Great is Thy Faithfulness

A Interview with Neville and Trimella Chaney

By Terry Henry

Terry: You have had a long and successful journey with the Lord in your life which has, in one sense, led us to sit at this table together today. So, with that in mind why don’t you start at the beginning? 

Neville: Growing up we both went to different churches and the Moravian Church that I went to had a very strong early childhood program. If you could recite the Lord’s prayer, they would have a little Pearl of Wisdom that would go up on a ribbon on a wall with your name on it. Well, I was a competitive little boy, and in no time, I had my 12 Pearls of Wisdom on the wall. Our family went to church every Sunday, and we were fortunate that we lived across the woods from the church so in good weather we could walk to the church. I grew up in the church from an early age and enjoyed many church-centered activities including choir, Boy Scouts and youth group. 

Terry: Did the Moravian Church emphasize a personal relationship with God? 

Neville: Yes. The church had a strong Vacation Bible School program for children. The Moravian Love Feast service is a music ministry that is on Christmas Eve. It is a very moving service that has been a part of the church calendar at First Presbyterian Church for probably 50 years now. 

Trimella : An early church experience I can remember is having a spiritual awakening about the 6th grade. I can remember exactly where I was when I had this spiritual feeling. I spoke to my mother about it, and she talked to the pastor. They had a confirmation class that spring and that is when I joined the church. In junior high school, I started going to a youth group and my mother sang in the choir. That was my early experience. Both Neville and I have grown up in the church. 

Terry: So, you’ve got the church in your lives, and there’s the personal relationship with the Lord where you feel like you’re being led or guided by Him. How did you guys meet? 

Trimella: Our mothers met first, which was interesting, because his elementary school and my elementary school consolidated into a junior high school. Our mothers were in the PTA when they met. I love to tell this story because my mother comes home and says, “Honey, have you met that little Chaney boy yet? His mother was so nice.” I was a cheerleader, and he was a football player on this newly formed school team. We knew who each other were but really didn’t know each other. Then his mother and his sister planned a surprise birthday party for Neville: and that is where we really had a chance to meet. The rest is history. 

Terry: So, you’ve got Christ in the church. You’ve got Christ in your relationship. Then you later have Christ as a business partner. I mean, how does that fit together? And how were you led to Boone? 

Neville: After my party, we became closer and shortly after the first of the year, we became a couple. We were in the eighth grade. 

We were a couple all through high school. As we were evaluating colleges, Trimella knew that she wanted to be a teacher. And she knew that she couldn’t get a better education to prepare her for teaching than Appalachian State. 

I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do when I got out of college, but I did want to play football. Wake Forest was my first choice, and I was fortunate that the coach that was assigned to recruit me was a member of my church. However, my three years in high school was tough. Our high school was new, and we had roughly half of the student body that the other schools in our conference had. We lost a lot of games, but I had a good year with some post season honors, and I was hoping to get an offer from Wake. However, at the end of the season the whole Wake Forest football staff got fired. 

I was heartbroken because they hired a coach from Michigan State. He filled his staff with coaches from all over the country, but none of them knew me or had seen me play. 

Terry: So, your first choice had all new coaches that had not seen you play. How did you end up with a football scholarship to attend Wake Forest? 

Neville: This is where I feel that God stepped in because there were a lot of prayers headed His way. Cal Stoll, the new head coach happened to ask Mary Garber, a local sportswriter who covered high school sports in Winston-Salem and the surrounding area, if there was anybody that she felt that he might want to get film on. She mentioned my name. About the same time Coach Stoll got a telephone call from a coach that I had competed against for the past three years. He recommended me to Coach Stoll. What are the chances of that! Anyway, Tom Moore (the offensive coordinator who would eventually become Peyton Manning’s offensive coordinator in Indianapolis) came to my high school to meet me and see some film. We apparently showed him the right reel of film because the next day Coach Moore was in my living room with a full scholarship offer to my first choice of schools. This was definitely “God led.” 

Trimella:: Neville: was really dedicated to football. During Winter practice, his sophomore year, he was so intense and was totally immersed in learning all the new plays, formations, and things as simple as the snap count. When he came home one night at supper, the family bowed their heads for reciting the Moravian grace together, Neville: said “DOWN SET.” As you can probably guess, Mary Garber found out about it and printed it in the Journal. 

