Driving instruction company comes to complete stop after owner dies

Yahoo

07-04-2025

Apr. 7—ROCHESTER — Whether it was piloting large construction vehicles or navigating city streets in a cab, Todd Ingalls felt comfortable behind the wheel of a vehicle.
He also liked telling stories and being around people, his wife Adele Ingalls said.
Todd was also glad to volunteer his time to teach nieces, nephews and family friends' children how to drive, his family members said. After nearly two decades helping drivers become comfortable behind the wheel, Todd died March 21, 2025.
As a result, the driving school is closed after nearly two decades. The colorfully decorated fleet of Impalas is, for the time being, sitting unused.
Looking back, it seems an obvious fit that Ingalls would start a driving instruction business and teach young people the rules of the road.
However, it took a few years, and a few jobs, before friends and family suggested he charge for his instruction time by becoming a certified driving instructor, his wife Adele Ingalls recalled.
His stories he would continue to tell for free.
"He loved to be around people," Adele said. "People just loved his stories."
Todd founded Drivers Training 101 in 2007.
"He had nerves of steel," Adele said, adding he was also patient and used humor to help nervous first-time drivers relax.
"I think Todd had the perfect balance of being able to deliver a message honestly but with sensitivity," said Deren Oldenburg, a behind-the-wheel instructor who worked for Drivers Training 101 after retiring from a technology job at Mayo Clinic. For Oldenburg, the job was something he could do for supplemental income. Before becoming certified, Todd had Oldenburg drive for him.
"I think he wanted to see how my driving was," Oldenburg said. "I was a little nervous, but he was kind, patient and a good passenger."
The ride was also a refresher lesson, he added.
"After 50 years, I had developed some habits that needed improvement," he said.
Scott Suddendorf, Adele's cousin who lives in South Dakota, would visit Rochester in the summers to help with the driving lessons in summers when the business was busiest. Suddendorf said Todd did the same to him when he expressed interest in teaching.
"He taught me to drive better than I had been driving the prior 30 years," Suddendorf said.
Suddendorf said Todd tended to focus on the positive to encourage students and remind them where they can improve.
"I would hear him rather than criticize what they're supposed to be doing, he would emphasize the things they did right," Suddendorf said.
A bit of humor or a story about driving would usually calm the nervous student. However, that doesn't mean the experiences were always without incident.
"Over 18 years, by all means, he did sometimes come home with some scary stories," Adele said.
Drivers Training 101 was a small but busy instructing school. The business had to close following Todd's death due to a lack of instructors, Adele said.
"We were never out to be big," she said, adding that it's difficult to find and hire driving instructors. A candidate must complete a minimum of 30 hours of classroom training before they can be certified as a driving instructor.
The requirements have made it challenging to recruit and keep instructors, Adele said.
To help augment a shortage of instructors, especially in rural Minnesota, Todd would hold three sessions a year in Spring Valley.
Todd's death made carrying on the business too difficult under its current staffing and her life circumstances. Adele said she feels bad for students who were in the middle of driver education, but added they will receive full refunds.