There Really Is a Rose
Meet the woman behind one of Whatcom County's most familiar voices
For decades, people throughout Whatcom County have heard Rose on the radio talking about Lynden Sheet Metal — now LSM Heating, Plumbing & Electric.
But Rose was never a hired spokesperson.
She was an owner. The office manager. The person answering the phone, dispatching technicians, keeping the books, helping customers troubleshoot problems and knowing many of them by name.
And even after retiring from the day-to-day business, Rose never really left the microphone.
It Started With Two Young Families and a Big Decision
In 1977, Bob and Rose Crabtree and Denny and Sandi Clark purchased Lynden Sheet Metal from retiring owners Pete Douma and John Wynstra.
Bob had been working for Haskell Corporation, a union shop where more and more of the available work was taking him far from home — including the Aleutian Islands. With a young family at home, spending long stretches working out of state wasn’t the future he wanted.
Denny was already working at Lynden Sheet Metal as a service technician. When Pete and John began preparing for retirement, Bob and Denny started talking about whether the two families could buy the company themselves.
They did.
Bob took responsibility for the sheet metal shop. Denny led much of the HVAC service and installation side. Sisters Rose and Sandi shared the office responsibilities part-time while their children were young.
It was the beginning of the next generation of Lynden Sheet Metal.
Rose worked from all three LSM locations over the years —
Third Street, Guide Meridian, and today’s Evergreen Street shop.
No accounting background. No business degree. Just figure it out.
When Sandi eventually left the business to work for the school district, Rose took over the front office full-time.
There was only one problem: Rose had never been trained in accounting.
Bob’s sister, Correan, was an experienced bookkeeper for a local automobile dealership. She came in, established the books and taught Rose how to manage them.
Rose still jokes that Correan made the system “Rose-proof.”
From there, Rose learned by doing.
Bookkeeping. Accounting. Payroll. Phones. Scheduling. Dispatching. Collections. Customer questions.
Employee problems. Whatever walked through the door that day.
Her title was office manager.
In reality, Rose was the glue that kept the office running.
Helpful Homeowner Guidance
Rose Knows
Rose helps introduce practical questions and everyday topics that matter to local homeowners. LSM’s experienced team remains the source of technical guidance and service recommendations.
Rose’s Ribs
Short jokes and lighthearted moments that share Rose’s natural humor and the familiar personality customers have known for years.
If You Called Lynden Sheet Metal, You Probably Talked to Rose
For years, Rose was the voice on the telephone and the person behind the front counter.
She knew where the technicians were. She knew what the schedule looked like. She knew which customers had been waiting. She knew who owed money. And after years of listening, learning and working alongside experienced tradespeople, she knew a surprising amount about the equipment too.
Customers didn’t automatically get told, “We’ll send somebody out.”
Rose could walk people through many of the basic things worth checking first — whether the equipment had power, whether a breaker had tripped, thermostat settings, pilot-light issues and other common problems.
Sometimes the customer could solve the problem themselves.
And that was perfectly fine with Rose.
If we could save someone a service call, we did.
There was no reason to send a technician to someone’s home only to discover something that could have been checked over the telephone.
Customers appreciated knowing that Lynden Sheet Metal wasn’t looking for an excuse to put a truck in the driveway and send them a bill.
And when the problem went beyond the basics, Rose knew it was time to send one of the experts.
1977
2010
Today
She Knew When Someone Needed Help — and When Someone Needed Grace
A furnace rarely quits when it’s convenient.
Rose understood that.
If someone genuinely couldn’t afford an unexpected repair bill, her philosophy was that an honest effort mattered. If a customer was doing his or her best to make things right, Rose would do her best to work with them.
That same approach extended to the employees.
Rose knew their families. She knew what was happening in their lives. She showed up for graduations, weddings, illnesses and funerals.
She was a people person in the truest sense of the phrase.
And much of what became the culture of Lynden Sheet Metal grew out of a fairly simple idea:
Treat people right. Tell them the truth. Make it right when you can.