Terry: So, Trimella, you were at Appalachian. Neville: was at Wake Forest. Did you continue being a couple all the way through college? That’s a pretty hard thing to do, right? 

Trimella: You’re right, Terry. When I left for college, we decided to “break up” and date other people because we wanted to see if our relationship was the “real thing.” We didn’t want to go through college, marry, and then at 35 realized that we had never dated anybody else. 

Neville: And I was tied up with football. Trimella was a freshman cheerleader and was immersed in new friends and new relationships. 

Trimella: But by Christmas break we realized that we wanted to be together again, so our long-distance relationship grew over the next three years. 

Neville: Yes, at spring break of our senior year in college we got married so that a lot of our college friends could attend. 

Trimella:: We got married in the Moravian Church that Neville: grew up attending. 

Terry: It’s interesting the juxtaposition between growing up in the church and then becoming a follower of Christ. I shared with Neville: a story about how I once got a job because I told the guy interviewing me that I believed that God had led me to this place. With that in mind, can you explain to us how you believe that God led you into WJ office and the successful business that it’s been. 

Neville: God never promised us that life would be easy. He promised us that he would be with us all the way. Trimella and I have a covenantal relationship in our marriage, and we have a covenantal relationship with God. By covenantal I mean that a binding promise of total, unconditional commitment. It is a promise to love, serve, and remain faithful regardless of circumstances. 

For my first job we moved to Fayetteville, NC where I began my career in a management training program in a 2 million square foot tire plant where I trained to become a production supervisor. I worked two months on each shift six days a week. Trimella was loving her job teaching 6th grade at the Pope Air Force Base. I was extremely unhappy in my job, but I knew that she needed to get through her first year of teaching without being interrupted and I needed to realize that it would negatively affect my employment record if I couldn’t make it through my first year in the workforce. 

Terry: So how did you get to Boone? 

Trimella: By the way of one of my connections and through Winston-Salem first. My roommate’s husband had a brother who worked for Carolina Business Machines. Ned liked his job and had progressed quickly because the company was growing. We found out that they were hiring salespeople and one person was to be based in Winston-Salem. 

Neville: Yes, it was Winter, and I had some vacation time, so I got an interview and with Ned’s endorsement, I got the job. I worked out a notice and we moved to Winston-Salem. 

Terry: What about you, Trimella? Were you sad about leaving Fayetteville? 

Trimella: Although I loved my job at Pope, I never felt safe in Fayetteville. I knew that Neville: was miserable, and I’ve always loved Winston. But when we realized that we were going to move the Winter was almost over. I found out that our former principal at West Forsyth was the assistant superintendent for Forsyth County Schools. I let him know that we were moving back to Winston. Ten days later I had a job! 

Neville: I was happy with my new sales role with Carolina Business Machines. They were pleased because they had zero business in the territory that I was covering. It worked out for me because my dad was the mailman in part of the downtown that I covered, and I had decent name recognition from some of the publicity from my high school sports career. 

Terry: So, you’re in Winston-Salem, your hometown. Neville: no longer hates his job …. Trimella is teaching. And somehow you end up in Boone. 

Trimella: They told Neville: that he’d probably be in Winston for a year or more and then he might have an opportunity to manage one of their smaller stores (which would mean a move), but something was happening in their Boone store, and they wanted him to replace a person up there. 

Neville: Yes, and as you may know, back then you moved when the company wanted you to move if you wanted to progress and grow with the company. We found a rental house in Foscoe. 

Trimella: After the move, it took a while for me to find a teaching position. But God had this laid out for me. I went to all the elementary schools and introduced myself. A former friend was teaching at Green Valley told me, “I’ll remember you if anything turns up.” I decided to start grad school at ASU and in the October/ November time frame a position opened at Hardin Park. My friend called and asked me if I would be interested in teaching eighth grade. I was at Hardin Park for 13 years before moving to Watauga High School. 

Terry: So, in retrospect, you can see that God had a plan for you. Did it feel like that when it was happening? 

Trimella: Well, not so much at that moment. I think as you age, your spiritual maturity kicks in because you start to think back in time and realize that God had a plan for me. I’m not speaking for Neville:. He’s always had a very deep faith, and I do as well. But I’m a worrier. 

Terry: So here we are now in Boone. Carolina Business is on the corner, right across from the bagel place. I have been in that store many times. It was hard just trying to find paper clips. 

