By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

Patty Stull has been a Hays real estate agent for nearly 36 years.

She recently sold her Coldwell Banker corporation to independent real estate agent Robert Readle.

Now there are two Coldwell Banker Real Estate sites in Hays — Readle’s location at 22nd and Vine, and Stull’s longtime office in downtown Hays at 1001 Main. Readle is the supervising broker while Stull is an associate broker.

At age 72, Stull will continue to list and sell real estate. It’s her favorite part of the job.

“I’ve been blessed with so many opportunities to help people find their dreams,” Stull said, “and when they find their dream, it becomes my dream.”

Since 1984, Stull has sold houses, commercial properties and land to area residents and businesses. Some transactions were small, less than $30,000. Her most expensive home sale was $1.2 million.

One of the smallest deals is one of her most memorable.

“The one I love the most is this little two-bedroom house in Victoria I sold to a couple. It didn’t have a basement. They had two little babies. They didn’t have a lot of money.

“And we made it. They were able to close on that house and they went into my arms and wept,” Stull recalled. “Pretty sure they might not have got it, except I was able to help along the way.

“They came back to me years later and said, ‘Thank you. We were really at the lowest point in our life and you helped us have a dream. It may not be a big dream to many, but it was our dream.’ ”

Readle called Stull “a titan in the community.” She’s been selling real estate long enough that it’s come full circle.

“I may start when they’re young and buying their first home. Twenty-five years later, their children return to settle in Hays and come to me to buy their own house. Then the parents become older and buy a different home or a second home,” Stull said. “It keeps revolving and you get to have this family connection.”

Over the years, she’s received many cards and flowers as a thank you for matching people with their dreams.

“A home is an emotional decision. You have to be able to wrap yourself around that situation because it is a big decision and it’s done with the heart. Commercial and land is not done with the heart. It is a business decision.”

Stull started her work life as vice-president of First Federal Savings and Loan in Beloit and as loan manager for a Russell bank. She moved to Hays, without a job lined up, and was approached in 1984 with an offer to buy the Coldwell Banker franchise by owner Robert Finch’s son-in-law.

She hesitated. “Those guys upset me a lot over the years when I was making them loans. I didn’t even really like them. And that’s pretty well what I told him.”

The Finches talked her into “giving it a try.”

The divorced mother with three young daughters decided to pursue her dream, although her self-employed father, Ralph J. Werth, advised against it. ” ‘Please don’t do that,’ he said to me in German. ‘It’s going to be a hard life.’ ”

“You got to remember back in those days women were not supposed to be in authority. When I came into this city as a broker/owner, the other five were all male owners. I had a lot of bad times. They just couldn’t believe a woman was doing this and wondered why I was doing it.”

One of the male broker/owners did support Stull. “Dean Ellner stood by me. He helped me and taught me.”

A Dean Ellner agent, Lana Whitney, helped Stull buy a house.

“Unbeknownst to Lana, I admired her so much and she became my ‘silent’ mentor as I eventually decided I wanted to be just like Lana. I want to help people. I’m going to do a huge volume of real estate. And one day, it happened and one day, I went past Lana. But I’m not taking anything away from her. She’s an amazing woman and a very, very good real estate agent.”

Stull got her business loan from Golden Belt Bank to buy Coldwell Banker. “I don’t know how they ever believed in me. If I hadn’t had Golden Belt Bank by my side, I wouldn’t be here today.”

Less than 30 days after Stull acquired that loan, a major employer, Travenol, closed its doors and the Hays economy slumped into a 10-year recession.

“There were over 800 houses on the market. The houses I sell today at $135,00 sold for $33,500 then and people could not afford to buy a house.” It would be 11 years before her new business was in the black.

“Those were very, very hard years but there are always hidden blessings and struggles. It makes you become strong, makes you look for different things in your life.

“Out of it all, I evolved and I hope I’m the best I can be and look forward to every single day being even better.”

Stull credits her religious faith and the support of a large family for her success.

“My mom and dad taught us faith. That was the foundation of our home. And they taught us how to work hard, to not expect anything, to go and earn it … to have ethics, honor, and to be truthful.”

Stull is the oldest of 16 children, eight boys and eight girls.

She finds it interesting that she has been self-employed – just like her dad – for more than 30 years and many of her siblings are also self-employed. “We’re independent. We grew up that way.”

Her father died at the age of 64.

Her mother, Martina Werth, is 91 years old and has 109 grandchildren and great-grandchildren and is expecting the first great-great grandchild next year.

“She is the matriarch, our queen. Our mother to this day is so sharp. She has a lot of pain but she does her own checkbook. She’s an amazing cook in the kitchen and she’ll beat you up in any game of pinochle. Every day, she’s in a chair embroidering something to make somebody happy.”

There are a number of step-siblings in the close-knit family.

“So many people ask why our family is so close. We grew up near Catharine and we only had each other. In those days, you didn’t drive to town because you were bored and you wanted to go swimming, or whatever,” she laughed. “Mom and Dad made sure we had plenty to do. At an early age we learned how to clean, how to cook — lots of cooking.

“I’ve been extremely blessed in my life. Sure, there have been struggles in many ways, but I’m no different than anyone else.”

Stull has four daughters. “One is in heaven,” she says. “Wendy passed away in 1997 when she was 23. It broke all of our hearts.”

Her husband of 11 years, Rich Sieker, has two married children and four grandchildren. Stull has eight grandchildren. “We love them all.”

Stull’s grown daughters have their own businesses and she didn’t expect them to have her same passion for the real estate business. Stull missed a lot of her daughters’ activities, including school sports, as they grew up. “They understood my passion but as I look back I wish I could have been there.”

Teaming up with Readle was the answer to her prayers.

“I believe in Robert and I’m going to mentor him and his growth. I no longer am a supervising broker but I will always be a broker. The thing that’s changing is I don’t have to worry about the whole operation. The only thing that you’re going to see different is that I’m not signing the checks,” she laughed.

“You’re gonna see a lot of smiles on my face. I may have the opportunity to go play some golf, go see my grandbabies and participate in their sport lives.

“We only have today,” Stull reminds us.

“Find a reason to smile, tuck the sadness in your heart where it belongs. The past makes you who you are today.”