Then People Started Recognizing the Voice
Lynden Sheet Metal had been advertising on local radio for years, but eventually, the local radio station encouraged the company to use real people in its commercials instead of anonymous announcers.
Rose began appearing more and more often. Before long, people started recog.
Rather than producing another forgettable heating commercial, LSM leaned into humor — family situations, recurring characters and ongoing stories that gave listeners something different to hear between the music and news.
And somewhere along the way, Rose became simply…
Rose.
People recognized her while she was standing in line at the grocery store.
Someone once recognized her voice all the way over in Winthrop.
When a local radio station created a promotion in which recognizable business and community voices read portions of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, Rose was one of the voices selected.
At home shows, customers didn’t just ask about heating systems.
They asked:
“Where’s Rose?”
“There Really Is a Rose!”
One customer story may explain Rose’s relationship with the community better than anything else.
A woman walked into Lynden Sheet Metal one day and saw Rose sitting behind the front counter. She noticed the nameplate in front of her.
Then she walked straight back out.
A moment later, she returned with her husband.
She had gone outside to get him because she wanted him to see it too:
“There really is a Rose!”
Over the years, people even made the drive from Bellingham to Lynden simply because they wanted to meet the woman they had been hearing on the radio.
Today, people still come into LSM and say:
“Tell Rose hi.”
That is why Rose isn’t a marketing character.
She’s the real woman behind the voice.
Rose Retired. Her Voice Didn't.
In 2010, Bob and Rose retired from the day-to-day business and sold their ownership interest to their daughter Bobbi and son-in-law Cory.
It wasn’t a handoff to strangers.
Bobbi had already been working at Lynden Sheet Metal since 1996, and Cory had been there since 1989. The next generation was already deeply involved in the company long before ownership changed hands.
Rose stopped coming into the office every day.
But there was never really a farewell to Rose.
She kept recording the radio commercials.
Rose retired from the office. Not from the microphone.
Today, Lynden Sheet Metal has grown into LSM Heating, Plumbing & Electric.
The name changed to better describe everything the company does today, but the familiar LSM identity remained. The logo, vehicle design and lettering stayed essentially the same; on the vehicles, Lynden Sheet Metal was simply replaced with Heating, Plumbing, Electric.
The family connection continued.
And so did Rose.
So... What Does Rose Know?
Thirty-three years inside the daily operation of Lynden Sheet Metal teaches you things.
Rose spent decades listening to customers describe problems, helping them make basic checks, dispatching technicians, working alongside service professionals and hearing what ultimately fixed the problem.
She learned which questions to ask.
She learned when something could probably be handled with a simple check at home.
And she learned when it was time to stop troubleshooting and call the professionals.
That’s the spirit behind Rose Knows today.
Practical questions. Straight answers. No unnecessary sales pitch.
Rose Knows shares useful, straightforward information about heating, cooling, plumbing and electrical issues — the kinds of questions homeowners have been asking Rose and LSM for decades.
For everyday homeowner questions, Rose brings the practical experience and common sense she accumulated over many years.
When something requires deeper technical knowledge, LSM’s experienced heating, plumbing and electrical professionals provide the current expertise on today’s equipment, codes and technology.
Rose Knows Tips
When it comes to your home’s comfort, sometimes you just need a straightforward answer. Rose Knows offers helpful tips and practical advice for common heating, cooling, electrical, and plumbing questions, so you can better understand what’s happening in your home and know when it may be time to call in a professional.
Have a Question?
Sometimes you aren’t sure whether you need service — or even who you need to talk to.
Send us your question. Whether it’s about your heating or cooling system, plumbing, electrical, an existing service call, your account or something entirely different, we’ll make sure it gets to the right person.
Different Name. Same Rose.
Lynden Sheet Metal has grown into LSM Heating, Plumbing & Electric.
The services have expanded. Another generation now helps lead the business. The name has evolved to better explain what LSM does today.
But some things were never meant to change.
Straight answers.
Local accountability.
Helping when you can.
Treating people the way you’d want your own family treated.
And, apparently…
Rose.
Doing the Right Thing Since 1940.
The Rose Standard