Neville: They called me a manager, but I really didn’t manage anybody. I was really a commercial outside sales rep. We sold office machines, furniture, and office supplies to local businesses. They asked me to come to Boone because the commercial sales were inadequate. We moved to Boone in March 1975, and we surprised the owner because we exceeded quota for the last three month of the fiscal year. 

Trimella was happy at Hardin Park. I was happy at my work too. We started getting involved in the community. I joined the Boone Jaycees. We joined Deerfield Methodist Church. We decided that this is where we wanted to settle. Never mind future promotion opportunities. We bought a used four-wheel drive and started looking at houses. We found one and put a significant amount of money down to reserve it. Construction got behind and before the house was finished we had to be out of our rental. The contractor allowed us to move in even though it wasn’t finished. That day will always be memorable because the owner of Carolina Business Machines met with me and said “I’m sorry. I’m going to have to lay you off.” Looking back, that was one of two times in my life that I could hear my heartbeat. 

Trimella: I was teaching my class, and I looked up and see Neville: at my door. I asked him “What are you doing here?” He said, “I need the car keys. I’ve lost my job. I need to get home.” It was very traumatic. We didn’t know what God had in store for us. 

Neville: And not only that, but we had committed to buying a house that we would lose a substantial down payment if we didn’t close the loan. We also had prepaid plane fare for a trip to England. My mother was English. My dad had been an American soldier in World War II, and we were leaving in two weeks for a three-week vacation to visit our relatives there. 

Trimella: And because I had FINISHED the year teaching and had not been hired at the beginning of the school year, I was told that I would have to interview again for my position at Hardin Park. 

Terry: So, at this moment, neither of you had a job, you’re living in a house that you’ve placed a substantial down payment on that you cannot afford to lose, you’re not sure how the fact that neither of you are employed will affect your approval for your loan, and you’re leaving for a three week vacation. 

Neville: You got it! 

Terry: How could you enjoy your vacation with all those unknowns at that point in your life? 

Trimella: Our faith in God had brought us this far in our lives, through disappointments, tough times, and fortunate times. We felt that we’d land on our feet (with the help of God) and things will get better. We didn’t know what He had in store for us, but we turned it over to Him. 

Neville: When we returned from England, Trimella interviewed for her present position and received word that she would be back at Hardin Park. I interviewed in a few places and finally landed a job as a sales rep traveling parts of three states selling promotional products to financial institutions and college bookstores with their logo on them. It was a straight commission job with no reimbursement for expenses. The first week I spent three nights on the road in motels, obviously had meal expenses and gas expenses, and I made $33 in commissions. 

Trimella: And traveling in a car without air conditioning in August. 

Terry: That must have been frustrating. And brutal. Were you looking for different job during this time? 

Neville: Yes, I sure did. One was a position that I really wanted. I was contacted by a large regional company about a role as a community liaison/public relations role. I felt that I had the personality and the skills to do this role. During this time, I took him a resume and as I was listing my references, I put the name of the person who had called me about the sales job that I was currently in. He had been in his role for eleven years, was a friend of mine, and was highly respected in the community. When I returned to Boone from traveling all week, I checked my answering machine and did not have any messages from the person that I interviewed with for the community relations position, so I called him to check on the position. He replied that no, he had not tried to get in touch with me. They had decided to hire my friend (who I listed as a reference). 

I was crushed. Not only did I not like traveling and spending the night away from home, but the company that I was working for at that time was not stable. I was paid once a month, and I was dealing with my pay checks bouncing. 

Trimella: We didn’t know it then, but God had other plans for us. 

Neville: Yes. He sure did. A month or so later, I received a call from a friend of mine (Roby Triplett). Our wives taught at Hardin Park together, Roby was one of my customers with the specialty products that I was selling, and he asked me if I’d ever heard of West Jefferson Office Equipment. I replied that I hadn’t. He said that the owner and his son would not leave him alone. They wanted Roby to buy their business. Mr. Lyle (the owner) wanted to retire, and his son Preston wanted to continue to work as the equipment technician. Roby asked me if I would be interested. Being pragmatic, I told Roby that I did not have any money AND I didn’t think that this company could compete with Carolina Business Machines. Roby convinced me to go with him to talk with Mr. Lyle and if I didn’t want to be part of ownership, that Roby might buy it and he might hire me to run it. He indicated that it would be an investment for him, and he had no intention of working in the business or leaving the university. 

Terry: So that’s how you got started. 

