The Inter-Mountain photo by Edgar Kelley Peter Pan Cleaners has been a part of the Elkins community since 1932. Randy Sprinkle looks over items that were cleaned at the business.

ELKINS – An inaugural visit to Peter Pan Cleaners has often ended with customers driving away from the 11th Street location feeling like they just made a new friend.   

That’s because the establishment’s owner, Jake Roberts, has spent the past 40-plus years making sure that everyone who visits the business is treated the same. And if his laugh or smile isn’t enough to sell a person on the proud veteran’s genuine ways, a story from his military past is sure to do the trick.   

Roberts, who is 80 years old, recently announced that he was retiring and putting the long-time Elkins business up for sale. The Vietnam veteran said that it was in his health’s best interest to step away from something he started doing when he was a young child.   

“I had a heart attack back in November and Doc told me if I wanted to see my granddaughters go through med school, that I needed to quit,” Roberts said. “The doctor told me that I only have two speeds, stop and wide open. God saved my life and I know that. I was lucky and he blessed me.”

The Inter-Mountain photo by Edgar Kelley
Peter Pan Cleaners owner Jake Roberts has spent more than 40 years running the business started by his grandfather in 1932.

Peter Pan Cleaners was started by Roberts’ grandfather in 1932, at a different location on South Davis Avenue. The business moved to its current 11th Street location in 1943 and has been there for the past 83 years.

Roberts’ parents purchased the business from his grandfather in 1965, and he bought the building for himself in 1984 when he was just 39 years old.   

“I worked for my grandfather for years before I went into the Army,” Roberts said. “I did a lot of work at the cleaners for my dad as well.”     

Although customers will be sad to see Roberts retire, he said he already has a buyer for Peter Pan Cleaners, which will make many residents happy, considering it’s the only store of its kind for miles around.      

“I had a fellow come in, a friend of mine, come in and tell me he wanted to buy it,” Roberts said. “I’m the only dry cleaner between here and Clarksburg, and if you are going the other way, there’s not another cleaner between here and the other side of Harrisonburg, Virginia. But I did tell him that I have good people working for me and if he wanted the business he had to keep the people who worked for me. I told him that they would work just as hard for him as they do for me.”   

Roberts says Peter Pan Cleaners is the “One Stop Cleaning Shop.” The business not only offers dry cleaning and laundry, but it also does alterations and any kind of repairs, as well as the sales of tuxedos and suits. The business also offers tux rentals.   

“Meeting people and helping folks out is the thing I’m going to miss the most,” Roberts said. “Over the years I’ve made a lot of friends at this business and many people know me simply because we’ve been here so long. It’s also going to hurt a little bit because I was practically born in this place.”     

Roberts, who was in the military for a total of 20 1/2 years, said he will stay busy after retirement helping other veterans out. He is currently the VSO (Veterans Service Officer) for the Elkins American Legion, VFW, and Vietnam Veterans Association.   

“I write VA claims and I’ve been doing that now for 30 years,” Roberts said. “I have written 218 of them and I’ve never had one turned down. So I’m going to keep on doing that when I retire from the cleaners.”     

Roberts fought in the Vietnam War for a portion of three years, and was with the 19th Special Forces at Camp Dawson for 17 years. Roberts said he has one Purple Heart, and was wounded three times while serving in Vietnam.     

For more information on Peter Pan Cleaners, visit the Facebook page or call 304-630-2288.