Benzel retires, ends 42-year career as Ritzville’s barber

For the past 42 years, Bruce Benzel has stood behind his customers as a friend and trusted barber at The Hair Center. Thursday, June 27, marks Bruce’s last day as a barber in the same shop and at the same chair where he began his career decades ago.

Bruce’s journey began in high school when he visited his uncle, Fred Benzel, in the shop and began to develop an interest in cutting hair. Over the course of his high school career, Bruce would bring friends into the shop and Fred would stand by and instruct Bruce on how to cut hair.

The relationship between uncle and nephew quickly grew into a par...