one other person, you never know where it could lead.”

Read more: http://blogs.kansas.com/haveyouheard/2011/01/10/wichita-ground-services-owner-lands-on-paragon-tv-thanks-to-good-deed/#ixzz1OtZRIoJ9