Neville: Roby and I went to West Jefferson to see the store. Mr. and Mrs. Lyle lived in an apartment upstairs. It wasn’t much of a business, but the good news was that the didn’t want very much for it. He wanted someone to “take care of his customers” and operate it in a fashion that was honest and forthright. 

Apparently, I passed his “test” and Roby was able to get us a loan for the down payment with a local banking connection that he had. Since I was going to be the partner doing all the work, I took 2/3 of the business and Roby 1/3. Roby was a great resource for me and trusted me far more than I would have trusted anybody – but Trimella. 

Terry: How many employees did you have? 

Trimella: Just Neville:, a bookkeeper, and Mr. Lyle’s son (the technician). Neville: drove a van and sold the equipment, furniture, and office supplies and delivered them the next time he was in that area. 

Terry: What geography did you cover? 

Neville: We covered Ashe, Wilkes, and Watauga counties. We operated out of the West Jefferson store for 18 months and then moved the entire business to Boone in June of 1978. We were located where the Black Cat restaurant is now and operated there for 23 years. We shortened the name to WJ Office Equipment. 

Terry: Did Carolina Business go out of business at that time? 

Neville: No. They were an established competitor and we worked hard to compete with them. However, the first two winters that we were in business was a crucial time for our company. I had a four-wheel drive that I delivered supplies to end users daily. They had a van that (by necessity) stayed parked in their parking lot because of the snow and ice. If customers wanted products at Carolina Business Machines, they had to drive downtown and pick them up. 

Terry: So, after 23 years you moved out of the downtown area. 

Neville: Yes, we outgrew the Depot Street location well before we could find another home. Brendle’s (on Greenway Road) closed, and the developer created a 12,000 square foot facility for us. It gave us parking that we didn’t have downtown, a much larger retail space, and a dock for the warehouse to receive trucks. But we outgrew that warehouse over the next 8 years and began to look for land to build a building that would fit our current commercial (business to business) non-retail business model. This, along with adding an office furniture sales office in Winston-Salem, adding top copier and printer product lines, developing a tenured team of people who are all on the same page and “rowing in the same direction.” Plus, operationally, we have strategically used outstanding contractors to help with office furniture installation when it made sense to do so. 

Trimella: I must put this in here, and I know that Neville: feels the same way as I do. The people in Boone and the surrounding area are the very best. As we look back over the last 49 years, there are so many friends and families that have figured into our success. You have such joy when you feel that you are fulfilling God’s purpose in your life. 

Terry: At this point, feel free to share with us any other significant “come to Jesus” moments you’ve had along the way. 

Neville: We haven’t mentioned our boys. WJ Office started in December 1976. We moved the business to Boone in June 1978, and Nate was born in November 1978. In the September/October time frame we realized that even though we’d signed up for family health insurance at Trimella’s school, there was a snafu, and we only had health insurance for Trimella! We immediately changed that, but the C-Section that Trimella had was not covered. Fortunately, Nate was covered AFTER the birth, but his birth was not covered. I’ve teased him as he became an adult that he wasn’t paid for until he reached his third birthday! 

Trimella: Then, at about six weeks old, he was congested one night. Neville thought he had a cold. I just didn’t feel right about that. We were up with him all night and I called the pediatricians the next morning. Dr. Bill Horn said to bring him in. After a brief exam, Bill decided that he wanted him tested at the hospital for meningitis. While they were running the test, we were on our knees in the hospital chapel. Bill found us there. Nate tested positive for bacterial meningitis (the worst kind), but Bill caught it extremely quickly. He said that the bacterial kind normally responded well to penicillin. So, for the next 8 days we were in quarantine at the hospital caring for our son taking shifts round the clock holding his little hands from reaching up and pulling out the i.v. that was plugged in to the top of his head. He couldn’t eat so they brought us jelly that we would put on to a pacifier so that he thought he was eating. Meningitis can produce all sorts of issues, and we are blessed that we left the hospital with a healthy child who is now a 46-year-old healthy man with no side effects from that early scare. Thanks be to God! 

Terry: So, it sounds like your faith has been tested in a lot of different ways over the course of your lives. And one of his greatest gifts is that you are still successfully married. 

Trimella: Yes. We feel very blessed, but we have been on our knees many times over the years, and we are extremely grateful. We’ve already picked out the tombstone for our grave as we plan to be buried side by side. Engraved on the tombstone is “Great is Thy Faithfulness.”