A Heartfelt Thank You Letter, Submitted to Sierra News Online, From the McKee Family:

This year marks a profoundly sad moment for the McKee family and for many members of the North Fork community. After more than 50 years of serving residents, supporting area businesses, and providing a gathering place for neighbors and friends, a family legacy that began with Bob McKee Sr. and Lorreta McKee, and was later carried forward by Janet and Robert McKee, is now facing its final chapter.

North Fork Hardware, formerly known as North Fork Ace Hardware, has been much more than a hardware store. It has been a fixture of the community, a place where customers were greeted by name, where advice was freely given, and where generations of families found supplies and support they needed to build homes, maintain properties, and obtain advice. For decades, the store stood as a symbol of hard work, commitment, and community values.

For the past 25 years, Robert McKee dedicated himself to continuing the family business and preserving the reputation that had been built over half a century. Through economic downturns, changing consumer habits, increased competition from large corporate retailers, and the closure of the North Fork Mill, an event that significantly impacted the local economy, the store remained open and continued serving the community. The determination to keep the doors open was rooted in a belief that North Fork deserved a locally owned hardware store and that the relationships built over decades were worth preserving.

The store’s history is intertwined with the history of North Fork itself. Many customers who walked through its doors as children later returned as adults with families of their own. Employees became friends, customers became extended family, and the business became a place where community connections were made every day.

It is particularly heartbreaking to me, as the son of Robert McKee, to witness the future of this business coming to an end. For more than five decades, North Fork Hardware has been far more than a business—it has been a cornerstone of the community, built through the hard work, sacrifices, and dedication of multiple generations of the McKee family. The prospect that this legacy will now come to an end is both deeply disappointing and difficult to accept, especially when there are family members who possess the knowledge, experience, and commitment necessary to continue its operation and preserve its values.

What should have been an opportunity to honor the vision and lifetime efforts of Bob and Lorreta McKee, and later Janet and Robert McKee, by ensuring the continued success of the business has instead become a source of sadness, frustration, and concern. The possibility that a family enterprise which served the North Fork community for more than fifty years is now disappearing not because of a lack of capable successors, but because of decisions that have prevented its continuation. It not only represents a profound loss to the remaining McKee family, but also for the customers, employees, and community members who have supported and relied upon it for generations. The end of such a legacy marks the closing of an important chapter in North Fork’s history and leaves many wondering how something so valuable and enduring could be allowed to slip away.

The McKee family would like to express its sincere gratitude to the countless customers, employees, vendors, neighbors, and friends who have supported the store over the past 50 years. Your loyalty, encouragement, and friendship helped sustain the business through both prosperous and difficult times. We are deeply grateful to every customer who chose to shop locally, every employee who dedicated their time and effort to the store’s success, and every member of the community who believed in what North Fork Hardware represented.

While the future remains uncertain, the legacy of North Fork Hardware and the contributions of the McKee family to the community will endure. The memories, relationships, and impact made over the last five decades cannot be erased. They will remain an important part of North Fork’s history and a testament to what can be achieved through hard work, perseverance, and a commitment to serving others.

To the North Fork community: thank you for allowing our family to serve you for more than half a century.

With sincere appreciation,

The McKee Family

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…and THANK YOU, McKee Family, for generations of service to the mountain community!  

Sincerely,
Sierra News Online